This is an alphabetical list of composers from France.

A–B

* Eryck Abecassis (born 1956) * Jean-Baptiste Accolay (1833–1900) * Frédéric Acquaviva (born 1967) *

Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and ''Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le post ...

(1803–1856) *

François d'Agincourt François d'Agincourt (also d'Agincour, Dagincourt, Dagincour) (1684 – 30 April 1758) was a French harpsichordist, organist, and composer. He spent most of his life in Rouen, his native city, where he worked as organist of the Rouen Cathedra ...

(1684–1758) * Léopold Aimon (1779–1866) * Jehan Alain (1911–1940) * Paul Alday (c. 1763 – 1835) *

Charles-Valentin Alkan Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French composer and virtuoso pianist. At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was, alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt, amon ...

(1813–1888) * Joseph-Henri Altès (1826–1895) * Jean-Claude Amiot (born 1939) * Gilbert Amy (born 1936) * Édouard Ignace Andlauer (1830–1909) * Jean-Henri d'Anglebert (1629–1691) *

Jean-Baptiste Arban Joseph Jean-Baptiste Laurent Arban (28 February 1825 – 8 April 1889) was a cornetist, conductor, composer, pedagogue and the first famed virtuoso of the ''cornet à piston'' or valved cornet. He was influenced by Niccolò Paganini's virtuosic ...

(1825–1889) *

Daniel Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally whe ...

(1782–1871) * Jacques Aubert (1689–1753) *

Louis Aubert Louis François Marie Aubert (19 February 1877 – 9 January 1968) was a French composer. Biography Born in Paramé, Ille-et-Vilaine, Louis Aubert was a child prodigy. His parents, recognizing their son's musical talent, sent him to Paris to re ...

(1877–1968) * Olivier Aubert (1763–c.1830) * Tony Aubin (1907–1981) *

Edmond Audran Achille Edmond Audran (12 April 184017 August 1901) was a French composer best known for several internationally successful comic operas and operettas. After beginning his career in Marseille as an organist, Audran composed religious music and b ...

(1840–1901) *

Georges Auric Georges Auric (; 15 February 1899 – 23 July 1983) was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault, France. He was considered one of ''Les Six'', a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. Before he turned 20 h ...

(1899–1983) * Artus Aux-Cousteaux (c. 1590 – 1656) * Nicolas Bacri (born 1961) *

Pierre Baillot Pierre Marie François de Sales Baillot (; 1 October 1771 – 15 September 1842) was a French violinist and composer born in Passy. He studied the violin under Giovanni Battista Viotti and taught at the Conservatoire de Paris together with Pierr ...

(1771–1842) * Claude Balbastre (1724–1799) * Auguste Barbereau (1799–1879) *

Jean Barraqué Jean-Henri-Alphonse Barraqué (17 January 1928 – 17 August 1973) was a French composer and music writer. His relatively small is known for its serialism. Life Barraqué was born in Puteaux, Hauts-de-Seine. In 1931, he moved with his family to P ...

(1928–1973) * Yves Baudrier (1906-1988) * François Bazin (1816–1878) * Désiré Beaulieu (1791–1863) *

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

(1803–1869) * Louise Bertin (1805–1877) * Christophe Bertrand (1981–2010) * Henri Betti (1917–2005) *

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', w ...

(1838–1875) * Adolphe Blanc (1828–1885) *

Nicolas-Charles Bochsa Robert-Nicolas-Charles Bochsa (; 9 August 1789 – 6 January 1856) was a French harpist and composer. His relationship with Anna Bishop was popularly thought to have inspired that of Svengali and Trilby in George du Maurier's 1894 novel ''Tril ...

(1789–1856) *

François-Adrien Boieldieu François-Adrien Boieldieu (, also ) (16 December 1775 – 8 October 1834) was a French composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French Mozart".. Although his reputation is largely based upon his operas, Boieldieu composed other works and amo ...

(1775–1834) *

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (23 December 1689 – 28 October 1755) was a French baroque composer of instrumental music, cantatas, opéra-ballets, and vocal music. Boismortier was one of the first composers to have no patrons: having obtained a ...

(1689–1755) *

Michel Blavet Michel Blavet (March 13, 1700 – October 28, 1768) was a French composer and flute virtuoso. Although Blavet taught himself to play almost every instrument, he specialized in the bassoon and the flute which he held to the left, the opposite of ho ...

(1700–1768) * Léon Boëllmann (1862–1897) *

Claude Bolling Claude Bolling (10 April 1930 – 29 December 2020) was a French jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and occasional actor. Biography He was born in Cannes, France, and studied at the Nice Conservatory, and then in Paris. A child prodigy, by the ...

