Composer Cameo, Episode 170

This Renaissance composer was the master of song.
In fact, he was a three-time competition winner.

Composer Cameo, Episode 169

He ended up an enemy of the state.

A state that didn't exist at the time of his death.

Composer Cameo, Episode 168

He was well-regarded as a composer.

The problem was that he was overshadowed by greatness. 

Composer Cameo, Episode 167

His innovations changed how the piano was played.

And how piano players performed.

Composer Cameo, Episode 166

He was the biggest Finnish composer of the 20th century.

Outside of Finland, that is

Composer Cameo, Episode 165

Contemporaries considered him to be the best in the world.

And who was he to disagree?

Composer Cameo, Episode 164

Female composers were often denied well-earned honors

This ground-breaking composer turned the table by turning one down.

Composer Cameo, Episode 163

Sure, he was one of the most talented composers in his day.

But after looking over his CV, who would hire him?

Composer Cameo, Episode 162

He only wrote one kind of music.

But he did it extremely well.

Composer Cameo, Episode 161

He was part of a musical dynasty

But he was the dynasty's outlier.

Composer Cameo, Episode 160

She tried to hide her spirituality in Soviet Russia,

but her music gave her away.

Composer Cameo, Episode 159

This composer packed a long and successful career

Into a brief span of 24 years.

Composer Cameo, Episode 158

This Baroque violinist and composer had an exceptional talent.

He was almost a contender.

Composer Cameo, Episode 157

He was one of the most popular composers of the Middle Ages.

But all we have are the hits.

Composer Cameo, Episode 156

He was a composer and an instrument maker.

And his creations were doomed to obsolescence.

Composer Cameo, Episode 155

He worked hard, and then he died.

But the real story is in the timing.

Composer Cameo, Episode 154

They say that those that can’t do, teach.

Well, this composer could — and she taught, too.

Composer Cameo, Episode 153

He specialized in obscurity.

And that’s what made him famous

Composer Cameo, Episode 152

We don't know a lot about this 15th-century composer.

But we do know he wrote incredible music.

Composer Cameo, Episode 151

This Renaissance composer had two reputations.

One made him famous throughout Europe.

The other got him fired.

Composer Cameo, Episode 150

This Renaissance composer's music was divine

His personal life was the exact opposite.

Composer Cameo, Episode 149

He was known as the English Franz Liszt.

And like Liszt his talent extended beyond the keyboard to the ladies.

Composer Cameo, Episode 148

He left an amazing legacy of music to the world.

And in a flash, most of it was gone.

Composer Cameo, Episode 147

She had to travel her own path.

Even if she had to burn a few bridges.

Composer Cameo, Episode 146

He may have been the Queen's favorite.

But to his own family, his name was Mud.

Composer Cameo, Episode 145

This Franco-Flemish composer had it all.

Until he did the unspeakable..

Composer Cameo, Episode 144

His most famous work had more staying power than the occasion he wrote it for.

Composer Cameo, Episode 143

His faith closed many doors for this 19th Century composer/pianist.

His talent opened many others.

Composer Cameo, Episode 142

This American composer couldn't decide between two very different careers.

So he did both -- and did them quite well..

Composer Cameo, Episode 141

In his lifetime, he was a well-known composer.

And his life story reads like a who's who of composers.

Composer Cameo, Episode 140

He was known as the Orpheus of Amsterdam.

Probably because he never just worked to contracT.

Composer Cameo, Episode 139

His talent could guarantee a high-paying position, or sign his death warrant.

It just depended on who was in charge.

Composer Cameo, Episode 138

he was known as the “Italian Orpheus”

— and for good reason.

Composer Cameo, Episode 137

love derailed this french composer’s career.

but not forever.

Composer Cameo, Episode 136

he was one of the most brilliant composers ever to come out of spain.

the problem was that he knew it.

Composer Cameo, Episode 135

he wrote a lot of nice music.

But he was not a nice man.

Composer Cameo, Episode 134

Her talent was so prodigious she was deemed almost as good as her male colleagues.

Composer Cameo, Episode 133

His family had no idea how talented he was.

And that's just how he wanted it.

Composer Cameo, Episode 132

he was a prince and a troubadour.

And his life became the stuff of legend.

Composer Cameo, Episode 131

Stylisticially, his relationship with other composers was straightforward.

Romantically, it was quite complex.

Composer Cameo, Episode 130

This composer was good at one thing and great at another.

Unfortunately, he chose to concentrate on the wrong one.

Composer Cameo, Episode 129

He was a talented violinist and composer

But he had the worst retirement plan ever.

Composer Cameo, Episode 128

This British composer set off for the continent.

And from then on he never stopped moving.

Composer Cameo, Episode 127

This french composer played as if her life depended on it.

Because it did.

