100 Greatest Composers
1. Ludwig Van Beethoven - 1770-1827
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - 1756-1791
3. Johann Sebastian Bach - 1685-1750
4. Richard Wagner - 1813-1883
5. Joseph Haydn - 1732-1809
6. Johannes Brahms - 1833-1897
7. Franz Schubert - 1797-1828
8. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky - 1840-1893
9. George Frideric Handel - 1685-1759
10. Igor Stravinsky - 1882-1971
11. Robert Schumann - 1810-1856
12. Frederic Chopin - 1810-1849
13. Felix Mendelssohn - 1809-1847
14. Claude Debussy - 1862-1918
15. Franz Liszt - 1811-1886
16. Antonin Dvorak - 1841-1904
17. Giuseppe Verdi - 1813-1901
18. Gustav Mahler - 1860-1911
19. Hector Berlioz - 1803-1869
20. Antonio Vivaldi - 1678-1741
21. Richard Strauss - 1864-1949
22. Serge Prokofiev - 1891-1953
23. Dmitri Shostakovich - 1906-1975
24. Béla Bartók - 1881-1945
25. Anton Bruckner - 1824-1896
26. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina - 1525-1594
27. Claudio Monteverdi - 1567-1643
28. Jean Sibelius - 1865-1957
29. Maurice Ravel - 1875-1937
30. Ralph Vaughan Williams - 1872-1958
31. Modest Mussorgsky - 1839-1881
32. Giacomo Puccini - 1858-1924
33. Henry Purcell - 1659-1695
34. Gioacchino Rossini - 1792-1868
35. Edward Elgar - 1857-1934
36. Sergei Rachmaninoff - 1873-1943
37. Camille Saint-Saëns - 1835-1921
38. Josquin Des Prez - c.1440-1521
39. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - 1844-1908
40. Carl Maria von Weber - 1786-1826
41. Jean-Philippe Rameau - 1683-1764
42. Jean-Baptiste Lully - 1632-1687
43. Gabriel Fauré - 1845-1924
44. Edvard Grieg - 1843-1907
45. Christoph Willibald Gluck - 1714-1787
46. Arnold Schoenberg - 1874-1951
47. Charles Ives - 1874-1954
48. Paul Hindemith - 1895-1963
49. Olivier Messiaen - 1908-1992
50. Aaron Copland - 1900-1990
51. François Couperin - 1668-1733
52. William Byrd - 1539-1623
53. Erik Satie - 1866-1925
54. Benjamin Britten - 1913-1976
55. Bedrick Smetana - 1824-1884
56. César Franck - 1822-1890
57. Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin - 1872-1915
58. Georges Bizet - 1838-1875
59. Domenico Scarlatti - 1685-1757
60. Georg Philipp Telemann - 1681-1767
61. Anton Webern - 1883-1945
62. Roland de Lassus - 1532-1594 *
63. George Gershwin - 1898-1937
64. Gaetano Donizetti - 1797-1848 *
65. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - 1714-1788
66. Archangelo Corelli - 1653-1713
67. Thomas Tallis - 1505-1585
68. Jules Massenet - 1842-1912
69. Johann Strauss II - 1825-1899
70. Leos Janácek - 1854-1928
71. Guillaume de Machaut - 1300-1377 *
72. Alban Berg - 1885-1935
73. Alexander Borodin - 1833-1887
74. Vincenzo Bellini - 1801-1835 *
75. Charles Gounod - 1818-1893
76. Francis Poulenc - 1899-1963
77. Giovanni Gabrieli - 1554-1612 *
78. Pérotin - 1160-1225 *
79. Heinrich Schütz - 1585-1672 *
80. John Cage - 1912-1992
81. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi - 1710-1736
82. John Dowland - 1563-1626 *
83. Gustav Holst - 1874-1934
84. Dietrich Buxtehude - 1637-1707 *
85. Ottorino Respighi - 1879-1936
86. Guillaume Dufay - 1400-1474 *
87. Hugo Wolf - 1860-1903 *
88. Carl Nielsen - 1865-1931 *
89. William Walton - 1902-1983 *
90. Darius Milhaud - 1892-1974
91. Orlando Gibbons - 1583-1625 *
92. Giacomo Meyerbeer - 1791-1864 *
93. Samuel Barber - 1910-1981
94. Tomás Luis de Victoria - 1549-1611 *
95. Léonin - 1135-1201 *
96. Manuel de Falla - 1876-1946
97. Hildegard von Bingen - 1098-1179 *
98. Mikhail Glinka - 1804-1857
99. Alexander Glazunov - 1865-1936
100. Don Carlo Gesualdo - 1566-1613 *