(1930–2020) *

Mélanie Bonis Mélanie Hélène "Mel" Bonis (21 January 1858 – 18 March 1937) was a prolific France, French late-Romantic composer. She wrote more than 300 pieces, including works for piano solo and four hands, organ pieces, chamber music, ''mélodies'', cho ...

(1858–1937) * Charles Bordes (1863–1909) *

Lili Boulanger Marie-Juliette Boulanger (; 21 August 189315 March 1918), professionally known as Lili Boulanger (), was a French composer and musician who was the first female winner of the Grand Prix de Rome composition prize. Her older sister was the noted ...

(1893–1918) *

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

(1887–1979) *

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

(1925–2016) * Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de St George (1745–1799) * Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray (1840–1910) * Laurent Boutonnat (born 1961) * Eugène Bozza (1905–1991) *

Jean-Baptiste Bréval Jean-Baptiste Sebastien Bréval (6 November 1753 – 18 March 1823) was a French cellist and composer. He wrote mostly for his own instrument, including pedagogical works as well as virtuoso display pieces. Life Bréval was born in Paris, ...

(1753–1823) *

Antoine Brumel Antoine Brumel (c. 1460 – 1512 or 1513) was a French composer. He was one of the first renowned French members of the Franco-Flemish School, Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance music, Renaissance, and, after Josquin des Prez, was one of t ...

(1460 – 1515 ?) * Clément Broutin (1851–1889) * Alfred Bruneau (1857–1934) * Henri Büsser (1872–1973)

C–D

* Pablo Caliero (1910-2002) *

André Campra André Campra (; baptized 4 December 1660 – 29 June 1744) was a French composer and conductor of the Baroque era. The leading French opera composer in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau, Campra wrote several '' trag ...

(1660–1744) *

Joseph Canteloube Marie-Joseph Canteloube de Malaret (; 21 October 18794 November 1957) was a French composer, musicologist, and author best known for his collections of orchestrated folksongs from the Auvergne (province), Auvergne region, ''Chants d'Auvergne''. ...

(1879–1957) *

André Caplet André Caplet (23 November 1878 – 22 April 1925) was a French composer and conductor of classical music. He was a friend of Claude Debussy and completed the orchestration of several of Debussy's compositions as well as arrangements of severa ...

(1878–1925) * Jacques Castérède (1926–2014) * Alexis de Castillon (1838–1873) * Charles Simon Catel (1773–1830) *

Pierre Certon Pierre Certon (ca. 1510–1520 – 23 February 1572) was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was a representative of the generation after Josquin and Mouton, and was influential in the late development of the French chanson. Life Most likely ...

(c.1510/20–1572) *

Emmanuel Chabrier Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier (; 18 January 184113 September 1894) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and pianist. His Bourgeoisie, bourgeois family did not approve of a musical career for him, and he studied law in Paris and then worked ...

(1841–1894) * Cécile Chaminade (1857–1944) * Jacques Champion de Chambonnières (c. 1601 – 1672) *

Gustave Charpentier Gustave Charpentier (; 25 June 1860 – 18 February 1956) was a French composer, best known for his opera ''Louise (opera), Louise''.Langham Smith R., "Gustave Charpentier", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 19 ...

(1860–1956) *

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'' ''H.146, Marche en rondeau''. This theme is st ...

(1643–1704) *

Ernest Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer. Life Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of a building contractor who made his fortune assisting Ba ...

(1855–1899) * Charles-Alexis Chauvet (1837–1871) * Nicolas Chedeville (1705–1782) * Hedwige Chrétien (1859–1944) * Aloÿs Claussmann (1850–1926) * Louis-Nicolas Clérambault (1676–1749) *

Michel Colombier Michel Colombier (23 May 1939 – 14 November 2004) was a French composer, arranger, and conductor. Career Colombier wrote the scores of several motion pictures and TV productions. He also wrote chamber music and ballets. With composer Pierre ...

(1939–2004) * Loÿset Compère (c. 1445 – 1518) *

Napoléon Coste Claude Antoine Jean Georges Napoléon Coste (27 June 1805 – 14 January 1883) was a French classical guitarist and composer. Biography Napoléon Coste was born in Amondans (Doubs, Doubs, Doubs), near Besançon, France. He was first taught the g ...

(1805–1883) *

Bruno Coulais Bruno Coulais (born 13 January 1954) is a French composer, most widely known for his music on film soundtracks. Life and career Coulais was born in Paris; his father, Farth Coulais, is from Vendée, and his mother, Bernsy Coulais, was born in ...

