There has been much interest in historic periods and labels as they apply to music – Baroque, Renaissance, etc. – therefore, for convenience, composers listed herein are identified with their period. The terms used for the various historic periods are borrowed from art history, and often follow similar developmental trends in painting, sculpture, literature, and architecture. Although any such groupings are at best arbitrary, it may help you to associate composers with the predominant styles flourishing during these periods, and thus make it easier to find music that you will like that for now may be unfamiliar. Please bear in mind that the placement of a composer in any one specific period is an arbitrary choice based on flexible definitions. For this reason, dates of certain composers overlap boundaries on the list. To assist you in understanding the musical eras often referred to, definitions of each period are provided.

• Medieval (before 1450)

• Renaissance (1450 - 1600)

• Baroque (1600 - 1750)

• Classical (1750 - 1820)

• Romantic (1810 - 1910)

• 20^th-Century (1900 - 2000)

• Modern (1945 - present)

(Note that dates are approximate, and to be used as guidelines only.)