German composers for kids: ten to know

Germany gave classical music Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, along with a long line of organists, songwriters, and opera composers. This list has ten German composers in order of birth, with a short story and one piece to hear for each. All ten have a full page on this site. Start with the Hallelujah chorus or the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth for a young child.

Ten German composers

1. Hildegard of Bingen (1098 to 1179)

Hildegard was an abbess who led a community of nuns. She wrote books on religion, medicine, and nature, and she composed about 77 songs for her nuns to sing. Her music is among the oldest that can still be linked to a named composer. Read Hildegard of Bingen for kids.

Hear: “O virtus Sapientiae,” a single line of song that lasts about two minutes.

2. George Frideric Handel (1685 to 1759)

Handel was born in Germany and spent most of his working life in London. He wrote grand music for kings, for the theater, and for large choirs. Read Handel for kids.

Hear: The Hallelujah chorus from Messiah. Read the Hallelujah chorus explained.

3. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 to 1750)

Bach came from a family of musicians and worked as an organist, a court musician, and a church music director. He often wrote several tunes that play at the same time and fit together. Read Bach for kids and Bach facts for kids.

Hear: The first movement of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. See the Brandenburg Concertos guide.

4. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 to 1827)

Beethoven was born in the city of Bonn and moved to Vienna at 21. He began to lose his hearing in his late twenties, and he kept composing. Read Beethoven for kids.

Hear: The first movement of Symphony No. 5. See the Symphony No. 5 guide.

5. Fanny Mendelssohn (1805 to 1847)

Fanny Mendelssohn wrote more than 400 pieces of music. Most of them were not printed while she lived, because in her time few women could work as composers. Read Fanny Mendelssohn for kids.

Hear: A month from Das Jahr, her set of twelve piano pieces for the twelve months of the year.

6. Felix Mendelssohn (1809 to 1847)

Felix was Fanny’s younger brother. He wrote his overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream when he was 17. He also brought Bach’s music back to concert audiences. Read Mendelssohn for kids.

Hear: The overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Listen for the fairies in the strings and the donkey’s “hee-haw.”

7. Robert Schumann (1810 to 1856)

Schumann wrote piano music, songs, and four symphonies. He wrote a book of piano pieces for his own children that students still play. Read Robert Schumann for kids.

Hear: “The Happy Farmer.” See the guide to Album for the Young.

8. Richard Wagner (1813 to 1883)

Wagner wrote operas on a giant scale. One set of four takes about 15 hours to perform, over four evenings. He wrote his own stories and designed his own theater. He also wrote hateful things about Jewish people, and the page on him explains what parents need to know. Read Wagner for kids.

Hear: “The Ride of the Valkyries.” See what to hear.

9. Clara Schumann (1819 to 1896)

Clara Schumann played her first big concert at nine and went on playing in public for more than 60 years. She was one of the best-known pianists in Europe. She also composed, taught, and raised eight children. Read Clara Schumann for kids.

Hear: The first of her Three Romances for violin and piano.

10. Johannes Brahms (1833 to 1897)

Brahms was born in the port city of Hamburg and settled in Vienna. He wrote the lullaby that music boxes play all over the world, along with four symphonies and a great deal of piano music. Read Brahms for kids.

Hear: The Lullaby, and then Hungarian Dance No. 5. See the Hungarian Dance guide.

Five more to hear

• Johann Pachelbel (1653 to 1706). Hear the Canon in D. Read Pachelbel for kids.
• Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 to 1767). A friend of Bach and Handel who wrote a huge number of pieces. Hear one of his concertos for recorder.
• Carl Maria von Weber (1786 to 1826). Hear the overture to his opera Der Freischütz, with its four horns in a forest.
• Engelbert Humperdinck (1854 to 1921). Hear the “Evening Prayer” from Hansel and Gretel. Read Humperdinck for kids.
• Carl Orff (1895 to 1982). Hear “O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana. Read Carl Orff for kids.

German or Austrian?

Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert spoke German, and they were Austrian. So were the Strausses of Vienna.

Beethoven and Brahms were born in Germany and spent most of their working lives in Vienna, the capital of Austria.

Germany was not one country until 1871. Before that, it was a patchwork of small states, each with its own ruler, court, and musicians. That is one reason so many German towns had an orchestra and an organist of their own.

The three Bs

A conductor of the 1800s coined the phrase “the three Bs” for Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. They were born in three different centuries. Each one studied the music of the one before.

What to listen for in German music

Tunes that weave. Bach wrote several lines that fit together. Later German composers studied him and did the same.

Big forms. German composers took the symphony and the sonata and made them longer and grander.

Hymns. Slow, strong hymn tunes from German churches turn up inside larger pieces.

Forests and fairy tales. Horns call through the woods, and stories from the Brothers Grimm become operas.

Things to do together

Three Bs. Play one minute each of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Ask which sounds the oldest and which the newest.

Sister and brother. Play a piano piece by Fanny Mendelssohn, and then one by Felix. Ask whether they sound alike.

Then and later. Play Hildegard’s song, and then “The Ride of the Valkyries.” They are about 700 years apart. Count how many voices or instruments you hear in each.

Make a timeline. Write the ten names and birth years on cards and put them in order.

Find the towns. On a map of Germany, find Eisenach, Bonn, Hamburg, and Leipzig.

Print and play

Fill in a composer study notebook page for each composer you hear. Print the fact sheets for Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.

For more lists by country, read French composers for kids and Italian composers for kids. For more composers by era, see classical composers for kids.