(born 1954) *

François Couperin François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque music, Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musi ...

(1668–1733) *

Louis Couperin Louis Couperin (; – 29 August 1661) was a French Baroque composer and performer. He was born in Chaumes-en-Brie and moved to Paris in 1650–1651 with the help of Jacques Champion de Chambonnières. Couperin worked as organist of the ...

(c. 1626 – 1661) *

Jean Cras Jean Émile Paul Cras (; 22 May 1879 – 14 September 1932) was a 20th-century French composer and career naval officer. His musical compositions were inspired by his native Brittany, his travels to Africa, and most of all, by his sea v ...

(1879–1932) * Ferdinand de Craywinckel (1820 – c. 1888) *

Nicolas Dalayrac Nicolas-Marie d'Alayrac (; bapt. 13 June 175326 November 1809), nicknamed the Musician poet, more commonly Nicolas Dalayrac, was a French composer of the Classical period. Intended for a military career, he made the acquaintance of many mu ...

(1753–1809) *

Jean-Michel Damase Jean-Michel Damase (; 27 January 1928 – 21 April 2013)see Bruneau-Boulmier, Rodolphe was a French pianist, conductor and composer of classical music. Career Damase was born in Bordeaux, the son of harpist Micheline Kahn. He was studying pian ...

(1928–2013) *

Jules Danbé Jules Danbé (16 November 1840 – 30 October 1905) was a French violinist, composer and conductor, mainly of opera. Biography Danbé was born in Caen, Calvados. Trained as a violinist, he was a pupil of Narcisse Girard and Marie Gabriel Aug ...

(1840–1905) * Charles Dancla (1817–1907) * Jean-François Dandrieu (c. 1682 – 1738) * Jean-Henri d'Anglebert (1629–1691) * Adolphe Danhauser (1835–1896) * Louis-Claude Daquin (1694–1772) *

Félicien David Félicien-César David (13 April 1810 – 29 August 1876) was a French composer. Biography Félicien David was born in Cadenet, and began to study music at the age of five under his father, whose death when the boy was six left him an impoverish ...

(1810–1876) *

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

(1862–1918) * Louis Deffès (1819–1900) *

Michel Richard Delalande Michel Richard Delalande e Lalande'' (; 15 December 1657 – 18 June 1726) was a French Baroque composer and organist who was in the service of King Louis XIV. He was one of the most important composers of grands motets. He also wrote o ...

(1657–1726) *

Georges Delerue Georges Delerue (12 March 1925 – 20 March 1992) was a French composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. Delerue won numerous important film music awards, including an Academy Award for '' A Little Romance'' (1980), three C� ...

(1925–1992) *

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and French opera, operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and ''Sylvia (b ...

(1836–1891) * Charles Delioux (1825–1915) * Jeanne Demessieux (1921–1968) * Alfred Desenclos (1912–1971) * Adolphe Deslandres (1840–1911) *

Alexandre Desplat Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (; born 23 August 1961) is a French film composer and conductor. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Grammy Awards. Desplat was m ...

(born 1961) *

Louis Diémer Louis Joseph Diémer (14 February 1843 – 21 December 1919) was a French pianist and composer. He was the founder of the Société des Instruments Anciens in the 1890s, and also gave recitals on the harpsichord. His output as a composer was exten ...

(1843–1919) * Victor Dourlen (1780–1864) *

Théodore Dubois Clément François Théodore Dubois (; 24 August 1837 – 11 June 1924) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, organist, and music teacher. After study at the Paris Conservatoire, Dubois won France's premier musical prize, the Prix de Ro ...

(1837–1924) * François Dufault (before 1604 – c.1672) *

Guillaume Dufay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397 – 27 November 1474) was a composer and music theorist of early Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered the leading European composer of h ...

(c. 1397 – 1474) *

Maurice Duhamel Maurice Duhamel (23 February 1884 – 5 February 1940) was the pen-name of Maurice Bourgeaux, a Breton musician, writer and activist who was a leading figure in Breton nationalism and federalist politics in the years before World War II. Early lif ...

(1884–1940) *

Paul Dukas Paul Abraham Dukas ( 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His best-k ...

(1865–1935) * Henri Duparc (1848–1933) * Gabriel Dupont (1878–1914) *

Jean-Louis Duport Jean-Louis Duport (4 October 17497 September 1819), sometimes known as Duport the Younger to distinguish him from his older brother (and teacher) Jean-Pierre Duport, Jean-Pierre (1741-1818), was a cello, cellist, pedagogue, and composer. He is pe ...