Composer Cameo, Episode 126

He was a well-respected composer.

But his legacy outlived his music.

Composer Cameo, Episode 125

She’s the earliest known female composer.

And she isn’t who you think she is.

Composer Cameo, Episode 124

Everyone wanted his job.

They just didn’t want the perks.

Composer Cameo, Episode 123

This polish composer and lutenist learned the hard way that snitches got stitches.

Composer Cameo, Episode 122

He was a novelist, lawyer, music theorist, and translator.

But as a composer, he rivaled the greatest musician of his age.

Composer Cameo, Episode 121

He contributed far more to music through his writing than through his own compositions.

Composer Cameo, Episode 120

He found a way around the color barrier.

And he never looked back.

Composer Cameo, Episode 119

His star burned brightly for a very short time

And the aftermath almost obliterated his legacy.

Composer Cameo, Episode 118

He rewrote his lost concerto from memory.

Or did he?

Composer Cameo, Episode 118

He was one of the first composers to achieve posthumous fame.

But we really don't know all that much about him.

Composer Cameo, Episode 117

This composer had a very short life.

But it was a very productive one

Composer Cameo, Episode 116

His creativity was way ahead of its time
.
About 700 years ahead, in fact.

Composer Cameo, Episode 115

His widow said no.

But they did it anyway.

Composer Cameo, Episode 114

This Belgian composer has a most unique job description on his resume.

Composer Cameo, Episode 113

Anew life began for this composer when he married.

And a new compositional life as well.

Composer Cameo, Episode 112

Her husband was a famous opera composer.

But that didn't stop her from writing her own music.

Composer Cameo, Episode 111

She was a pioneering female composer and performer in the early 20th Century.

But it wasn’t until the early 21st Century that her music found an audience.

Composer Cameo, Episode 110

He worked on many classic Hollywood films.

But he preferred to be remembered for his “serious” music.

Composer Cameo, Episode 109

It was only because his situation was so unsettled that so much of his music has been preservered.

Composer Cameo, Episode 108

He was known as a church composer.

BUT that couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

Composer Cameo, Episode 107

other composers didn’t think much of his music.

but even they had to admit the man had connections.

Composer Cameo, Episode 106

He was one of the best-known composers of his age.

And also the gloomiest — if it wasn’t an act.

Composer Cameo, Episode 105

His views on music were unassailable.

As were his fortifications.

Composer Cameo, Episode 104

he was called the Schubert of North Germany.

But his music just didn’t have Schubert’s staying power.

Composer Cameo, Episode 103

There are many reasons why composers write music.

In this case, though, it may have been just to show off.

Composer Cameo, Episode 102

He was a respected lutenist and composer.

Or was that just his cover?

Composer Cameo, Episode 101

This German composer turned down a major appointment.

It would make the composer who got it one of the most famous in history.

Composer Cameo, Episode 100

He was one of the greatest players and composers for the harpsichord.

Until one day when he just... Stopped.

Composer Cameo, Episode 099

You can’t say he starved for his art.

This composer kept his day job.

Composer Cameo, Episode 098

This composer was also a music critic.

And he reserved his harshest criticism for himself.

Composer Cameo, Episode 097

It took a long time for his genius to be recognized.

Sixteen years, to be precise.

Composer Cameo, Episode 096

Despite her many accomplishments,

Her strongest accolade only damned with faint praise.

Composer Cameo, Episode 095

He carried a firearm for protection. He had to.

Johannes Brahms was trying to kill him.

Composer Cameo, Episode 094

He was a perfectionist.

And he picked the perfect wife.

Composer Cameo, Episode 093

They say you can’t take it with you.

So this composer refused to go.

Composer Cameo, Episode 092

This italian was the most prolific composer of the 20th Century.

But he never wrote an opera.

Composer Cameo, Episode 091

He was best friends with one of the greatest composers of his age.

Until all of a sudden, he wasn’t.

Composer Cameo, Episode 090

She let nothing stand in the way of her music.

Not even prison.

Composer Cameo, Episode 089

She was a talented composer and violinist.

And she had the license to prove it.

Composer Cameo, Episode 088

Some artists fake it until they make it.

This composer made it, then faked it.

Composer Cameo, Episode 087

He learned how to reign in his desire to show off.

But he had to learn it the hard way.

Composer Cameo, Episode 086

Chopin didn't think much of him.

But America loved him.

Composer Cameo, Episode 085

He achieved his greatest fame in his native land.

But his inspiration came from half a world away.

Composer Cameo, Episode 084

He had no problem changing everything about his life.

And yes, he was a real doctor.

Composer Cameo, Episode 083

Today, we’d call it a typical online relationship.

But it took place in the 1890s.

Composer Cameo, Episode 082

While still a teenager, she withdrew from the world.

And created a world of music instead.

