A Suzuki violin student plays music by more than 20 composers on the way from Book 1 to Book 10. Some are famous. Some are known today for one small piece in a violin book. This page says who each one was.
Book 1
| Composer | Piece in the book | Who they were |
|---|---|---|
| Shinichi Suzuki (1898 to 1998) | Twinkle Variations, Allegro, Perpetual Motion, Allegretto, Andantino, Etude | A Japanese violinist and teacher. He built the method and wrote these pieces to teach with. |
| Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797 to 1839) | Long, Long Ago | An English poet and songwriter. His songs were sung in homes across Britain and America. |
| J. S. Bach (1685 to 1750) | Three minuets | A German composer and organist. Read Bach for kids. |
| Robert Schumann (1810 to 1856) | The Happy Farmer | A German composer. He wrote his Album for the Young for his own children. Read Robert Schumann for kids. |
| François-Joseph Gossec (1734 to 1829) | Gavotte | A composer who worked in Paris and wrote symphonies and operas. He lived to 95. |
The other pieces in Book 1 are folk songs with no known composer.
Book 2
| Composer | Piece in the book | Who they were |
|---|---|---|
| George Frideric Handel (1685 to 1759) | Chorus from Judas Maccabaeus, Bourrée | A German-born composer who made his career in London. Read Handel for kids. |
| Carl Maria von Weber (1786 to 1826) | Hunters’ Chorus | A German composer. His opera Der Freischütz made him famous. |
| Johannes Brahms (1833 to 1897) | Waltz | A German composer and pianist. Read Brahms for kids. |
| Niccolò Paganini (1782 to 1840) | Theme from Witches’ Dance | An Italian violinist, the most famous of his time. Read Paganini for kids. |
| Ambroise Thomas (1811 to 1896) | Gavotte from Mignon | A French opera composer. Mignon was his great success. |
| Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632 to 1687) | Gavotte | A composer born in Italy who ran the music at the court of King Louis XIV of France. |
| Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 to 1827) | Minuet in G | A German composer who worked in Vienna. Read Beethoven for kids. |
| Luigi Boccherini (1743 to 1805) | Minuet | An Italian cellist and composer who spent much of his life in Spain. |
Bach, Schumann, and Bayly appear again in Book 2.
Books 3 to 5
| Composer | Piece in the books | Who they were |
|---|---|---|
| Antonín Dvořák (1841 to 1904) | Humoresque, Book 3 | A Czech composer. Read Dvořák for kids. |
| Jean Becker (1833 to 1884) | Gavotte, Book 3 | A German violinist who led a well-known string quartet. |
| Friedrich Seitz (1848 to 1918) | Concerto movements, Book 4 | A German violinist. He wrote short concertos for students to learn on. |
| Antonio Vivaldi (1678 to 1741) | Concertos in A minor and G minor, Books 4 and 5 | An Italian violinist and composer from Venice. Read Vivaldi for kids. |
| Carl Bohm (1844 to 1920) | Perpetual motion piece, Book 4 | A German composer of songs and short pieces. |
| Francesco Maria Veracini (1690 to 1768) | Gigue, Book 5 | An Italian violinist and composer from Florence. |
Book 3 also has a gavotte credited to Martini and several pieces by Bach. Read Suzuki violin Book 3 songs in order. Books 4 and 5 hold the two violin parts of Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins. Weber returns in Book 5 with a country dance.
Books 6 to 10
| Composer | Piece in the books | Who they were |
|---|---|---|
| Arcangelo Corelli (1653 to 1713) | La Folia, Book 6 | An Italian violinist and composer. Violinists across Europe studied his sonatas. Read Corelli for kids. |
| Joseph-Hector Fiocco (1703 to 1741) | Allegro, Book 6 | A composer and church musician from Brussels. |
| Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 to 1764) | Gavotte, Book 6 | A French composer of operas and harpsichord pieces. |
| Henry Eccles | Sonata in G minor, Book 8 | An English violinist who worked in London and Paris in the early 1700s. |
| André Grétry (1741 to 1813) | Tambourin, Book 8 | A composer from Liège who wrote operas in Paris. |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 to 1791) | A minuet in Book 7, and the concertos of Books 9 and 10 | An Austrian composer. Read Mozart for kids. |
Handel’s sonatas appear in Books 6 and 7. Bach’s Concerto in A minor is in Book 7.
What the list shows
Most of the music is from the 1600s and 1700s. Corelli, Vivaldi, Bach, and Handel wrote in the Baroque era. Suzuki chose a great deal of Baroque music for the middle books.
Many of the composers were violinists. Corelli, Vivaldi, Veracini, Paganini, Becker, and Seitz all played the violin for a living. They wrote music that fits the hand.
Several pieces were not written for violin. The Brahms waltz and “The Happy Farmer” were piano pieces. “The Two Grenadiers” was a song. The choruses by Handel and Weber were sung on stage. Suzuki arranged them.
Mozart is the goal. The last two books are two full concertos by Mozart.
How to use this page
- Tell one fact before a new piece. “The man who wrote this lived to 95” is enough.
- Find the original. Play the Brahms waltz on piano, or the Handel chorus sung by a choir.
- Keep a composer notebook. Print a composer study notebook page for each new composer.
- Place them in time. Use the composer timeline.
More on the Suzuki books
- Suzuki violin Book 1 songs in order
- Suzuki violin Book 2 songs in order
- Suzuki violin books 1 to 10: what each one teaches
- Classical composers for kids: a guide by era
Sources
Checked in November 2026.
- Alfred Music. Suzuki Violin School, Volume 1, International Edition.
- Alfred Music. Suzuki Violin School, Volume 2, International Edition.
- The Royal Conservatory. Suzuki repertoire and the RCM Violin Syllabus, 2021 Edition, for the pieces and composers of Books 3 to 8.
- Forsyth Music. Suzuki Violin School 2: titles and contents.
More from this guide
This article is part of Classical composers for kids: a guide by era, from Vivaldi to Britten.
Alexina Louie for kids: her life, her music, and what to play first
Alexina Louie explained for parents and kids: the Canadian composer from Vancouver, her music of East and West, her piano pieces about the stars, and things to do.
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Amy Beach for kids: her life, her music, and what to play first
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André Mathieu for kids: his life, his music, and what to play first
André Mathieu explained for parents and kids: the Montreal child prodigy who composed at four, his piano concertos, what to hear first, and things to do.
Arvo Pärt for kids: his life, his music, and what to play first
Arvo Pärt explained for parents and kids: the living Estonian composer of slow, bell-like music, Spiegel im Spiegel, and things to do together.
Asian composers for kids: ten to know
Ten Asian composers for kids, from Japan, China, Korea, and India, with one piece to play first for each, what to listen for, and things to do.
Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.