(1749–1819) * Jean-Pierre Duport (1741–1818) *

Marcel Dupré Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré (; 3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue. Early life and education Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré ...

(1886–1971) * Émile Durand (1830–1903) * Joël-François Durand (born 1954) * Louis Durey (1888–1979) * Marie-Madeleine Duruflé (1921–1999) *

Maurice Duruflé Maurice Gustave Duruflé (; 11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher. Life and career Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure in 1902. He attended Rouen Cathedral Choir School from 1912 to 1918, ...

(1902–1986) *

Pascal Dusapin Pascal Georges Dusapin (born 29 May 1955) is a French composer. His music is marked by its microtonality, tension, and energy. A pupil of Iannis Xenakis and Franco Donatoni and an admirer of Varèse, Dusapin studied at the University of Pari ...

(born 1955) *

Henri Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer of late 20th-century classical music. Among the leading French composers of his time, his work was rooted in the Impressionistic style of Debussy and R ...

(1916–2013) *

Hugues Dufourt Hugues Dufourt () is a French composer and philosopher associated with the spectral school of composition. Born in Lyon on September 28, 1943, Dufourt studied piano and composition at the Geneva Conservatory. Dufourt became co-director of the E ...

(born 1943) * Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy (c. 1802 – c. 1880)

E–G

* André-Joseph Exaudet (1710–1762) * Ernest Fanelli (1860–1917) * Louise Farrenc (1804–1875) *

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. ...

(1845–1924) * Antoine Forqueray (1671–1745) *

Jean Françaix Jean René Désiré Françaix (pronunciation Fran-say or Fran-seks) was born on 23 May 1912, in Le Mans and died in 25 September 1997, in Paris). Françaix was a French neoclassical composer, pianist, and orchestrator known for his prolific outp ...

(1912–1997) *

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

(1822–1890) * Raymond Gallois-Montbrun (1918–1994) * Jacques Gallot (c. 1625 – c. 1695) * Pedro Garcia-Velasquez (born 1984) *

Denis Gaultier Denis Gaultier (''Gautier'', ''Gaulthier''; also known as Gaultier le jeune and Gaultier de Paris) (1597 or 1602/3 – 1672) was a French lutenist and composer. He was a cousin of Ennemond Gaultier. Life Gaultier was born in Paris; two conflict ...

(1603–1672) *

André Gedalge André Gedalge (27 December 1856 – 5 February 1926) was a French composer and teacher. Biography André Gedalge was born at 75 rue des Saints-Pères in Paris where he first worked as a bookseller and editor, specialising in ''livres de prix' ...

(1856–1926) * Henri Ghys (1839–1908) *

Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as F ...

() *

Benjamin Godard Benjamin Louis Paul Godard (18 August 184910 January 1895) was a French violinist and Romantic-era composer of Jewish extraction, best known for his opera '' Jocelyn''. Godard composed eight operas, five symphonies, two piano and two violin conce ...

(1849–1895) *

Nicolas Gombert Nicolas Gombert (c. 1495 – c. 1560)Atlas, p. 396 was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was one of the most famous and influential composers between Josquin des Prez and Palestrina, and best represents the fully developed, complex ...

(c. 1495 – c. 1560) *

François Joseph Gossec François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire; ...

(1734–1829) *

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

(1818–1893) * Théodore Gouvy (1819–1898) * Jacques de Gouy (c.1610 – after 1650) * Nicolas de Grigny (1672–1703) * Gérard Grisey (1946–1998) *

Gabriel Grovlez Gabriel Marie Grovlez (4 April 1879 – 20 October 1944) was a French composer, conductor, pianist, and music critic. Early life and education Grovlez was born in Lille in 1879. His mother – the child of one of Chopin's students – was his fi ...

(1879–1944) * Louis-Gabriel Guillemain (1705–1770) * Guillon () * Jean Guillou (1930–2019) * Alexandre Guilmant (1837–1911)

H–K

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn de Echenagucia (9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born ...

(1874–1947) *

Fromental Halévy Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy (; 27 May 179917 March 1862), was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera ''La Juive''. Early career Halévy was born in Paris, son of the cantor ...

(1799–1862) * Charles-Louis Hanon (1819–1900) * Guy d'Hardelot (1858–1936) * Lucien Haudebert (1877–1963) *

Pierre Henry Henry at his home (January 2008) Pierre Georges Albert François Henry (; 9 December 1927 – 5 July 2017) was a French composer known for his significant contributions to musique concrète. Biography Henry was born in Paris, France, and bega ...

