List of French composers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 Born 1300–1550
2 Born 1550–1700
3 Born 1700–1800
4 Born 1800–1880
5 Born 1880-
- 5.1 Les Six
- 5.2 Others

[edit] Born 1300–1550

Guillaume de Machaut (1300–1377)
Guillaume Dufay (?1397–1474)
Josquin Desprez (c.1450–1521) born near Franco-Flemish border
Pierre de La Rue (c.1460–1518)
Claudin de Sermisy (c.1490–1562)
Nicolas Gombert (c.1495–c.1560) born in Flanders
Ninot le Petit (c.1500–1520)

[edit] Born 1550–1700

Jacques Champion de Chambonnières (c.1601–1672)
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687) Baroque composer, first significant composer of French opera
Jean-Henri d'Anglebert (1635–1691)
Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643–1704)
Marin Marais (1656–1728)
Michel Richard Delalande (1657–1726)
André Campra (1660–1744)
Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665–1729)
Jean-Féry Rebel (1666–1747)
Michel Pignolet de Montéclair (1667–1737)
François Couperin (1668–1733)
Louis Marchand (1669–1732)
Louis de Caix d'Hervelois (ca.1670-ca.1760)
Antoine Forqueray (1671–1745)
Nicolas de Grigny (1672–1703)
Louis-Nicolas Clérambault (1676–1749)
Jean-François Dandrieu (1682–1738)
Jean-Joseph Mouret (1682–1738), Baroque composer, known today for his 'Rondeau' (theme song to the TV show Masterpiece Theatre)
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764), Baroque composer, wrote Les Indes galantes
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689–1755)
Louis-Claude Daquin (1694–1772)
Jean-Marie Leclair (1697–1764), significant Baroque era composer

[edit] Born 1700–1800

Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer (1705–1755) born in Italy
Jean-Joseph Mondonville (1711–1772)
François-André Danican Philidor (1726–1795)
François Joseph Gossec (1734–1829)
Jean-Baptiste Breval (1753–1823)
Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766–1831), composer known for his 42 études used by violin students
Louis Emmanuel Jadin (1768–1853)
Charles Simon Catel (1773–1830)
François-Adrien Boieldieu (1775–1834)
Hyacinthe Jadin (1776–1800)
Daniel Auber (1782–1871), opera composer, well known in his time, but rarely performed today
Jacques-Fereol Mazas (1782–1849), 18th century violinist and composer
Nicolas-Charles Bochsa (1789–1856)[1], composer best known today for his studies and exercises for the harp.
Ferdinand Herold (1791–1833), composer best known for his operas, noteably Zampa, and the ballet La Fille Mal Gardée
Fromental Halévy (1799–1862)

[edit] Born 1800–1880

Adolphe Adam (1803–1856)
Hector Berlioz (1803–1869), composer famous for his programmatic symphony, the Symphonie Fantastique
Ambroise Thomas (1811–1896)
Louis-Antoine Jullien(1812–1860)
Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813–1888), Romantic era composer and pianist
Louis James Alfred Lefébure-Wely (1817–1869)
Charles Dancla (1817–1907), 19th century violin teacher and composer
Charles Gounod (1818–1893), composer, best known for his opera Faust
Jean-Henri Ravina (1818–1906)
Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880), French operetta composer, known for The Tales of Hoffmann and Orpheus in the Underworld
Charles-Louis Hanon (1819–1900), French piano pedagogue
Edouard Lalo (1823–1892), Romantic composer remembered primarily for his Symphonie Espagnole for violin and orchestra
Adolphe Blanc (1828–1885)
Jean-Baptiste Accolay (1833–1900), 19th century violin teacher and composer
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921), Romantic composer perhaps best known for The Carnival of the Animals
Léo Delibes (1836–1891), composer known for his Coppelia, Sylvia, and Lakmé
Georges Bizet (1838–1875), Romantic composer famous for his opera Carmen
Emmanuel Chabrier (1841–1894)
Jules Massenet (1842–1912), Romantic composer best known for "Meditation" from his opera Thaïs
Charles-Marie Widor (1844–1937), Romantic composer, noted for his works for the organ
Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924), Romantic composer, known for his chamber music and a requiem among other pieces
Henri Duparc (1848–1933)
Benjamin Godard (1849–1895)
Vincent d'Indy (1851–1931)
Ernest Chausson (1855–1899)
Alfred Bruneau (1857–1934)
Cécile Chaminade (1857–1944)
Guy d'Hardelot (c.1858–1936)
Gustave Charpentier (1860–1956), composer best known for his opera Louise
Claude Debussy (1862–1918), 20th century composer, his music is often described as impressionist, although he dismissed the term, wrote 'Clair de Lune' from Suite bergamasque
Gabriel Pierné (1863–1937)
Paul Dukas (1865–1935), late Romantic composer known today for his piece of program music, The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Erik Satie (1866–1925), 20th century modernist and impressionist composer, known for his Gymnopedies
Charles Koechlin (1867–1950)
Claude Terrasse (1867–1923)
Albert Roussel (1869–1937)
Florent Schmitt (1870–1958)
Charles Tournemire (1870–1939)
Louis Vierne (1870–1937)
Déodat de Séverac (1872–1921)
Henri Büsser (1872–1973)
Reynaldo Hahn (1874–1947)
Maurice Ravel (1875–1937), 20th century piano and orchestra composer in the impressionist and neoclassicist styles, noted for his Daphnis et Chloé, Bolero, and Ma Mère l'Oye (Mother Goose) suite

[edit] Born 1880-

[edit] Les Six

Louis Durey (1888–1979)
Arthur Honegger (1892–1955)
Darius Milhaud (1892–1974)
Germaine Tailleferre (1892–1983), the female member of Les Six, her Jeux de Pleine Aire caused Satie to call her his "musical daughter"
Georges Auric (1899–1983)
Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)

[edit] Others

Paul Le Flem (1881–1984)
Edgard Varèse (1883–1965) became American
Marcel Dupré (1886–1971)
Nadia Boulanger (1887–1979)
Jacques Ibert (1890–1962)
Lili Boulanger (1893–1918), the first French woman composer to win the Prix de Rome, with her cantata Faust and Helena
Maurice Duruflé (1902–1986)
Andre Jolivet (1905–1974)
Eugène Bozza (1905–1991)
Jean Langlais (1907–1991)
Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992), 20th century modernist composer
Gaston Litaize (1909–1991)
Jehan Alain (1911–1940)
Alfred Désenclos (1912–1971)
Jean Françaix (1912–1997)
Charles Trenet (1913–2001), composer of French songs, including La Mer, Douce France, La Folle Complainte and Je Chante
Henri Dutilleux (1916- )
Raymond Gallois-Montbrun (1918–1994)
Jeanne Demessieux (1921–1968)
Claude Pascal (1921- )
Jeanine Rueff (1922–1999)
Pierre Boulez (1925- )
Jean-Michel Damase (1928- )
Gilbert Amy (1936-)
Jean-Claude Amiot (1939- )
Gérard Grisey (1946–1998)
Max Méreaux (1946- )
Tristan Murail (1947- )
Joseph-François Kremer (1954- )
Eryck Abecassis (1956- )
Eric Serra (1959-)
Jean-Yves Malmasson (1963- )
Laurent Laffineur (1968- )
Yann Tiersen (1970- )
Paul Clouvel (1971- )
Walter Taieb (1973- )
Maxime Rodriguez (1975- )
Sebastien Beranger (1977- )