Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Melinda Wagner, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
Melinda Wagner (c.1965), winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion, has graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Melinda Wagner, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
1813 - 1883. German Composer. (Wilhelm) Richard Wagner born in Leipzig in 1813 was the son of a civic clerk, who died soon after the composer's birth. His Mother then married a Jewish Actor, Ludwig Geyer, who died in 1821.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Wilhelm Richard Wagner, including biographies, discographies, analyses of his compositions, or bibliographies.
Born 1837 in Strasbourg, France, he was a contemporary of Johan Strauss Jr. and also wrote waltzes among which was The Skaters' Waltz. He died in Paris in 1915.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Emile Waldteufel, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
George Walker (1922- ), a concert pianist and composer, was the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize in music. Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra is the name of the work for which it was awarded.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of George Walker, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
Scots composer William Wallace was born in Greenock in 1860 and studied medicine at his father's insistence. He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War I. Late in a long and varied career, which included the introduction of symphonic poems into British music, Wallace was made Professor of Harmony and Composition and Professorial Chief of the library at the Royal Academy of Music He died in 1940.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of William Wallace, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
Johann Walther (1496-1570) was a German kantor, composer, and hymn writer. He became a friend of Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon and wrote, arranged, and collected hymnody and other religious songs for the fledgling Evangelical movement during the Lutheran Reformation. Among his greatest achievements is the Geistliches Gesangbüchlein of 1524, the first collection of Lutheran chorale settings, plus motets. After Wittenberg, Walther served in the Saxon court chapels in Torgau and, later, in Dresden.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Johann Walter, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions and hymns, or bibliographies. Please do not confuse this man with the later Johann Gottfried Walther, a contemporary and cousin of Johann Sebastian Bach.
A cousin of Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748) was organist, composer, theorist, and lexicographer, publishing the first comprehensive dictionary of music and musicians and a piece on the tuition of organists. Sacred choral and keyboard works comprise the bulk of his output.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Johann Gottfried Walther, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies. Please note the distinction between this man and the earlier Johann Walther, a contemporary of and co-worker with Martin Luther.
British composer of orchestral and chamber music as well as opera and film music William Walton (1902-1983) was knighted in 1951. He was the principal composer in Britain between Vaughan Williams and Britten.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of William Walton, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
German form of Jan Krtitel Vanhal (1739-1813). Czech composer, friend of Haydn and Mozart. Wrote approximately 100 symphonies, 100 string quartets, 23 Masses, and numerious other instrumental and vocal works. It is interesting to note that British publishers spelt his name as Vanhall.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Johann Baptist Wanhal, including biographies, discographies, analyses of his compositions, or bibliographies.
Peter Warlock (pseudonym of Philip Heseltine) was born in 1894 and died in 1930. He was a friend of Frederick Delius and an important British composer of art songs.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Peter Warlock, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
(1692-1766) Long unknown composer of Sei concerti armonici which had been wrongly attributed to Ricciotti then to Pergolesi. Their true composer was only discovered in 1980.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Unico Willem van Wassenaer, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
Franz Waxman (1906-1967) was born Franz Wachsmann in Konigshutte, Upper Silesia, Germany. His father wanted him to be a banker but he used the money he earned as a teller to pay for piano, composition, and harmony lessons, then moved to Berlin to further his musical career. After playing with a jazz band, his movie break came in orchestrating and conducting Frederick Hollander's score for Josef von Sternberg's film, The Blue Angel.
He came to Hollywood in the 1930s with Jerome Kern, scoring his first film there, The Bride of Frankenstein, in 1935. He received twelve Oscar nominations for his scores, winning in 1950 for Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard and 1951 for George Steven's A Place in the Sun.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Franz Waxman, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
Carl Maria von Weber was a student of Beethoven and a major figure in the late classical or early romantic period. He wrote music in many forms, but is probably best known today for his operas and clarinet music.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Carl Maria von Weber, including biographies, discographies, analyses of his compositions, or bibliographies.
1883 - 1945. Austrian composer. Studied composition under Schoenberg. He began his career as a theatre conductor in Germany and Czechoslovakia, but settled near Vienna after World War I. His life was cut short by a tragic accident - he was shot by a sentry during the US occupation of Austria. Notable works include Das Augenlicht and Cantatas 1 and 2 for chorus and orchestra, 2 symphonies, passacaglia, variations, Six Pieces and Five Pieces for Orchestra, a concerto for 9 instruments, 3 works including 6 Bagatelles for string quartet, canons for the voice, clarinet and bass clarinet and songs.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Anton von Webern, including biographies, discographies, analyses of his compositions, or bibliographies.
