Notable Composers and Classical Guitar Composers of each Era

Updated: 27 September 2014

 

 

Renaissance Era (1400 – 1600)

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Early ancestors of the guitar in this period: The lute and The Vihuela

Some of the main composers of this period include:

 

- Thomas Tallis (1510-1585)

- Josquin Des Prez (1440-1521)

- Pierre de La Rue (1460-1518)

- Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

- William Byrd (1543-1623)

- Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1526-1594)

- Orlando de Lassus (1530-1594)

- Giovanni Gabrieli (1553-1612)

 

For the lute and vihuela, some compositions and the main composers:

- El Maestro by Luis de Milán (1536)

- Los seys libros del Delphin by Luis de Narváez (1538)

- Tres Libros de Música by Alonso Mudarra (1546)

- Silva de sirenas by Enríquez de Valderrábano (1547)

- Libro de música de Vihuela by Diego Pisador (1552)

- Orphénica Lyra by Miguel de Fuenllana (1554)

- El Pamasso by Estevan Daça (1576)

 

 

 

Baroque Era (1600 – 1760)

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Early ancestors of the guitar in this period: The lute and the Baroque Guitar

Some of the main composers of this era include:

 

- J.S. Bach

- George Friedrich Händel

- Antonio Vivaldi

- Claudio Monteverdi

For the Baroque guitar and lute, some of the main composers were:

- Francesco Corbetta (1615–1681)

- Gaspar Sanz (1640–1710)

- Robert de Visée (1655 - 1735)

- Ludovico Roncalli (1654-1713)

- Sylvius Leopold Weiss (1687-1750)

 

 

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Classical Era (1730 – 1820)

Some of the main composers of this era include:

 

- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

- Antonio Salieri (1750-1825)

- Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787)

- Muzio Clementi (1752-1832)

- Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)

- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)

- Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

 

For guitar, some of the main composers of this era include:

- Dionisio Aguado (1784-1849)

- Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)

- Matteo Carcassi (1792-1853)

- Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841)

- Anton Diabelli (1781-1858)

- Fernando Ferandiere (1771-1816)

- Francois de Fossa (1775-1849)

- Antoine de Lhoyer (1768-1852)

- Wenzel Thomas Matiegka (1773-1830)

- Francesco Molino (1768-1847)

- Pietro (Pierre) Porro (1750- 1831)

- Fernando Sor (1778-1839)

 

 

 

Romantic Era (1820 – 1910)

Some of the main composers of this era include:

 

- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)

- Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)

- Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826)

- Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

- Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)

- Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909)

- Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840)

For guitar, some of the main composers of this era include:

- Julián Arcas (1832-1882)

- Jose Broca (1805-1882)

- Napoléon Coste (1806-1883)

- Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829)

- Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909)

- Luigi Legnani (1790-1877)

- Antonio Gimeniz Manjon (1866-1919)

- Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856)

- Giulio Regondi (1822-1872)

- Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti (1800-1878)

- Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840)