Track your journey through music history

The Spanish piano genius whose Iberia — twelve pieces of astonishing difficulty and imagination — is one of the great keyboard works of the Romantic era.

J.S. Bach's most influential son, whose stormy keyboard works and Hamburg symphonies bridged Baroque and Classical and inspired Haydn and Mozart.

The supreme contrapuntist of the Baroque era, Bach produced an encyclopaedic body of work across every genre of his time.

The leader of the Russian Five who mentored Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin, and wrote the terrifyingly difficult piano fantasy Islamey.

The composer of the Adagio for Strings — arguably the most recognised piece of 20th-century music — and a superb Violin Concerto and Piano Sonata.

The 20th century's greatest composer, who fused Hungarian folk music with modernism in six string quartets and a Concerto for Orchestra of breathtaking invention.

The titanic figure bridging Classical and Romantic eras, whose heroic creative struggle — including writing in near-total deafness — shaped all music that followed.

The most humanly accessible of the Second Viennese School, whose opera Wozzeck, Violin Concerto and Lyric Suite combine serialism with intense emotional power.

The most audacious orchestrator of the 19th century, whose Symphonie fantastique invented programme music and whose Requiem calls for a thousand performers.

The supreme Italian Classical composer after Haydn and Mozart, whose 90+ string quintets and cello concertos are full of wit, elegance and Italianate melody.

A doctor who composed in his spare time, leaving works of extraordinary power — the String Quartet No. 2, In the Steppes and the unfinished Prince Igor.

A master of Classical forms in a Romantic age, whose four symphonies, concertos and chamber works represent the summit of 19th-century absolute music.

The 20th century's greatest operatic voice in English, whose Peter Grimes, War Requiem and song cycles combine intellectual rigour with emotional directness.

The cathedral builder of symphonic music, whose nine vast symphonies and sacred choral works express a profound and unwavering Catholic faith.

The great North German organist whose Abendmusiken concerts in Lübeck attracted the young J.S. Bach — and whose organ works remain central to the repertoire.

The greatest Elizabethan composer, whose keyboard variations, masses and sacred motets define the English Renaissance at its most refined and inventive.

The poet of the piano, who invented a new sound-world of nocturnes, études and ballades almost entirely for his chosen instrument.

The great American composer who defined the sound of the American West in Appalachian Spring, Fanfare for the Common Man and Billy the Kid.

The father of the concerto grosso and the violin sonata, whose six published collections defined Baroque instrumental style for a generation.

"Le Grand Couperin" — the supreme master of French harpsichord writing, whose four Pièces de clavecin books are among the jewels of Baroque keyboard music.

The founder of musical Impressionism, whose shimmering orchestral works and revolutionary piano writing dissolved the boundaries of traditional harmony.

The great English pastoral composer whose Brigg Fair, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring and Sea Drift evoke a world of nature and autumnal beauty.

The supremely self-critical French composer best known for The Sorcerer's Apprentice — one of the most perfectly constructed orchestral scherzos ever written.

The master of Czech national music, whose New World Symphony, cello concerto and American quartet are among the most beloved works in the repertoire.

The great English Romantic, whose Enigma Variations, Cello Concerto and two symphonies gave Britain its first major symphonic voice.

Spain's greatest composer, whose Nights in the Gardens of Spain, El amor brujo and Three-Cornered Hat distil the essence of Andalusian music.

The supreme master of French melody and chamber music, whose Requiem, piano nocturnes and songs define a world of refined, luminous beauty.

The great Belgian organist-composer whose Symphony in D minor, Violin Sonata and organ chorales brought Romantic depth to the French musical tradition.

Argentina's foremost composer, whose Estancia ballet, Harp Concerto and string quartets combine Latin American rhythms with modernist technique.

The most commercially successful minimalist composer, whose operas Einstein on the Beach and Akhnaten and the film score Koyaanisqatsi have reached millions worldwide.

The master synthesist of Russian music, whose eight symphonies and Violin Concerto bridged the nationalist school and the 20th century.

The great opera reformer who stripped away Baroque ornament to create a new dramatic simplicity, paving the way for Mozart and Beethoven.

The Polish composer whose Symphony No. 3 — the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs — became an unlikely bestseller and one of the most deeply moving works of the 20th century.

The Spanish Romantic whose Goyescas and Danzas españolas painted the world of Goya in music of extraordinary poetic sensibility.

Norway's national composer, whose Piano Concerto, Peer Gynt suites and Lyric Pieces capture the rugged beauty of the Nordic landscape.

The Baroque master of oratorio and opera, whose Messiah remains one of the most performed choral works in history.

The "Father of the Symphony", who shaped the Classical style with 104 symphonies and 68 string quartets of inexhaustible invention.

The great German neoclassicist, whose Mathis der Maler Symphony and Symphonic Metamorphosis represent the highest achievements of 20th-century craftsmanship.

The English composer whose Planets suite remains one of the most popular orchestral works ever written, alongside the delightful St Paul's Suite.

The most serious of Les Six, whose Pacific 231, five symphonies and dramatic oratorios — including Joan of Arc at the Stake — have genuine depth and grandeur.

One of the most original voices in music, whose late operas — Jenůfa, Kát'a Kabanová, The Cunning Little Vixen — burst with raw human drama.

The greatest piano virtuoso of the 19th century, who invented the symphonic poem and transformed the possibilities of keyboard writing.

The Italian-born master of the French Baroque court who created the tragédie en musique and dominated French musical life under Louis XIV for three decades.