Composer Cameo, Episode 081

He was one of the most prolific composers of his day.

And for a time, a member of an all-star quartet.

Composer Cameo, Episode 080

He knew his melody was popular.

But he had no idea the added significance it would achieve after his death.

Composer Cameo, Episode 079

This great Italian compose of the 20th Century helped the world rediscover an even greater one who lived 200 years earlier.

Composer Cameo, Episode 078

Today, she’s best known for the company she kept.

But her true legacy was in her ability to create through adversity.

Composer Cameo, Episode 077

He was a prolific composer in many genres.

But there’s a good reason he’s remembered his work in just one.

Composer Cameo, Episode 076

Rachmaninoff greatly admired his music.

But his biggest fan was from another continent entirely.

Composer Cameo, Episode 075

He severely disappointed his father

And it's a good thing for music that he did.

Composer Cameo, Episode 074

He didn't intend to be confrontational.

But his symphony was so controversial it couldn't be performed.

Composer Cameo, Episode 073

He was the first composer of color to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

But only after a lifetime of composition.

Composer Cameo, Episode 072

He was a legendary composer.

And he wrote a legendary work.

Composer Cameo, Episode 071

He was a man of musical firsts.

And he was also a political lightning rod.

Composer Cameo, Episode 070

He may have been a brilliant composer.

But as a physician, he should have taken his own advice.

Composer Cameo, Episode 069

He was one of his country's most respected composers.

And because of it, he gave its dictator an awkward moment.

Composer Cameo, Episode 068

He was an important American composer.

But his greatest creation was a gift to the arts.

Composer Cameo, Episode 067

His first symphony was almost his last.

And almost the last thing he ever composed.

Composer Cameo, Episode 066

He was deeply in love with someone.

We just don't know who.

Composer Cameo, Episode 065

It was his most popular composition

And he forbade it to be performed in public

Composer Cameo, Episode 064

He was a composer, theorist, and cataloger.

And without his work, a musical genre might never have come about.

Composer Cameo, Episode 064

He was a groundbreaking composer.

But during his lifetime, he was better known as a painter.

Composer Cameo, Episode 063

He survived the worst political dogfight of the century.

But not an actual one.

Composer Cameo, Episode 062

He lost everything to war.

Twice.

Composer Cameo, Episode 061

He traveled across an ocean.

But he couldn't escape a bizarre family ritual.

Composer Cameo, Episode 060

He was Mendelssohn's heir-apparent.

But he lost everything in a war.

Composer Cameo, Episode 059

He was more than a court composer.

He was loyal to his king — even unto death.

Composer Cameo, Episode 058

He was one of Austria's greatest composers.

And his family was almost torn apart by the Nazis.

Composer Cameo, Episode 057

He was Romania's foremost opera composer.

until he ceased to exist.

Composer Cameo, Episode 056

He was one of America's leading composers.

and he was a card-carrying vigilante.

Composer Cameo, Episode 055

He was called the "Schubert of the Rhine."

and like Schubert, his life ended all too soon.

Composer Cameo, Episode 054

He was immensely popular in 17th Century Italy

-- except with the people who were trying to kill him.

Composer Cameo, Episode 053

His comic operas were wildly popular.

And that was a problem for his serious work.

Composer Cameo, Episode 052

He was a champion of serialism.

Until he discovered it could not express his grief.

Composer Cameo, Episode 051

He wrote under the influence of a great composer.

And it's the reason he's still remembered today.

Composer Cameo, Episode 050

He was considered a musical genius in his native land.

But he was never quite able to give up his day job.

Composer Cameo, Episode 049

His goal was to create a national music.

And he had a hand in creating the group that did it.

Composer Cameo, Episode 048

He studied with Claude Debussy and Max Reger.

But his heritage ended his career all too soon.

Composer Cameo, Episode 047

He was America's most famous composer of the Federalist period.

And one of his songs is a historical first.

Composer Cameo, Episode 046

He was an authority on orchestration.

And his knowledge came through hands-on experience.

Composer Cameo, Episode 045

He was an overnight success.

And it only took him forty years to become one.

Composer Cameo, Episode 044

He was an Italian composer who defined French music.

And he accidentally died by his own hand.

Composer Cameo, Episode 043

He was a composer of great talent.

But he was overshadowed by a composer of even greater talent.

Composer Cameo, Episode 042

He was one of Poland's greatest composers.

And, for a time, he also served as his country’s prime minister.

Composer Cameo, Episode 040

She was one of England’s most extreme avant-garde composers.

And she found a way to profit from it.

He was one of France’s best composers of the 20th Century.

And his greatest work was written in captivity.

Composer Cameo, Episode 038

His life was upended with sudden tragedy

In response, he created a masterwork.

