List of American Composers

Introduction

This is a list of American classical composers, both real and fictional. The fictional ones are intended to become a reality in a separate timeline or in revised history. However, the names of these composers inserted into this list are largely hypothetical. That is, they may or may not be named as such after history is changed. The names of these composers are highlighted in boldface.

The purpose of the presence of these composers is to make more compositional geniuses out of the people of America. European countries, particularly Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, England, and Russia are to be abundant in genius composers since the Renaissance, and America since the Baroque era. These 8 nations are the nucleus of Western classical music and composition, and thus these are the nationalities I choose to focus on.

Baroque (c1615-c1760)

• John Whipple (b. England) (1592 – 1673)
• Thomas Young (b. England) (1594 – 1652)
• James Waller (b. England) (1597 – 1674)
• Charles Greenley (b. England) (1602 – 1681)
• Arthur Wagstaff (b. England) (1604 – 1673)
• Andreas Vanderheyden (b. Netherlands) (1607 – 1680)
• Francis Hitch (b. England) (1610 – 1672)
• John Dunworth (b. England) (1613 – 1693)
• William Oldham (b. England) (1616 – 1682)
• James Middleton (1620 – 1688)
• James Haycock (1626 – 1696)
• Benjamin Withers (1627 – 1698)
• Solomon Barley (1633 – 1706)
• Josiah Faucett (1634 – 1697)
• Timothy Maxfield (1636 – 1703)
• Abraham Wright (1640 – 1714)
• Francis Honeywell (1642 – 1708)
• Jacob Turner (1646 – 1718)
• Benjamin Morrow (1651 – 1706)
• Christopher Ingalls (1653 – 1703)
• Nathaniel Pierpont (1657 – 1736)
• Jeremy Chandler (1660 – 1740)
• Malachi Langston (1664 – 1747)
• Samuel Teasley (1667 – 1733)
• Benjamin Dixon (1671 – 1748)
• George Henshaw (1674 – 1758)
• James Edgecomb (1677 – 1738)
• Thomas Mankin (1681 – 1764)
• Martin Jenner (1683 – 1727)
• John Holyfield (1684 – 1753)
• William Blackwell (1688 – 1759)
• Charles Theodore Pachelbel (b. Germany) (1690 – 1750)
• Charles Merrill (1694 – 1767)
• John Northcott (1699 – 1779)
• Samuel Mumford (1703 – 1770)
• Henry Judson (1705 – 1777)
• Josiah Dodrill (1708 – 1784)
• Christopher Fairfax (1712 – 1781)

Classical era (c1730-c1820)

• John Stebbins (1715 – 1792)
• Michael Broadbent (1717 – 1787)
• Charles Hastings (1722 – 1784)
• George Warren (1724 – 1806)
• Andrew Dorsett (1727 – 1793)
• Francis Dayton (1732 – 1797)
• Francis Hyland (1735 – 1813)
• Nicholas Atherton (1737 – 1811)
• John Antes (1740 – 1811)
• William Hardrick (1744 – 1819)
• William Billings (1746 – 1800)
• Thomas Stubblefield (1751 – 1813)
• Edward Sealock (1754 – 1823)
• George Farlow (1757 – 1794)
• Henry Hazelton (1762 – 1831)
• Robert Selleck (1764 – 1831)
• Daniel Wormwood (1766 – 1826)
• James Hewitt (b. England) (1770 – 1827)

Romantic (c1800-c1910)

• William Sharpe (1772 – 1846)
• Charles Langdon (1776 – 1850)
• Thomas Blake (1781 – 1842)
• John Stickney (1783 – 1867)
• Robert Alldredge (1786 – 1867)
• Lowell Mason (1792 – 1872)
• Frederick Leaman (1794 – 1843)
• John Nicholson (1797 – 1868)
• Vincent Hyde (1801 – 1847)
• Hiram Rufus (1803 – 1876)
• Robert Fennell (1808 – 1896)
• Richard Dolby (1810 – 1861)
• William Henry Fry (1813 – 1864)
• Alexander Peniston (1817 – 1886)
• George Frederick Bristow (1825 – 1898)
• Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829 – 1869)
• William Mason (1829 – 1908)
• Henry Litchfield (1832 – 1898)
• Charles Burbank (1835 – 1905)
• John Knowles Paine (1839 – 1906)
• George Nickerson (1840 – 1912)
• Horatio Crocker (1843 – 1918)
• John Mashburn (1847 – 1924)
• George Ingersoll (1851 – 1933)
• George Whitefield Chadwick (1854–1931)
• Victor Herbert (b. Guernsey) (1859–1924)
• Edward MacDowell (1860–1908)
• Charles Martin Loeffler (b. Alsace) (1861–1935)
• Horatio Parker (1863–1919)

Modern and Contemporary (c1880-????)