The great symphonist of life, death and transcendence, whose vast canvases stretched the orchestra to its limits and pointed the way to the 20th century.

A prodigy who wrote his Octet at 16, producing some of the most polished and joyful music of the Romantic era.

The mystical French genius who composed the Quartet for the End of Time in a POW camp and spent his career translating bird song and Catholic faith into sound.

The prolific member of Les Six who pioneered jazz-influenced polytonality, creating La Création du monde decades before jazz entered the concert hall.

The father of opera and the bridge between Renaissance and Baroque, whose L'Orfeo and madrigal books transformed Western music forever.

A prodigious genius who achieved unsurpassed mastery across opera, symphony, concerto and chamber music in his 35 years.

The raw, visionary genius of Russian music whose Pictures at an Exhibition and Boris Godunov sacrificed polish for dramatic truth.

Denmark's greatest composer, whose six symphonies — especially The Inextinguishable and Sinfonia semplice — rank among the finest of the 20th century.

The defining voice of Renaissance polyphony, whose Missa Papae Marcelli and 104 masses represent the summit of Catholic sacred music.

The Estonian master of tintinnabuli — whose Spiegel im Spiegel and Fratres are among the most listened-to classical works of our time.

The witty, devout member of Les Six whose Gloria, Stabat Mater, Dialogues des Carmélites and songs combine elegance with sudden depths of feeling.

The master of irony and lyricism, whose Romeo and Juliet, Peter and the Wolf and five piano concertos combine wit, drive and melodic beauty.

The master of operatic heartbreak, whose La bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly are the most performed operas in the world.

England's greatest composer before Elgar, whose Dido and Aeneas, semi-operas and anthems combine Baroque grandeur with intense English lyricism.

The supreme melodist of late Romanticism, whose piano concertos and symphonies combine brooding intensity with soaring lyricism.

The master of French Baroque opera and harpsichord music, whose Hippolyte et Aricie and Les Indes galantes are monuments of theatrical imagination.

The supreme craftsman of French music, whose Boléro, piano concertos and orchestral showpieces combine precision with shimmering colour.

The supreme Italian orchestrator of the early 20th century, whose Roman trilogy — Fountains, Pines and Festivals of Rome — dazzles with colour and grandeur.

The supreme orchestrator of the 19th century, whose Scheherazade, Spanish Capriccio and fifteen operas dazzle with colour and invention.

The blind Spanish composer whose Concierto de Aranjuez — written entirely from memory — is the most beloved guitar concerto ever composed.

The consummate French craftsman, whose Organ Symphony, Carnival of the Animals and five piano concertos are cornerstones of the repertoire.

The eccentric French pioneer whose Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes anticipated minimalism and ambient music by a century.

The supreme master of the keyboard sonata, whose 555 single-movement works for harpsichord are endlessly inventive, witty and technically demanding.

The inventor of the twelve-tone technique and the most influential composer of the 20th century, whose Pierrot lunaire and Gurrelieder remain essential listening.

The creator of the German Lied as an art form, who poured extraordinary beauty into over 600 songs, 9 symphonies and sublime late chamber works in just 31 years.

A quintessentially Romantic spirit, whose intense piano cycles, visionary song cycles — including Dichterliebe — and four symphonies express a profoundly literary imagination.

The father of German music, who brought Italian Baroque style to Germany in his Passions and Symphoniae Sacrae, paving the way for Bach.

The Russian mystic whose piano sonatas and orchestral poems pushed Romanticism to the threshold of atonality with visionary, incandescent results.

The great tragic voice of the 20th century, who composed 15 symphonies and 15 string quartets under the shadow of Soviet totalitarianism.

Finland's national composer, whose seven symphonies and tone poems like Finlandia and Tapiola capture the elemental force of the Nordic landscape.

The father of Czech national music, whose Má vlast — including The Moldau — and The Bartered Bride are defining works of musical nationalism.

The late-Romantic master of the symphonic poem and opera, from the audacious Also sprach Zarathustra to the serene Four Last Songs.

The most influential composer of the 20th century, whose Firebird, Petrushka and Rite of Spring transformed the musical landscape forever.

The greatest Tudor composer, whose 40-part motet Spem in alium and Lamentations of Jeremiah represent the summit of English Renaissance polyphony.

The greatest violin virtuoso of the Baroque era, whose Devil's Trill Sonata remains one of the most technically demanding works in the violin repertoire.

The most popular of all classical composers, whose ballets, symphonies and concertos combine melodic genius with intense emotional power.

The most prolific composer in history, whose Tafelmusik and Paris Quartets show a wit and elegance that made him the most celebrated composer of his day.

The defining voice of English music, whose Lark Ascending, nine symphonies and Tallis Fantasia draw on folk song to create a uniquely pastoral sound-world.

The titan of Italian opera, whose Rigoletto, Aida, Otello and Falstaff define the form and remain the backbone of the operatic repertoire.

Brazil's greatest composer, whose Bachianas Brasileiras and Choros series fuse Brazilian folk idioms with Baroque counterpoint in a completely original synthesis.

The Red Priest of Venice, whose 500+ concertos — including The Four Seasons — defined the Baroque concerto form and influenced every composer who followed.

The revolutionary operatic genius whose Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal transformed music drama and pushed tonality to its limits.

The miniaturist of the Second Viennese School, whose compressed, jewel-like works influenced virtually every composer after 1945.

The supreme Lieder composer after Schubert and Schumann, whose Mörike-, Goethe- and Italian Songbooks set the German art song at its absolute peak.