(1927–2017) *

Ferdinand Hérold Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold (28 January 1791 – 19 January 1833), better known as Ferdinand Hérold (), was a French composer. He was celebrated in his lifetime for his operas, of which he composed more than twenty, but he also wrote ballet mus ...

(1791–1833) *

Louis de Caix d'Hervelois Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

(c. 1670 – c. 1760) *

Augusta Holmès Augusta Mary Anne Holmès (16 December 1847 – 28 January 1903) was a French composer of Ireland, Irish descent. In 1871, Holmès became a French nationality law, French national and added the accent to her last name.Rollo Myers: "Augusta Holmè ...

(1847–1903) *

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

(1892–1955) *

Jacques-Martin Hotteterre Jacques-Martin Hotteterre (29 September 167416 July 1763), also known as Jacques Martin or Jacques Hotteterre, was a French people, French composer and flautist who was the most celebrated of a family of wind instrument makers and wind perform ...

(1674–1763) * Jean Huré (1877–1930) *

Jacques Ibert Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert (15 August 1890 – 5 February 1962) was a French composer of 20th-century classical music, classical music. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoir ...

(1890–1962) *

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Pa ...

(1851–1931) * H. Maurice Jacquet (1886–1954) *

Hyacinthe Jadin Hyacinthe Jadin (27 April 1776 – 27 September 1800) was a French composer who came from a musical family. His uncle Georges Jadin was a composer in Versailles and Paris, along with his father Jean Jadin, who had played bassoon for the French Ro ...

(1776–1800) *

Louis-Emmanuel Jadin Louis-Emmanuel Jadin (21 September 1768 – 11 April 1853) was a French composer, pianist and harpsichordist. Jadin was born in Versailles. He learned piano from his brother Hyacinthe Jadin and later worked at the Théâtre de Monsieur. His fir ...

(1768–1853) * Clément Janequin (c. 1485 – 1558) *

Jean Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompan ...

(born 1948) * Maurice Jarre (1924–2009) *

André Jolivet André Jolivet (; 8 August 1905 – 20 December 1974) was a French composer. Known for his devotion to French culture and musical thought, Jolivet drew on his interest in acoustics and atonality, as well as both ancient and modern musical influ ...

(1905–1974) * Maurice Journeau (1898–1999) * Louis Antoine Jullien (1812–1860) *

Cyprien Katsaris Cyprien Katsaris (; born 5 May 1951) is a French- Cypriot virtuoso pianist, teacher and composer. Amongst his teachers were Monique de la Bruchollerie, a student of Emil von Sauer, who had been a pupil of Franz Liszt. He is known for his refine ...

(born 1951) * Eugène Ketterer (1831–1870) *

Charles Koechlin Charles-Louis-Eugène Koechlin (; 27 November 186731 December 1950), commonly known as Charles Koechlin, was a French composer, teacher and musicologist. Among his better known works is '' Les Heures persanes'', a set of piano pieces based on th ...

(1867–1950) * Joseph-François Kremer (born 1954) *

Léon Charles François Kreutzer Léon Charles François Kreutzer (September 23, 1817 — October 6, 1868) was a French music critic, music historian, and composer. Life and career Born in Paris, Léon Charles François Kreutzer was the son of composer and violinist Jean Nicolas ...

(1817—1868) *

Rodolphe Kreutzer Rodolphe Kreutzer (15 November 1766 – 6 January 1831) was a French violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer of forty French operas, including '' La mort d'Abel'' (1810). He is probably best known as the dedicatee of Beethoven's Violin Son ...

(1766–1831)

L

Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

(1665–1729) * Sophie Lacaze (born 1963) * Théodore Lack (1846–1921) * Louis Lacombe (1818–1884) * Paul Ladmirault (1877–1944) *

Édouard Lalo Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (27 January 182322 April 1892) was a French composer, violist, violinist, and academic teacher. His most celebrated piece is the '' Symphonie Espagnole'', a five-movement concerto for violin and orchestra that re ...

(1823–1892) * Michel Lambert (1610–1696) * Georges Lamothe (1842–1894) * Jean Langlais (1907–1991) * Marcel Lanquetuit (1894–1985) * Christian Lauba (born 1952) *

Jean-François Le Sueur Jean-François Le Sueur (more commonly Lesueur; ; 15 February 17606 October 1837) was a French composer, best known for his oratorios and operas. Life He was born at Plessiel, a hamlet of Drucat near Abbeville, to a long-established family of P ...