(1576-1623) British organist and composer. Wrote madrigals and music for the Church of England.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Thomas Weelkes, including biographies, discographies, analyses of his compositions, or bibliographies.
Kurt Weill (1900-1950) Was a German composer best known for his collaboration with Bertolt Brecht on such works as "The Threepenny Opera" and "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny." He became an American citizen in 1943.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Kurt Weill, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
Polish-born composer Mieczyslaw Samuilowicz Weinberg (1919-1996; aka Moisei Vainberg) spent the second half of his life in Russia. Besides his many orchestral works, he composed operas, ballets, and piano, chamber, choral, vocal, and instrumental works. He also scored a number of films.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Mieczyslaw Weinberg, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, and bibliographies.
Czech composer Jaromír Weinberger (1896-1967) scored his biggest success with the opera Schwanda the Bagpiper, from which the polka and fugue immediately became and remained quite popular. He wrote music to various Shakespeare plays, other operas, including one based on Bret Harte's The Outcasts of Poker Flat, and the ballet Saratoga. Weinberger emigrated from Czechoslovakia to the United States, settling in New York City in 1939.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Jaromír Weinberger, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
English composer Judith Weir (b. 1954) studied in London with John Tavener and at Cambridge with Robin Holloway. She is noted especially for her operas.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Judith Weir, including biographies, discographies, analyses of her compositions, or bibliographies.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Silvius Leopold Weiss, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
Born in 1948 in Rochester New York, composer-conductor-bassoonist Dan Welcher has received many commissions and awards. He accepted a position on the faculty at the University of Texas in 1978, creating the New Music Ensemble there and serving as Assistant Conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra from 1980 to 1990. He was composer in residence with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra for three years starting in 1990.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Dan Welcher, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
American composer Richard Wernick was born in 1934 in Boston, Massachusetts. He won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize and has twice won the Friedham Award.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Richard Wernick, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
(1535?-1574) English organist and composer was for the last four years of his life organist and master of the choristers at Westminster Abbey.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Robert White, including biographies, discographies, analyses of his compositions, or bibliographies.
(1844-1937) French organist and composer. He wrote many organ symphonies as well as chamber music, vocal music, choral music, symphonies, and operas.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Charles-Marie Widor, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
English Renaissance composer John Wilbye (1573/4-1638) is most known for his madrigals, such as Sweet Honey-Sucking Bees and Flora Gave Me Fairest Flowers. A number of his romantic poems have remained popular, including Love not Me for Comely Grace.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of John Wilbye, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Frank Wildhorn, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies
(1490?-1562) Born in the Netherlands, in 1527 he accepted the post of choir master of St. Mark's in Venice where he founded the Venetian school of antiphonal music.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Adrian Willaert, including biographies, discographies, analyses of his compositions, or bibliographies.
John Williams (1932- ), born in Queens, NY, is an American composer with a long list of works. Most recognizable are his pieces from the movies of Stephen Spielberg. Currently the most-nominated person in the Academy Awards, he is also widely known for his former prestigious position as conductor for the Boston Pops.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of John Williams, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions,
American composer and teacher Richard Wilson (1941-) has written symphonic, instrumental, choral, vocal, and operatic works. He also is an accomplished pianist.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Richard Wilson, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
1860-1903. Austrian composer. Studied at Vienna Conservatorium (1875-7), but was forced to leave after a disagreement with its Director.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Hugo Wolf, including biographies, discographies, analyses of his compositions, or bibliographies.
Christian Wolff (1934- ) was born in Nice, France. He became a United States citizen in 1946. He is best known for his compositions employing chance elements and early minimalism techniques and his association with John Cage.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Christian Wolff, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
Stephan Wolpe (1902-1972), Berlin, Germany, an 'avant garde' composer who influenced both Elliot Carter and John Cage. He emigrated to the United States in 1938.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Stephan Wolpe, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.
Charles Wuorinen (1938- ), New York City, winner of many awards including the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for Time's Ecomium.
Please submit sites dealing with the life or music of Charles Wuorinen, including biographies, discographies, analyses of compositions, or bibliographies.