Composer Cameo, Episode 037

He was considered one of the great piano virtuosos of the Classical Era.

And he fought an even greater virtuoso to a standstill in a piano showdown.

Composer Cameo, Episode 036

He’s considered the greatest composer of all time.

But even turning in the world’s greatest job application didn’t get him the gig.

Composer Cameo, Episode 035

The works of this American composer are seldom performed today.

But in his lifetime he was a true musical pioneer.

Composer Cameo, Episode 034

This German composer’s music was hailed as “the voice of the future”.

But it was a future he would not live to see.

Composer Cameo, Episode 033

This Polish composer and pianist was a major figure in his country’s music.

But his most important composition was recovered strictly by chance.

Composer Cameo, Episode 032

This German-Dutch Renaissance musician was a talented composer and instrumentalist.

He was also a spy in His Majesty’s Secret Service.

Composer Cameo, Episode 031

He was an important avant-garde electronic composer of the 1950s.

And a rock icon was his biggest fan.

Composer Cameo, Episode 030

This German Baroque composer got into serious trouble with his employer.

Fortunately, he had the musical skills to get out of it.

Composer Cameo, Episode 029

This Austrian is renowned as one of the world’s greatest composers.

And one of the world’s worst classroom instructors.

Composer Cameo, Episode 028

This Czech composer wrote his most controversial work in the most dangerous place possible.

Composer Cameo, Episode 027

His first cantata established his international reputation as a composer.

And it all happened because of the Beatles.

Composer Cameo, Episode 026

She was a sought-after virtuoso instrumentalist and composer of the Classical Era.

Yet she vanished from history without a trace.

Composer Cameo, Episode 025

This turn-of-the-century composer was known as the “French Bruckner.”

And his early death was entirely unnecessary.

Composer Cameo, Episode 024

He’s considered one of Mexico’s greatest composers.

He even had a cameo in one of Mexico’s greatest films.

Composer Cameo, Episode 023

It was supposed to be a simple commission.

But things soon went horribly wrong.

Composer Cameo, Episode 022

This French composer and violinist was called the “Black Mozart.”

He was also the finest swordsman in all of France.

Composer Cameo, Episode 021

This English composer died at the Battle of the Somme during World War I.

His music became synonymous with the casualties of war.

Composer Cameo, Episode 020

She was a celebrated Dutch pianist and composer.

But the Nazis forced her to go underground with her art.

Composer Cameo, Episode 019

He founded an entirely new school of violin playing.

And his murder remains unsolved.

Composer Cameo, Episode 018

This German prince was known as the “Thuringian Vivaldi.”

His music even impressed Johann Sebastian Bach.

Composer Cameo, Episode 017

This early Italian Baroque composer was also a singer and a violinist. And in 1600s Venice, she was known as the hostess with the mostess.

Composer Cameo, Episode 016

This South Korean was an important avant-garde composer.

And he was the target of a black ops kidnapping.

Composer Cameo, Episode 015

He was a major figure in Danish music

And he won bronze at the 1928 Olympic Games

Composer Cameo, Episode 014

He was one of America’s most important composers of the mid-20th Century.

He even won 50 bucks in a game show.

Composer Cameo, Episode 013

This Austrian composer was known as “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jr.”

And he forever lived in his father’s shadow.

Composer Cameo, Episode 012

This early 19th Century composer was hailed as “the French Mozart.”

But unlike Mozart, he made a fortune.

Composer Cameo, Episode 011

His elder brother was a superstar.

Nevertheless, this Austrian composer had a long and successful career of his own.

This late 18th Century composer was known as “the Swedish Mozart.”

But he was actually German.

Composer Cameo, Episode 009

This Czech composer is considered one of the world’s greatest symphonists of all time.

And yet his first symphony didn’t pass muster.

Composer Cameo, Episode 008

Critics accused this 20th Century Swedish composer of being a sellout.

He agreed.

Composer Cameo, Episode 007

It took 67 years to right a wrong against this Black composer.

Composer Cameo, Episode 006

This Classical Era Italian taught some of the greatest composers of his age.

And he didn’t kill anybody.

Composer Cameo, Episode 005

He was one of Australia’s greatest composers of the early 20th Century.

And if his aim had been a little better, World War II might have taken a different turn.

Composer Cameo, Episode 004

This late-Renaissance Italian composer was a troubled soul.

He committed a double murder and got away with it.

Composer Cameo, Episode 003

She was one of the most important musical figures in 19th Century Paris.

And what she accomplished as a musician was unprecedented.

Composer Cameo, Episode 002

If not for a home improvement project, some of her most important works would still be lost.

And a major 20th Century Black composer would have remained in obscurity.

Composer Cameo, Episode 001

This early 19th Century composer was known as “the Spanish Mozart.”

And like Mozart, he had a short but very productive life.