(1760–1837) * Nicolas Lebègue (c. 1631 – 1702), also "Le Bègue" *

Jean-Marie Leclair Jean-Marie Leclair l'aîné (Jean-Marie Leclair the Elder) (10 May 1697 – 22 October 1764) was a French Baroque violinist and composer. He is considered to have founded the French violin school. His brothers, the lesser-known Jean-Marie ...

(1697–1764) * Jean-Marie Leclair the younger (1703–1777) * Louis James Alfred Lefébure-Wély (1817–1869) * Paul Le Flem (1881–1984) *

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, jazz pianist, and singer. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to ma ...

(1932–2019) *

Jean-Pierre Leguay Jean-Pierre Leguay (born 4 July 1939 in Dijon) is a French organist, composer and improviser. He studied with André Marchal, Gaston Litaize, Rolande Falcinelli (organ), Simone Plé-Caussade (counterpoint), and Olivier Messiaen (composition) ...

(born 1939) * Jacques Leguerney (1906–1997) * Jean-Baptiste Lemire (1867–1945) *

Léonin Léonin (also Leoninus, Leonius, Leo; ) was the first known significant composer of polyphonic organum. He was probably French, probably lived and worked in Paris at the Notre-Dame Cathedral and was the earliest member of the Notre Dame schoo ...

(1150s – c. 1201) * Fabien Lévy (born 1968) * Gaston Litaize (1909–1991) *

Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( – 22 March 1687) was a French composer, dancer and instrumentalist of Italian birth, who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he spent most of his life working in the court o ...

(1632–1687)

M–N

Guillaume de Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...

(c. 1300 – 1377) *

Albéric Magnard Lucien Denis Gabriel Albéric Magnard (; 9 June 1865 – 3 September 1914) was a French composer, somewhat influenced by César Franck and Vincent d'Indy. Magnard became a national hero in 1914 when he refused to surrender his property to German ...

(1865–1914) *

Jean-Yves Malmasson Jean-Yves Malmasson (born 1963) is a French composer and conductor. Malmasson was born in Saint-Cloud in the Paris suburbs. After studies in piano, ondes Martenot, and composition at the Conservatoire National de Région, Boulogne-Billancourt, he ...

(born 1963) * Pierre de Manchicourt (c. 1510 – 1564) *

Marin Marais Marin Marais (; 31 May 1656, in Paris – 15 August 1728, in Paris) was a French composer and viol player. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe ...

(1656–1728) *

Louis Marchand Louis Marchand (2 February 1669 – 17 February 1732) was a French organist, harpsichordist and composer. Born into an organist's family, Marchand was a child prodigy and quickly established himself as one of the best known French virtuosos of ...

(1669–1732) *

Victor Massé Victor Massé (; born Félix Marie Massé; 7 March 1822 – 5 July 1884) was a French composer. Biography Massé was born in Lorient (Morbihan) and studied at the Paris Conservatoire, winning the Prix de Rome in 1844 for his cantata ''Le Rénég ...

(1822–1884) *

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

(1842–1912) *

Paule Maurice Paule Charlotte Marie Jeanne Maurice (29 September 1910 – 18 August 1967) was a French composer. Life and career Maurice was born in Paris to Raoul Auguste Alexandre Maurice and Marguerite Jeanne Lebrun. Registration lists at the Conservato ...

(1910–1967) * Jacques Féréol Mazas (1782–1849) * Jules Mazellier (1879–1959) * Stephane Meer (born 1951) *

Étienne Méhul Étienne Nicolas Méhul (; 22 June 1763 – 18 October 1817) was a French composer of the late Classical period (music), classical and early Romantic period (music), romantic periods. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France ...

(1763–1817) * Félicien Menu de Ménil (1860–1930) * Max Méreaux (born 1946) *

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

(1908–1992) * Jean-Christian Michel (born 1938) *

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His composition ...

(1892–1974) *

Jean-Joseph de Mondonville Jean-Joseph de Mondonville (, 25 December 1711 (baptised) – 8 October 1772), also known as Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville, was a French violinist and composer. He was a younger contemporary of Jean-Philippe Rameau and enjoyed great succe ...

(1711–1772) * Jacques-Louis Monod (1927–2020) *

Michel Pignolet de Montéclair Michel Pignolet de Montéclair (4 December 1667 – 22 September 1737) was a French composer of the baroque period. He was born Michel Pignolet in Andelot, Haute-Marne, France, and only later added "Montéclair" (the name of a fortress in h ...

(1667–1737) * Léon Moreau (1870–1946) *

Pierre Montan Berton Pierre Montan Berton (7 January 1727 – 14 May 1780) was a French people, French composer and conductor (music), conductor. He resided primarily in Paris and was an opera director. Pierre's son Henri Montan Berton (1767–1844) was also a c ...