Greatest Composers by Era

Pre-1820
1. Beethoven (1770 - 1827)*
2. Mozart (1756 – 1791)
3. Bach (1685-1750)
4. Haydn (1732-1809)
5. Schubert (1797-1828)*
6. Handel (1685-1759)
7. Vivaldi (1678-1741)
8. Palestrina (1525-1594)
9. Monteverdi (1567-1643)
10. Purcell (1659-1695)
11. Des Prez (1440-1521)
12. Rameau (1683-1764)
13. Lully (1632-1687)
14. Gluck (1714-1787)
15. Couperin (1668-1733)
16. Byrd (1539-1623)
17. D. Scarlatti (1685-1757)
18. Telemann (1681-1767)
19. Lassus (1530 - 1594)
20. C.P.E. Bach (1714 -1788)
21. Corelli (1653-1713)
22. Tallis (1505 - 1585)
23. de Machaut (1300-1377)
24. Gabrieli (1558 - 1613)
25. Pérotin (1160-1225)
26. Schütz (1585-1672)
27. Pergolesi (1710-1736)
28. Dowland (1563-1626)
29. Buxtehude (1637 - 1707)
30. Dufay (1400-1474)
31. Gibbons (1583 - 1625)
32. Victoria (1549-1611)
33. Léonin (1135-1201)
34. Hildegard (1098-1179)
35. Gesualdo (1566-1613)
36. J.C. Bach (1735 - 1782)
37. A. Scarlatti (1660-1725)
38. Ockeghem (1410-1497)
39. Spohr (1784-1859)
40. Boccherini (1745-1801)
41. Cherubini (1760 - 1842)
42. Charpentier (1643 - 1704)
43. Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
44. Carissimi (1605-1674)
45. Dunstable (1390-1453)
46. Marenzio (1553-1599)
47. Hummel (1778-1837)
48. Hasse (1699-1783)
49. Clementi (1752 - 1832)
50. Praetorious (1571 - 1621)

Honorable Mentions:
Antoine Brumel
Antoine Busnois
Antonio de Cabezon
Biagio Marini
Cristobal de Morales
Christopher Tye
Clement Janequin
Domenico Cimarosa
Francesco Cavalli
Giulio Caccini
Heinrich von Biber
Gaspare Spontini
Georgio Allegri
Gilles Binchois
Giovanni Battista Sammartini
Giuseppe Tartini
Giuseppe Torelli
Heinrich Issac
Jacob Arcadelt
Jacob Obrecht
Jacopo Peri
Jakob Johann Froberger
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
Johann Gottfried Walther
Johann Joachim Quantz
Johann Pachelbel
Johann Schein
Johann Stamitz
John Blow
John Field *
John Taverner
Matthew Locke
Michael Haydn
Nicholas Gombert
Pierre de La Rue
Salamone Rossi
Samuel Scheidt
Sylvius Leopold Weiss
Thomas Arne
Thomas Morley
Thomas Weelkes
Tomaso Albinoni
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

Romantic
1. Wagner (1813 - 1883)
2. Brahms (1833-1897)
3. Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893)
4. Schumann (1810 - 1856)
5. Chopin (1810 - 1849)
6. Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847)
7. Liszt (1811 - 1886)
8. Dvorak (1841 - 1904)
9. Verdi (1813 - 1901)
10. Mahler (1860 - 1911)
11. Berlioz (1803 - 1869)
12. Strauss (1864 - 1949)*
13. Bruckner (1824 - 1896)
14. Sibelius (1865 - 1957)*
15. Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881)
16. Puccini (1858 - 1924)
17. Rossini (1792 - 1868)
18. Elgar (1857 - 1934)
19. Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943)*
20. Saint-Saens (1835 - 1921)
21. Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 - 1908)
22. Weber (1786-1826)
23. Fauré (1845 - 1924)*
24. Grieg (1843 - 1907)
25. Smetana (1824-1884)
26. Franck (1822 - 1890)
27. Scriabin (1872 - 1915)
28. Bizet (1838 - 1875)
29. Donizetti (1797 - 1848)
30. Massenet - 1842-1912
31. J. Strauss, Jr. (1825 - 1899)
32. Borodin (1833 - 1887)
33. Bellini (1801 - 1835)
34. Gounod (1818 - 1893)
35. Holst (1874 - 1934)*
36. Respighi (1879 - 1936)
37. Wolf (1860 - 1903)
38. Meyerbeer (1791 - 1864)
39. Glinka (1803 - 1857)
40. Glazunov (1865 - 1936)
41. Paganini (1782-1840)
42. Offenbach (1819 - 1880)
43. Reger (1873 - 1916)
44. Bruch (1838 - 1920)
45. Delibes (1836 - 1891)
46. Busoni (1866 - 1924)
47. Delius (1862 – 1934)
48. Albéniz (1860 - 1909)
49. Balakirev (1837 – 1910)
50. Sullivan (1842 – 1900)

