Composers Who Changed History

Meet the world's greatest composers - face to face.

This stunning visual celebration of the world's most celebrated composers tells the fascinating stories of their lives and works.

Lavishly illustrated with portraits of each composer, alongside photographs of their homes and studios, and original musical scores and personal correspondence, Composers Who Changed History offers a unique window into the personalities of each individual and their key influences, themes, and working methods.

Introduced with a stunning portrait of each composer, biographical entries trace the friendships, loves, and rivalries that inspired and influenced them, providing revealing insights into what drove each individual to create the musical masterpieces—symphonies, concertos, and operatic scores—that changed the direction of classical music and are still celebrated and treasured today.

Entries explore the vision and approach of each composer, setting their works in context and conveying a powerful sense of the place and the period of history in which they lived.

Covering a broad range of composers from the Middle Ages to the present day, Composers Who Changed History provides a compelling, entertaining, and accessible glimpse into the lives, loves, and influences of the giants of the classical music canon.