Greatest Romantic Classical Composers

The Top Ten
1 Frederic Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849), born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era who wrote primarily for the solo piano. He gained and has maintained renown worldwide as a leading musician of his era, whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation."

Chopin's music basically sums up the Romantic era- to know Chopin is to know Romantic music. It's also good to know that he has strong classical roots as he loved the music of J. S. Bach. Hear Chopin in the hands of the right performer and you will be blown away.

2 Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky

Totally first! I know Chopin was one of the greater piano composers, but Tchaikovsky's magnificence in EVERY PIECE is just beautiful.

The godfather of 20th century music, and beyond!

The Best Swanlake, 1812 Overture, The Nutcracker, overture romeo and julliette

3 Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis, and one opera, Fidelio. ...read more.

Beethoven was both classical and romantic composer and he was the greatest of all time in my opinion.

4 Franz Liszt Franz Liszt was a prolific 19th-century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, music teacher, arranger, organist, philanthropist, author, nationalist and a Franciscan tertiary.

Vastly underrated. Most people only know a handful of pieces and claim him to have no substance, which is far from the truth. Just give Annees de pelerinage, or the B minor sonata, or Nuages Gris a listen and prepared to get awed by his harmonic innovativeness. As a man, he is the only Romantic composer that earns my respect. (Read the Walker biographies! )

5 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
6 Jayesvar

His piano sonatas are technically perfect but underrated!

He once said,"There is math in every
note of a music."

His words made me to study math
LOL!

His piano sonata number 1 is emotional as it made me cry

His musical compositions are very
Emotional.

7 Felix Mendelssohn

This guy is really influential, especially in the finding of Bach. I really like his string symphonies, they're light and elegant. His violin concerto and octet are of course time-honored, so I think he deserves over Liszt at least.

8 Carl Maria von Weber
9 Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms was a German composer, pianist and conductor of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna.

There were a lot of great romantic composers, plus the romantic period was long so it (kind of) had composers like Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, but as far as composers born, lived, and died in the romantic period, Brahms is the best. To me the integrity and detail in his music is like the romantic equivalent to Bach. Brahms was a genius.

10 Modest Mussorgsky
The Contenders
11 Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an Austrian composer. Schubert died before his 32nd birthday, but was extremely prolific during his lifetime. His output consists of over six hundred secular vocal works, seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of chamber and piano music. Appreciation of his music while he was alive was limited to a relatively small circle of admirers in Vienna, but interest in his work increased significantly in the decades following his death. Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms and other 19th-century composers discovered and championed his works. Today, Schubert is ranked ...read more.

One of the greatest composers in nearly every aspect- from chamber music, to lieder, to symphonies, to solo piano, to choral, and more. It is a real shame that he appears forgotten on this list.

12 Niccolo Paganini
13 Robert Schumann

I know it's been said many times, but it really is true: Schumann's music sounds more recognizably "Romantic" than any that of any other composer.

This composer is so underrated!

14 Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas.

What... #14?! People are so clueless

15 Sergei Rachmaninoff

I only want everyone to hear his Piano concertos, It's beyond, the feeling every part of this song gas somthing new,
Wow. I love him

16 Camille Saint-Saens

Great French horn solos

17 Edvard Grieg
18 Antonín Dvořák
19 Jacques Offenbach
20 Gustav Mahler

He is great!
First symphony: epic third movement
Second symphony: OMGOMGOMG
All in all, he has to go higher!

21 Giuseppe Verdi

HE is the most underrated composer of all time

22 Johann Strauss I
23 Edward Elgar
24 Richard Strauss
25 Alexander Scriabin

Very similar to Rachmaninoff, super emotional, super crazy.

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