Honorable Mentions:
Adolphe Adam
Amilcare Ponchielli
Amy Beach
Anton Rubinstein
Arrigo Boito
Carl Loewe
César Cui
Charles-Marie Widor
Charles Stanford
Charles-Valentin Alkan
Edouard Lalo
Edward German
Edward MacDowell
Emmanuel Chabrier
Enrique Granados
Ernest Chausson
Eugene Ysaÿe
Francisco Tarrega
Franz Berwald
Franz Lehár
Franz Schmidt
George Whitefield Chadwick
Gustave Charpentier
Henryk Wieniawski
Horatio Parker
Johann Strauss, Sr.
Joseph Canteloube
Karl Goldmark
Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Michael William Balfe
Niels Wilhelm Gade
Pablo Sarasate
Pietro Mascagni
Paul Dukas
Reinhold Glière
Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Vincent d'Indy

Modern
1. Stravinsky (1882 - 1971)
2. Debussy (1862 - 1918)
3. Prokofiev (1891 - 1953)
4. Shostakovich (1906 - 1975)
5. Bartók (1881 - 1945)
6. Ravel (1875 - 1937)
7. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 – 1958)
8. Schoenberg (1874 - 1951)
9. C. Ives (1874 - 1954)
10. Hindemith (1895 - 1963)
11. Messiaen (1908 - 1992)
12. Copland (1900 - 1990)
13. Satie (1866 - 1925)
14. Britten (1913 - 1976)
15. Webern (1883 - 1945)
16. Gershwin (1898 - 1937)
17. Janácek (1854-1928)
18. Berg (1885 - 1935)
19. Poulenc (1899 - 1963)
20. Cage (1912 - 1992)
21. Nielsen (1865 - 1931)
22. Walton (1902 - 1983)
23. Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
24. Barber (1910 - 1981)
25. Falla (1876 - 1946)
26. Honegger (1892 - 1955)
27. Tippett (1905 - 1998)
28. Kodály (1882 - 1967)
29. Martinu (1890 - 1959)
30. Varèse (1883 - 1965)
31. Szymanowski (1882 - 1937)
32. Orff (1895 - 1982)
33. Bernstein (1918 - 1990)
34. Bax (1883 - 1953)
35. Khachaturian (1903 - 1978)
36. Villa-Lobos (1887 - 1959)
37. Weill (1900 - 1950)
38. Maxwell Davies (1934 -
39. Lutoslawski (1913 - 1994)
40. Roussel (1869 - 1937)
41. Henze (1926 -
42. Bliss (1891 – 1975)
43. Rodrigo (1901 - 1999)
44. Pärt (1935 -
45. Adams (1947 -
46. Kabalevsky (1904 – 1987)
47. Dallapiccola (1904 - 1975)
48. Enescu (1881 – 1955)
49. Bloch (1880 - 1959)
50. Duruflé (1902 – 1986)

Honorable Mentions:
Alan Hovhaness
Alexander von Zemlinsky
Andre Previn
Astor Piazzolla
Bernard Herrmann
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Carlos Chávez
Dame Ethel Smyth
Elliott Carter
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
George Antheil
George Crumb
Giacinto Scelsi
Gian Carlo Menotti
György Ligeti
Hanns Eisler
Howard Hanson
Iannis Xenakis
Jacques Ibert
John Ireland
John Philip Sousa
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Lou Harrison
Luciano Berio
Luigi Nono
Malcolm Arnold
Marc Blitzstein
Michael Torke
Milton Byron Babbitt
Morton Gould
Nikos Skalkottas
Nino Rota
Pierre Boulez
Percy Grainger
Peter Warlock
Philip Glass
Ruth Crawford Seeger
Steve Reich
Virgil Thomson
Walter Piston
William Schuman

Revisions:

Composers
1. Ludwig Van Beethoven - 1770-1827
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - 1756-1791
3. Johann Sebastian Bach - 1685-1750
4. Richard Wagner - 1813-1883
5. Joseph Haydn - 1732-1809
6. Johannes Brahms - 1833-1897
7. Franz Schubert - 1797-1828
8. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky - 1840-1893
9. George Frideric Handel - 1685-1759
10. Igor Stravinsky - 1882-1971
11. Robert Schumann - 1810-1856
12. Frederic Chopin - 1810-1849
13. Felix Mendelssohn - 1809-1847
14. Claude Debussy - 1862-1918
15. Franz Liszt - 1811-1886
16. Antonin Dvorak - 1841-1904
17. Giuseppe Verdi - 1813-1901
18. Gustav Mahler - 1860-1911
19. Hector Berlioz - 1803-1869
20. Antonio Vivaldi - 1678-1741
21. Richard Strauss - 1864-1949
22. Serge Prokofiev - 1891-1953
23. Dmitri Shostakovich - 1906-1975
24. Béla Bartók - 1881-1945
25. Anton Bruckner - 1824-1896
26. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina - 1525-1594
27. Claudio Monteverdi - 1567-1643
28. Jean Sibelius - 1865-1957
29. Maurice Ravel - 1875-1937
30. Ralph Vaughan Williams - 1872-1958
31. Modest Mussorgsky - 1839-1881
32. Giacomo Puccini - 1858-1924
33. Henry Purcell - 1659-1695
34. Gioacchino Rossini - 1792-1868
35. Edward Elgar - 1857-1934
36. Sergei Rachmaninoff - 1873-1943
37. Camille Saint-Saëns - 1835-1921
38. Josquin Des Prez - c.1440-1521 *
39. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - 1844-1908
40. Carl Maria von Weber - 1786-1826 *
41. Jean-Philippe Rameau - 1683-1764
42. Jean-Baptiste Lully - 1632-1687 *
43. Gabriel Fauré - 1845-1924
44. Edvard Grieg - 1843-1907
45. Christoph Willibald Gluck - 1714-1787 *
46. Arnold Schoenberg - 1874-1951
47. Charles Ives - 1874-1954
48. Paul Hindemith - 1895-1963
49. Olivier Messiaen - 1908-1992
50. Aaron Copland - 1900-1990
51. François Couperin - 1668-1733
52. William Byrd - 1539-1623
53. Erik Satie - 1866-1925
54. Benjamin Britten - 1913-1976
55. Bedrick Smetana - 1824-1884
56. César Franck - 1822-1890
57. Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin - 1872-1915
58. Georges Bizet - 1838-1875
59. Domenico Scarlatti - 1685-1757
60. Georg Philipp Telemann - 1681-1767
61. Anton Webern - 1883-1945
62. Roland de Lassus - 1532-1594 *
63. George Gershwin - 1898-1937
64. Gaetano Donizetti - 1797-1848 *
65. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - 1714-1788
66. Archangelo Corelli - 1653-1713
67. Thomas Tallis - 1505-1585
68. Johann Strauss II - 1825-1899
69. Leos Janácek - 1854-1928
70. Guillaume de Machaut - 1300-1377 *
71. Alban Berg - 1885-1935
72. Alexander Borodin - 1833-1887
73. Vincenzo Bellini - 1801-1835 *
74. Charles Gounod - 1818-1893
75. Jules Massenet - 1842-1912
76. Francis Poulenc - 1899-1963
77. Giovanni Gabrieli - 1554-1612 *
78. Pérotin - 1160-1225 *
79. Heinrich Schütz - 1585-1672 *
80. John Cage - 1912-1992
81. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi - 1710-1736
82. John Dowland - 1563-1626 *
83. Gustav Holst - 1874-1934
84. Dietrich Buxtehude - 1637-1707 *
85. Ottorino Respighi - 1879-1936
86. Guillaume Dufay - 1400-1474 *
87. Hugo Wolf - 1860-1903 *
88. Carl Nielsen - 1865-1931 *
89. William Walton - 1902-1983 *
90. Darius Milhaud - 1892-1974
91. Orlando Gibbons - 1583-1625 *
92. Giacomo Meyerbeer - 1791-1864 *
93. Samuel Barber - 1910-1981
94. Tomás Luis de Victoria - 1549-1611 *
95. Léonin - 1135-1201 *
96. Manuel de Falla - 1876-1946
97. Hildegard von Bingen - 1098-1179 *
98. Mikhail Glinka - 1804-1857
99. Alexander Glazunov - 1865-1936
100. Don Carlo Gesualdo - 1566-1613 *

