Bach,Johann Sebastian

* Born:Eisenach (Germany),21 March 1685

* Died:28 July 1750

One of the greatest Baroque composers along with Handel.His most famous works are probably the Brandenburg Concerti,the Well-tempered clavier,The art of fugue,his Mass in B-minor,and the St.Matthew Passion.Needless to say,I wholeheartedly recommend each and every one of the above works.

From what I鈥檝e read and heard,Bach is now considered somewhat atypical as far as Baroque composers go.His 鈥渙bsession鈥 with the fugue was apparently rather anachronistic; most other composers of the same era held that the fugue was an out-dated form.

Beethoven,Ludwig van

* Born:Bonn,16 December 1770

* Died:Vienna,26 March 1827

Without doubt,one of the true greats.Just awesome,man.Beethoven didn鈥檛 write as much as Mozart or Schubert,but what he produced is all worth listening to.(The stereotype has it that he sweated over every note in a way that Mozart didn鈥檛.This makes light of Mozart unduly however; letters of his describe how he found the composition of works such as his later quartets very hard.)

I can recommend all of Beethoven鈥檚 symphonies but in particular,the third (Eroica),the fifth,the sixth (鈥淧astoral鈥?,the seventh and the ninth (鈥淐horal鈥?.The last three piano concerti (nos.3,4 and 5),the Missa Solemnis,the triple concerto (for violin,piano and cello) and the string quartets are also all well worth listening to.

Apart from the triple concerto mentioned above,a wonderful violin concerto,and a Choral Fantasy for piano,orchestra and choir,I believe that Beethoven didn鈥檛 write any other concerti for orchestral instruments.Though this seems a shame,I suspect it was probably because he had little experience of other instruments.(Beethoven was primarily a pianist,having earned his living for a while in Vienna from performing,but did also play the viola).My own theory is that perhaps this came about because concerti for instruments for other instruments seemed unduly 鈥渓ight鈥?

Of course,one of the most famous things about Beethoven as a person was his deafness.I find it hard to imagine being able to compose music as wonderful as the Choral symphony whilst being unable to hear the music except in one鈥檚 head.There is an impressive,but rather sad,story about how Beethoven was encouraged to help conduct at a rehearsal for the Choral symphony.Even as the rehearsal finished,Beethoven was still conducting to the orchestra,and he had to be made aware that the musicians had finished playing.

Brahms,Johannes

* Born:Hamburg,7 May 1833

* Died:Vienna,3 April 1897

A prominent Romantic composer,(in)famous in his day for looking back to earlier musical styles (such as those of Beethoven,Mozart and Bach) rather than following the trend towards the styles of Wagner and Liszt.This is not a criticism in my eyes,but then I am a Brahms fan.I definitely approve of the fact that Cambridge University gave Brahms an honorary degree.

It has long been an accepted myth that Brahms鈥檚 childhood was spent in what was a fairly seedy part of Hamburg,and that at the age of twelve,he was playing the piano in a bar,consorting with the good folk of that area,and generally getting what was probably a fairly untypical education for a composer.However,I believe that this myth has now been thoroughly debunked,and that while Brahms had a relatively poor upbringing he wasn鈥檛 quite the piano player in the brothel that legend would like him to have been.

Brahms was good friends with Robert Schumann and his wife Clara.Clara survived her husband by many years,and she and Brahms were very close.I believe most authorities consider this to have been a solely Platonic relationship.In any case,Brahms was apparently a pretty difficult character to get on with.He never married,but managed lots of tiffs with his friends (the Schumanns and the violinist Joachim for whom,and with whose help,he wrote the violin concerto).

Brahms鈥檚 major works include all four of his symphonies,Ein Deutsches Requiem,the two piano concerti,the violin concerto and the clarinet quintet.(This latter apparently so impressed Clara Schumann that she became reconciled with Brahms after them having drifted apart over some misunderstanding.)

Chopin,Frederic (Fryderyk)

* Born:Zelazowa Wola (Poland),1 March 1810

* Died:Paris,17 October 1849

A composer famed for his ability at the piano,who in turn wrote the vast majority of his music for that instrument.Many of his pieces are quite short (being Rondos,Mazurkas and the like) but they are all beautiful.Not being a piano player myself,it is difficult to appreciate their comparative difficulty,but I am assured that most of Chopin鈥檚 music is very difficult to play.

Haydn,(Franz) Joseph

* Born:Rohrau,Austria,31 March 1732

* Died:31 May 1809

Contemporary and friend of Mozart.He wrote 104 symphonies,arguably creating the form as we understand it today.The last 12 of these are known as the London symphonies,being written on the occasion of two visits to London in the 1790s,and are very good.Haydn is also credited with the development of the string quartet into a form capable of real feeling and subtlety.

One shouldn鈥檛 assume that Haydn鈥檚 pioneering rôle in the development of the symphony and the string quartet means that his pieces have been superseded by subsequent composers鈥 works.Indeed,one of the many ways in which his music seems impressive is the self-assurance with which a relatively limited palette is explored.