(1727–1780) *

Étienne Moulinié Étienne Moulinié (10 October 1599 – 1676) was a French Baroque composer. He was born in Languedoc, and when he was a child he sang at the Narbonne Cathedral. Through the influence of his brother Antoine (died 1655), Moulinié gained an appo ...

(1599–1667) *

Jean-Joseph Mouret Jean-Joseph Mouret (11 April 1682 in Avignon – 10 December 1738 in Charenton-le-Pont) was a French composer whose dramatic works made him one of the leading exponents of Baroque music in his country. Even though most of his works are rarely per ...

(1682–1738) *

Jean Mouton Jean Mouton (c. 1459 – 30 October 1522) was a French composer of the Renaissance music, Renaissance. He was famous both for his motets, which are among the most refined of the time, and for being the teacher of Adrian Willaert, one of the f ...

(c. 1459 – 1522) *

Tristan Murail Tristan Murail (born 11 March 1947) is a French composer associated with the " spectral" technique of composition. Among his compositions is the large orchestral work ''Gondwana''. Early life and studies Murail was born in Le Havre, France. His f ...

(born 1947) * François Joseph Naderman (1781–1835)

O–P

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

(1819–1880) * Joseph O'Kelly (1828–1885) * André George Louis Onslow (1784–1853) * Étienne Ozi (1754–1813) * Émile Paladilhe (1844–1926) *

Paul Paray Paul Marie-Adolphe Charles Paray (French: ɔl paʁɛ 24 May 1886 – 10 October 1979) was a French conductor, organist and composer. After winning France's top musical award, the Prix de Rome, he fought in the First World War and was a prisone ...

(1886–1979) *

Pérotin Pérotin () was a composer associated with the Notre Dame school of polyphony in Paris and the broader musical style of high medieval music. He is credited with developing the polyphonic practices of his predecessor Léonin, with the introd ...

(c. 1160 – c. 1230) * Claude Perraudin (1948 – 2001) * Jean-Louis Petit (born 1937) * Ninot le Petit (fl. c. 1500–1520) * Georges Pfeiffer (1835–1908) *

François-André Danican Philidor François-André Danican Philidor (7 September 1726 – 31 August 1795), often referred to as André Danican Philidor during his lifetime, was a French composer and chess player. He contributed to the early development of the ''opéra comique''. ...

(1726–1795) *

Gabriel Pierné Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné (16 August 1863 – 17 July 1937) was a French composer, conductor, pianist and organist. Biography Gabriel Pierné was born in Metz. His family moved to Paris, after Metz and part of Lorraine were annexed to Germ ...

(1863–1937) *

Auguste Pilati Auguste Pilati (actual name "Auguste Pilate") (29 September 1810 – 1 August 1877) was a prolific French composer, opera conductor and occasional singer. He employed several pseudonyms including "Auguste Pilati Juliano", "A. P. Juliano", "Ate. P. ...

(1810–1877) *

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

(1899–1963) * Jacques de la Presle (1888–1969) *

Josquin des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

(c. 1450 – 1521) * Pierre Pincemaille (1956–2018)

R–S

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of ...

(1683–1764) * Jean-Marie Raoul (1766–1837) *

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

(1875–1937) * Jean-Henri Ravina (1818–1906) *

Jean-Féry Rebel Jean-Féry Rebel (18 April 1666 – 2 January 1747) was an innovative French Baroque composer and violinist. Biography Rebel, a child violin prodigy, was the most famous offspring of Jean Rebel, a tenor in Louis XIV's private chapel. He late ...

(1666–1747) *

Rhené-Baton René-Emmanuel Baton, known as Rhené-Baton (5 September 1879 – 23 September 1940), was a French conductor and composer. Though born in Courseulles-sur-Mer, Normandy, his family originated in Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine, Vitré in neighbouring Britt ...

(1879–1940) *

Jean-Claude Risset Jean-Claude Raoul Olivier Risset (; 13 March 1938 – 21 November 2016) was a French composer, best known for his pioneering contributions to computer music. He was a former student of André Jolivet and former co-worker of Max Mathews at Bell L ...

(1938–2016) * Théodore Ritter (1840–1887) *

Pierre Rode Jacques Pierre Joseph Rode (; 16 February 1774 – 25 November 1830) was a French violinist and composer. Life and career Born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France, Pierre Rode traveled in 1787 to Paris and soon became a favourite pupil of the great Gi ...