Pre-1820
1. Beethoven (1770 - 1827)*
2. Mozart (1756 – 1791)
3. Bach (1685-1750)
4. Haydn (1732-1809)
5. Schubert (1797-1828)*
6. Handel (1685-1759)
7. Vivaldi (1678-1741)
8. Palestrina (1525-1594)
9. Monteverdi (1567-1643)
10. Purcell (1659-1695)
11. Des Prez (1440-1521)
12. Rameau (1683-1764)
13. Lully (1632-1687)
14. Gluck (1714-1787)
15. Couperin (1668-1733)
16. Byrd (1539-1623)
17. D. Scarlatti (1685-1757)
18. Telemann (1681-1767)
19. Lassus (1530 - 1594)
20. C.P.E. Bach (1714 -1788)
21. Corelli (1653-1713)
22. Tallis (1505 - 1585)
23. de Machaut (1300-1377)
24. Gabrieli (1558 - 1613)
25. Pérotin (1160-1225)
26. Schütz (1585-1672)
27. Pergolesi (1710-1736)
28. Dowland (1563-1626)
29. Buxtehude (1637 - 1707)
30. Dufay (1400-1474)
31. Gibbons (1583 - 1625)
32. Victoria (1549-1611)
33. Léonin (1135-1201)
34. Hildegard (1098-1179)
35. Gesualdo (1566-1613)
36. J.C. Bach (1735 - 1782)
37. A. Scarlatti (1660-1725)
38. Ockeghem (1410-1497)
39. Spohr (1784-1859)
40. Boccherini (1745-1801)
41. Cherubini (1760 - 1842)
42. Charpentier (1643 - 1704)
43. Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
44. Carissimi (1605-1674)
45. Dunstable (1390-1453)
46. Marenzio (1553-1599)
47. Hummel (1778-1837)
48. Clementi (1752 - 1832)
49. Zelenka (1679-1745) *
50. Praetorious (1571 - 1621)

Antoine Brumel
Antoine Busnois
Antonio de Cabezon
Biagio Marini
Cristobal de Morales
Christopher Tye
Clement Janequin
Domenico Cimarosa
Francesco Cavalli
Giulio Caccini
Heinrich von Biber
Gaspare Spontini
Georgio Allegri
Gilles Binchois
Giovanni Battista Sammartini
Giuseppe Tartini
Giuseppe Torelli
Heinrich Issac
Jacob Arcadelt
Jacob Obrecht
Jacopo Peri
Jakob Johann Froberger
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
Johann Adolf Hasse
Johann Gottfried Walther
Johann Joachim Quantz
Johann Pachelbel
Johann Schein
Johann Stamitz
John Blow
John Field *
John Taverner
Matthew Locke
Michael Haydn
Nicholas Gombert
Pierre de La Rue
Salamone Rossi
Samuel Scheidt
Sylvius Leopold Weiss
Thomas Arne
Thomas Morley
Thomas Weelkes
Tomaso Albinoni
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

Romantic
1. Wagner (1813 - 1883)
2. Brahms (1833-1897)
3. Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893)
4. Schumann (1810 - 1856)
5. Chopin (1810 - 1849)
6. Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847)
7. Liszt (1811 - 1886)
8. Dvorak (1841 - 1904)
9. Verdi (1813 - 1901)
10. Mahler (1860 - 1911)
11. Berlioz (1803 - 1869)
12. Strauss (1864 - 1949)*
13. Bruckner (1824 - 1896)
14. Sibelius (1865 - 1957)*
15. Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881)
16. Puccini (1858 - 1924)
17. Rossini (1792 - 1868)
18. Elgar (1857 - 1934)
19. Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943)*
20. Saint-Saens (1835 - 1921)
21. Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 - 1908)
22. Weber (1786-1826)
23. Fauré (1845 - 1924)*
24. Grieg (1843 - 1907)
25. Smetana (1824-1884)
26. Franck (1822 - 1890)
27. Scriabin (1872 - 1915)
28. Bizet (1838 - 1875)
29. Donizetti (1797 - 1848)
30. J. Strauss, Jr. (1825 - 1899)
31. Borodin (1833 - 1887)
32. Bellini (1801 - 1835)
33. Gounod (1818 - 1893)
34. Massenet (1842 - 1912)
35. Holst (1874 - 1934)*
36. Respighi (1879 - 1936)
37. Wolf (1860 - 1903)
38. Meyerbeer (1791 - 1864)
39. Glinka (1803 - 1857)
40. Glazunov (1865 - 1936)
41. Paganini (1782-1840)
42. Offenbach (1819 - 1880)
43. Reger (1873 - 1916)
44. Bruch (1838 - 1920)
45. Delibes (1836 - 1891)
46. Busoni (1866 - 1924)
47. Delius (1862 – 1934)
48. Albéniz (1860 - 1909)
49. Balakirev (1837 – 1910)
50. Sullivan (1842 – 1900)

