This Composer Dictionary - Directory compiled by Len Rhodes, is an ongoing project involving many years researching the dates and nationalities of composers.
Composer Directory - compiled by Len Rhodes.
Listing the composers both chronologically, as well as alphabetically, enables the reader to access information quickly. Every attempt has been made to establish the accuracy of the listings.
The idea in compiling this Composer Directory is to provide a complete, accurate and easy reference (listing) regarding the timelines, dates and nationalities of over the five thousand two hundred composers listed. No easy task, and keeping this listing up-to-date involves the scouring of newspapers, online articles, concert programmes - and then an untimely death places this directory obsolete as far as being an “up to date” publication is concerned!
With regard to the ‘nationalities’ of the composers, their country of birth is the conclusive factor. A great many composers made their reputations elsewhere; however, it is important to identify, where reliable sources are available, the composer’s actual country of origin. Of particular notice, but by no means “unique”, Czechoslovakia in central Europe encompassed the historical lands of Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia. It was formed from several provinces of the collapsing empire of Austria-Hungary in 1918; and existed from 1918 to 1992; it does not exist by name anymore and was divided into two different nations, the Czech Republic and Slovakia on January 1st, 1993. In this listing, composers who score their work, are included, rather than songwriters – therefore “popular” songwriters, e.g. John Lennon, Bob Dylan, and many others, are not included...at the present time.