Johann Sebastian Bach was born in the German town of Eisenach in the year 1685. He was an organist, harpsichordist, violist, violinist, and composer who wrote a lot of music. He composed music for a wide range of instruments, from solo instrumental works like the Cello Suites to massive sacred choral works, instrumental concertos like the Brandenburg Concertos, and collections of keyboard music like The Well-Tempered Clavier, which pushed contemporary instruments to their limits.

Moreover, Bach also composed a number of secular cantatas, most of which were written for civic events such as council inaugurations. Wedding cantatas, the Wedding Quodlibet, the Peasant Cantata, and the Coffee Cantata are just a few examples.

Aged: 65 (1685 - 1750)
Nationality: German
Some of best-known compositions: Toccata and Fugue in D minor; Brandenburg Concertos; The Well-Tempered Clavier; Air on the G String; Goldberg Variations,…

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg on January 27, 1756, and he was already regarded as a genius as a child. At the age of six, he tried his hand at composition for the first time. Mozart authored 41 symphonies, numerous concertos, revolutionary Italian operas such as The Marriage of Figaro and Cos fan Tutte, and chamber works that are still beloved by many audiences today.

Besides, the melodic, rhythmic, and dynamic contrasts in Mozart's compositions are notable. Mozart died terribly young, at the age of 35, following a very successful career, leaving behind his profound, and profoundly beautiful, Requiem.

Aged: 35 (1756 - 1791)
Nationality: Austrian
Some of best-known compositions: Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter”; Clarinet Concerto; The "Jeunehomme" Piano Concerto; The Magic Flute,…

Ludwig van Beethoven was a musician and composer from Germany. With his talent, Beethoven is one of the most famous composers in Western music history, and his compositions are always among the most often performed in the classical music canon, spanning the transition from the Classical to the Romantic periods. Beethoven's Third 'Eroica' Symphony completely transformed orchestral music by capturing the inner struggle of the individual as well as the simple delight of existence.

In 1827, Ludwig van Beethoven died after some months of bedridden illness. However, Beethoven's works are still popular in the classical music world now.

Aged: 57 (1770-1827)
Nationality: German
Some of best-known compositions: Symphony No. 9; Grosse Fuge; Piano Concerto No. 4; "Archduke" Trio in E-flat; Op. 97, Piano Sonata No. 14 ("Moonlight"),…

During the High Middle Ages, Hildegard of Bingen, also known as Saint Hildegard and the Rhine Sibyl, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath who worked as a writer, composer, mystic, philosopher, visionary, as well as medical writer and practitioner. She was one of Europe's most powerful women during her lifetime.

She composed very expressive music that defied conventions at the time. In addition, because she was a rare woman in the Middle Ages who left manuscripts of her songs behind, the music world was able to find her work and resuscitate her songs around the 800th anniversary of her birth.

Aged: 81 (1098-1179)

Nationality: German

Some of best-known compositions: Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations,…

Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi was an Italian composer, string musician, choirmaster, and clergyman who lived from 15 May 1567 to 29 November 1643. Monteverdi, an Italian late-Renaissance and early-Baroque composer and instrumentalist was the father of the operatic genre as we know it today, having written nine books of madrigals.

L'Orfeo, his opera written in 1607, ushered in a new era of opera, including a wider range of emotions, showcasing massive staging, and pedaling fascinating plotlines. He is today recognized as a major influence in European musical history as well as a composer whose work is frequently performed and recorded.

Aged: 76 (1567-1643)
Nationality: Italian
Some of best-known compositions: L’Orfeo; Combattimento di Tancredi et Clorinda; Proserpina rapita; L’incoronazione di Poppea,…

George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer best known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Over a thirty-year period, Handel created over forty opera series. George Frideric Handel’s music has gained popularity since the late 1960s. Mozart and Beethoven, among others, were influenced greatly by his music during the Classical era.

In addition, both the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and Italian Baroque composers also inspired George Frideric Handel greatly. The Messiah's 'Hallelujah' Chorus or Handel's enduringly popular Music for the Royal Fireworks are familiar to most music enthusiasts.

Aged: 74 (1685 - 1759)

Nationality: German - British

Some of best-known compositions: Water Music Suites Nos. 1-3; Israel In Egypt; Giulio Cesare In Egitto; Best Handel Works: 10,…

Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice, the Venetian Republic's capital, and is widely recognized as one of the finest Baroque composers. His influence was broad throughout Europe during his lifetime, and he was essential in the development of Johann Sebastian Bach's instrumental music. Antonio Vivaldi, composed over 500 concertos, including the well-known Four Seasons, a set of four violin concertos depicting each season of the year.

Because of Antonio Vivaldi's mastery of melody, harmony, and scoring, the piece still sounds as fresh and vibrant now as it did when it was first heard by his contemporaries.

Aged: 63 (1678 - 1741)
Nationality: Italian
Some of best-known compositions: The Four Seasons; Gloria, RV589; Stabat Mater; L'Olimpiade; Nulla In Mundo Pax Sincera; L'Estro Armónico,...

Claude Debussy was a composer from France. Claude Debussy, an Impressionist master, added colors to music that had never been heard before, and his large-scale pieces contributed to changing music at the turn of the century. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Claude Debussy was one of the most influential composers.

The opera Pelléas et Mélisande and the perennial piano favorite Clair de Lune were both composed by the French composer. After a little more than 30 years career as a composer, Claude Debussy died of cancer at the age of 56 at his home in Paris.

Aged: 56 (1862-1918)
Nationality: French
Some of best-known compositions: Deux Arabesques; Prélude à l'Aprés-Midi d'un Faune; Suite Bergamasque; String Quartet In G Minor; Pelléas Et Mélisande,…

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Romantic-era Russian composer. He was the first Russian composer whose music had a lasting impact on the rest of the world. Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty are among the ballets created by this 19th-century Russian master, as are symphonies and concertos, as well as timeless orchestral compositions. This includes the 1812 Overture, which Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is said to have disliked, as well as the entire world afterward.

Cholera was widely blamed for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's untimely death at the age of 53, although there is still controversy about whether cholera was the real cause of his death.

Aged: 53 (1840-1893)

Nationality: Russian

Some of best-known compositions: Swan Lake; The Nutcracker; Sleeping Beauty; the Romeo and Juliet overture,…

Returning to the Classical era, Franz Joseph Haydn is the first of the “Viennese School” of composers, which also includes Mozart and Beethoven. Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer who was a key figure in the creation of the Classical musical style in the 18th century.

The son of a steelmaker, the Austrian composer became known as the "Father" of the Symphony, writing 107 of them, as well as 83 string quartets, 45 piano trios, 62 piano sonatas, 14 masses, and 26 operas, all of which contribute to the formal Classical style of Vienna.

Aged: 77 (1732-1809)

Nationality: Austrian

Some of best-known compositions: London Symphonies; The Creation; Trumpet Concerto,…