Vaughan Williams is missing his dates on the modern list, 1872 – 1958

Thanks John, I added them. The reason they were missing is that the main site list was copied from here, and there isn't room for them on the main site page. But of course on this thread, it's not a problem.

Can Glazunov not make way for Paganini in top 100? (they are next to each other on the list)
Gounod should also be higher on "Romantic list" I think. ("Faust" is better then all of Massnet and Borodin put toghether and is much higher on the Opera list so ther is a bit of inconsistency with this.)

Could you give an explanation for why you think Paganini should be ahead of Glazunov?

In Borodin's case, there's definitely no inconsistency. He wasn't primarily an opera composer, so his being behind Gounod doesn't mean any more for the overall list than Beethoven being behind Verdi on the opera list. Even with Massenet, it's not really an inconsistency, because he has 3 works on the opera list while Gounod has 2, and a composer's overall greatness doesn't always equal the combined greatness of his works. That being said, my initial judgement as I look at that list is not so much that Gounod is low but that Massenet is a little high, that maybe Gounod and Borodin should both be ahead of him. I haven't really looked at the J. Strauss and Bellini comparisons yet.

In case of Paganini I think that regardles of his merits as a composer he is such an iconic figure in music history
that it would be good to see him at least on top 100 list. Morover some of his compositions are defenatly better
known then anything by Glazunov and also used as a base for number of other compositions(Rachmaninofs "Rapsody" is a good example)

As for Gounod I think that apart from his operas he has some other good compositions. His Church music was
widly recognised in his own day so much so that he was even given a task of writing Vatican Anthem!(Or was it
some incidental music for Pope? anyway the present Vatican anthem is by Gounod.)

He is an iconic figure, but so is Leonard Bernstein. For this list, they are ranked as composers, not for their overall importance to music.

I've posted revisions in the 2nd post of the all-time list and Romantic list, dropping Massenet below Gounod on both.

I think some changes could still be made to this list. What do you think of all the early pre-renesance
composers beeing on the same list as baroque and then on the same "Greatest" list. Is it not better
to have separate list for them and make Des Prez a cut of point? Hildegard and Leonin are semi-legendary
figures and if they are on the list then I would suggest adding Orpheus as the "first great composer", or
even better we could start with Sirens who sang to Ulysses? After all their music should have been
prety good if it had such a strong attraction:) What do you think?

i think they should be on the list as they are part of the same tradition/lineage, and i also think they are absurdly, ridiculously, insanely, criminally underrated

The list basically goes back to the beginning of written music, and as George said, they're part of the same lineage. Later music proceded from the music of Hildegard, Leonin, and their contemporaries. Any connection between these composers and those of antiquity, if the latter can even be called composers, is much more indirect. So drawing the line between medieval and ancient music is much less arbitrary than drawing it before Des Prez would be.

The lists by era began when I was posting here, but before I edited the classical lists. At the time I questioned the idea of creating lists by era, but then only having separate era lists for romantic and modern while putting classical, baroque, renaissance, and medieval all on the same list. They did them this way because of the difficulty of coming up with a long enough list for each of the 4 earlier eras and for display purposes for the page on the main site. It's possible to make 3 columns on the main site page, displaying all 3 lists side by side, but 6 columns wouldn't be possible, and even 4 would be questionable.

I understand this and I agree with George in finding some of medivial music wonderfull, but the point
is that even in case of Des Prez much of his music is mad up of "attributed" stuff and there is practicaly
no way of knowing how much of it he really wrote. What can then be said about(written!) music of 12-century Germany! In many cases all we know is based on a single manuscript "discovered" in 19-th century by some nationalist in love with medivial past of his country.(Ockengheim) So then the question is: to what extent can we trust this music history?

Found the Siren names on the web. They were: Peisinoe, Aglaope, and Thelxiepeia. I guess it was
Thelxiepeia who composed music for sisters. So should we not include her? Alongside with Xenakis so that
he does not feel lonly:)