(1774–1830) * Joseph Guy Ropartz (1864–1955) *

Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (; 10 May 1760 – 26 June 1836) was a French army officer of the French Revolutionary Wars. Lisle is known for writing the words and music of the , which would later be known as and become the French national anthe ...

(1760–1836) *

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

(1712–1778) *

Albert Roussel Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (; 5 April 1869 – 23 August 1937) was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period. His ...

(1869–1937) *

Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer (12 May 1703 – 11 January 1755) was a French Baroque composer, harpsichordist, organist, and administrator.Lionel Sawkins and David Fuller"Royer, Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace" Grove Music Online. Biography Born in Tu ...

(c. 1705 – 1755) * F. Rubinet (fl 1482–1507) *

Pierre de La Rue Pierre de la Rue ( – 20 November 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance. His name also appears as Piersson or variants of Pierchon and his toponymic, when present, as various forms of de Platea, de Robore, or de Vic ...

(c. 1452 – 1518) * Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (c. 1640 – c. 1700) *

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

(1835–1921) * Gustave Samazeuilh (1877–1967) *

Pierre Sancan Pierre Sancan (24 October 1916 – 20 October 2008) was a French composer, pianist, teacher and conductor. Along with Olivier Messiaen and Henri Dutilleux, he was a major figure among French musicians in the mid-twentieth-century transition between ...

(1916–2008) *

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

(1866–1925) * Henri Sauguet (1901–1989) * Alice Sauvrezis (1866–1946) * Charles Eugène Sauzay (1809–1901) *

Pierre Schaeffer Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer (English pronunciation: , ; 14 August 1910 – 19 August 1995) was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist, acoustician and founder of Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC). His inno ...

(1910–1995) *

Florent Schmitt Florent Schmitt (; 28 September 187017 August 1958) was a French composer. He was part of the group known as Les Apaches. His most famous pieces are ''La tragédie de Salome'' and ''Psaume XLVII'' ( Psalm 47). He has been described as "one of t ...

(1870–1958) *

Claudin de Sermisy Claudin de Sermisy (c. 1490 – 13 October 1562) was a French composer of the Renaissance.Isabelle Cazeaux, "Claudin d Sermisy", "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians", ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. (London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., ...

(c. 1490 – 1562) * Gaston Serpette (1846–1904) *

Éric Serra Éric Serra (; born 9 September 1959) is a French film composer, known as a frequent collaborator of director Luc Besson. He is a five-time César Award nominee, winning once for '' The Big Blue'' (1988). Early life Serra was born in Sain ...

(born 1959) * Déodat de Séverac (1872–1921)

T–Y

* Walter Taieb (born 1973) *

Germaine Tailleferre Germaine Tailleferre (; born Marcelle Germaine Taillefesse; 19 April 18927 November 1983) was a French composer and the only female member of the group of composers known as ''Les Six''. Biography Marcelle Germaine Taillefesse was born at Saint- ...

(1892–1983) * Alexandre Tansman (1897–1986) * Claude Terrasse (1867–1923) *

Ambroise Thomas Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas (; 5 August 1811 – 12 February 1896) was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas ''Mignon'' (1866) and ''Hamlet (opera), Hamlet'' (1868). Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the C ...

(1811–1896) * Charles Tournemire (1870–1939) *

Edgard Varèse Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French and American composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; h ...

(1883–1965) * Gilet Velut (flourished in early 15th century) *

Pauline Viardot Pauline Viardot (; 18 July 1821 – 18 May 1910) was a French dramatic mezzo-soprano, composer and pedagogue of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García,FitzLyon, p. 15, referring to the baptismal name. Thbirth recorddigitized a ...

(1821–1910) *

Louis Vierne Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. He was the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death. As a composer, much of his output was Organ (music), organ music, including six ...

(1870–1937) *

Robert de Visée Robert de Visée (1652-1730) was a French lutenist, guitarist, theorbist and viol player at the court of the kings Louis XIV and Louis XV, as well as a singer and a composer for lute, theorbo and guitar. Biography Robert de Visée's place and d ...

(c. 1655 – 1732–33) *

Louis Vuillemin Louis Vuillemin (19 December 1879 – 2 April 1929) was a French composer and music critic who strongly identified with his Breton heritage in his music. Life Vuillemin was born in Nantes, his grandfather was the piano manufacturer M. Didion. He s ...

(1879–1929) *

Charles-Marie Widor Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the late Romantic era. As a composer he is known for his ten organ symphonies, especially the toccata of his fifth organ sympho ...

(1844–1937) * Jules Auguste Wiernsberger (1857–1925) * Michèl Yost (1754–1786)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French composers French

Composers A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and defi ...

French music-related lists