• Harry Wayne Lawley (1863 – 1939)
• Benjamin Cherry (1866 – 1941)
• Patrick Sullivan (b. Ireland) (1870 – 1947)
• Henry Jaeger (1871 – 1952)
• Joseph (Giuseppe) Moffa (b. Italy) (1871 – 1955)
• Joseph Daley (1872 – 1956)
• Francis (Franciszek) Traczyk (b. Poland) (1872 – 1958)
• Reuben Friedman (b. Austria) (1873 – 1988)
• Charles Ives (1874–1954)
• Stephen Reinhardt (1874 – 1970)
• John Alden Carpenter (1876–1951)
• Carl Ruggles (1876–1971)
• Francis (Francesco) Biviano (b. Italy) (1877 – 1979)
• Henry Kaplan (b. Russia) (1878 – 1988)
• Ernest Bloch (b. Switzerland) (1880–1959)
• Charles Wakefield Cadman (1881–1946)
• Roy Jacob Cooper (1881 – 1957)
• Max Mandel (b. Russia) (1881 – 1990)
• Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884–1920)
• Deems Taylor (1885–1966)
• Henry Sokoloff (b. Russia) (1886 – 1991)
• Ferde Grofé (1892–1972)
• Douglas Moore (1893–1969)
• Walter Piston (1894–1976)
• Leo Sowerby (1895–1968)
• William Grant Still (1895–1978)
• Jaromír Weinberger (b. Czechia) (1896–1967)
• Leroy Robertson (1896–1971)
• Howard Hanson (1896–1981)
• Roger Sessions (1896–1985)
• Virgil Thomson (1896–1989)
• Erich Korngold (b. Moravia) (1897–1957)
• Henry Cowell (1897–1965)
• George Gershwin (1898–1937)
• Roy Harris (1898–1979)
• Norman Stephen Richardson (1898 – 1987)
• George Antheil (1900–1959)
• Aaron Copland (1900–1990)
• Reuben Edelstein (1900 – 1998)
• Anthony Mangino (1901 – 1969)
• Joseph “Joe” Ingrassia (1901 – 1977)
• John Cordaro (1902 – 1983)
• Bernard “Bernie” Chernofsky (1902 – 2006)
• Max Farber (b. Germany) (1903 – 1999)
• Marc Blitzstein (1905–1964)
• Franz Waxman (b. Poland) (1906–1967)
• Ross Lee Finney (1906–1997)
• David Siegel (1907 – 2009)
• Leroy Anderson (1908–1975)
• Elliott Carter (1908–2012)
• Peter “Pete” Favazza (1909 – 2020)
• Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
• William Schuman (1910–1992)
• Alan Hovhaness (1911–2000)
• Gian Carlo Menotti (b. Italy) (1911–2007)
• Don Gillis (1912–1978)
• John Cage (1912–1992)
• Morton Gould (1913–1996)
• Vivian Fine (1913–2000)
• Norman Dello Joio (1913–2008)
• Irving Fine (1914–1962)
• David Diamond (1915–2005)
• Milton Babbitt (1916–2011)
• Lou Harrison (1917–2003)
• Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
• George Rochberg (1918–2005)
• Harold Shapero (1920 – 2013)
• Ralph Shapey (1921–2002)
• Lukas Foss (b. Germany) (1922–2009)
• Peter Mennin (1923–1983)
• Joseph “Joe” Bonatto (1924 – 2018)
• Morton Feldman (1926–1987)
• Earle Brown (1926–2002)
• Dominick Argento (1927 – 2019)
• James Cohn (1928 – 2021)
• Nicolas Flagello (1928–1994)
• Thea Musgrave (b. Scotland) (born 1928)
• George Crumb (born 1929)
• André Previn (b. Germany) (1929 – 2019)
• Peter Schickele (AKA P.D.Q. Bach) (born 1935)
• Steve Reich (born 1936)
• Philip Glass (born 1937)
• William Bolcom (born 1938)
• Charles Wuorinen (1938 – 2020)
• Robert “Bob” Dametto (born 1941)
• Stanley “Stan” Epstein (born 1943)
• Jacques LaRue (b. France) (born 1944)
• John Coolidge Adams (born 1947)
• Jose Delgado (b. Spain) (born 1949)
• Michael Rabinowitz (born 1951)
• John Luther Adams (born 1953)
• Frank Endrizzi (born 1956)
• Lionel Bullock (b. England) (born 1961)
• David Wilson (born 1964)
• Michael “Mike” Fedorov (born 1964)
• Lauren Guidotti (born 1972)

Notes

• All invented composers listed here were born in America, unless otherwise noted. Similarly, all other composers listed were born in America, unless otherwise noted.

Pictures

See gallery.