List of American Composers

Transmissions Classicalfan626's Alternate History
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This alternate history article comprises a list of American classical composers, both real and fictional, dating from the Baroque to Contemporary eras. The purpose of this list is to diversify and further enrichen classical music in America by adding a variety of prolific composers to each musical period. The imagined composers (highlighted in bold) may additionally serve to help the American composers who have already existed to be even better at their craft and be more prolific and versatile in terms of various forms of classical music.

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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.

First published on ClassicalFan’s Alternate History site on 27 June 2020, in the Classical Music series.

Gallery of American Composers
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Outstanding that you included Aaron Copland, Charles Ives and Leonard Bernstein. I would also include Scott Joplin in the list. Though he’s most famous for his ragtime piano compositions he was also an American classical ragtime composer of note. :musical_keyboard:

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Thanks for taking interest in my articles! :slight_smile:

I’m on the fence with Scott Joplin, however, since in my point of view, his compositions lack strict adherence to a classical tradition. Thanks for the thought, though. Also, are you aware that this article constitutes a revised history?

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Yes, indeed. A revised history. It’s OK to be on the fence with Joplin. Unfortunately a large body of his compositions were never published and were lost during his life and after his death.

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Some people will include him on such a list as a matter of DEI. Doing so is a slap in his face. If he makes a list he does so for his talent and not social-political inclusiveness. Classical Rag is, unfortunately, a genre populated by Joplin almost exclusively. He did make “a list” as he was included as an American composer in my upper division fine arts requirement class “History of Classical Music”. The Sting was released in 1973 and featured his compositions as the score. I took the course after 1973 which could explain why he made the cut. Prior to The Sting his music had been mostly forgotten.

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@Darby - I agree with your replies. Also, I’d assume you’re mentioning DEI and socio-political inclusiveness due to the fact that Joplin was black. Well, even though I feel I can’t include him on my list, I definitely have at least one black American on this list, and that composer in question is William Grant Still. I’m pretty certain that Still makes the grade as far as classical composers go.

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Agreed about Still. Yeah, being black did affect Joplin’s career and for 50 years his place in American music. After the 1930s ragtime music became mostly associated with the live in-house piano musical score for silent films rather than a legitimate musical art form leading to modern jazz.

Another American composer who is on your list and whom we studied is Ferde Grofé. Great call! He wasn’t very prolific as a classical composer but the Grand Canyon Suite stands out. We studied him, and especially his Grand Canyon Suite, as an American Modernist tone poem deeply colored by the late Impressionist period. Today everyone associates the “clip-clop” sounds of musical horse hooves as being an instant reference to the American western frontier. That clip-clop opens the 2nd movement of the suite as the “A” theme and is iconic.

I remain aware of him today because I am an Elk (BPOE). In our written history we’re taught that in 1908 Grand Exalted Ruler (national president) Rush Holland commissioned 17 year old Grofe to compose a piece for the 1909 national convention opening. The piece became the “Elks’ Grand Reunion March & Two-step” and opened the 1909 convention hosted by Lodge 99, Los Angeles. As was the case with Joplin, his original works have faded into near obscurity. He’s more well known as an arranger than as a Classical composer and as a jazz composer.

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