List of German composers

* Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179), early church music composer, wrote sacred works including her morality play with music "Ordo Virtutum"
* Michael Praetorius (1571–1621), Baroque composer, organist and writer on music
* Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672), Baroque composer and organist
* Samuel Scheidt (1587–1653), Baroque composer, organist and teacher
* Johann Schop (1590–1667), composer of violin music
* Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706), Baroque composer known for his "Canon in D major"
* Georg Caspar Schürmann (1672 or 1673-1751), Baroque composer
* Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767), Baroque composer with more than 800 credited works
* Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), Baroque composer, known for the "Mass in B Minor" and many other compositions
* George Frideric Handel (1685–1759), Baroque composer, wrote a significant amount of music for the church including "Messiah"
* Johan Agrell (1701–1765), Baroque/Classical composer of symphonies
* Johann Ernst Eberlin (1702–1762), organist and composer, a bridge between the Baroque and Classical eras
* Johann Gottlieb Graun (1703–1771), Baroque composer and violinist
* Carl Heinrich Graun (1704–1759), Baroque composer and tenor singer
* Christoph Schaffrath (1709–1763), chamber music composer, a bridge between the Baroque and Classical eras
* Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713–1780), Baroque composer and organist
* Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788), early Classical era composer
* Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787), early Classical era composer
* Gottfried August Homilius (1714–1785), church music composer, wrote passions, oratorios, and cantatas
* Carl Friedrich Abel (1723–1787), performer on the viola da gamba and Classcial composer
* Florian Leopold Gassmann (1729–1774) [http://www.hoasm.org/XIIC/Gassmann.html] , Classical composer of opera buffa
* Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782), 18th century composer in the Galante style
* Joseph Martin Kraus (1756–1792), Classical composer who moved to Sweden
* Franz Danzi (1763–1826), Classical composer and noted cellist
* Simon Mayr (1763–1845), Classical era opera composer, rarely performed today
* Peter Anton Kreusser (1765-1831) Romantic composer,Paris, London, Munich
* Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), regarded by many as the first Romantic composer, famous mainly for his nine symphonies and five piano concerti, and other works
* Louis Spohr (1784–1859), Romantic composer of symphonies, operas, and other works
* Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826), composer who was a bridge between the Classical and Romantic styles, noted for "Der Freischütz"
* Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864), Romantic era opera composer, known for "Les Huguenots"
* Johann Carl Gottfried Löwe (1796–1869), Romantic era composer of lieder
* Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847), Romantic composer, known for Wedding March from his music to "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
* Robert Schumann (1810–1856), Romantic composer, a significant "lieder" writer, also wrote many short piano pieces
* Richard Wagner (1813–1883), opera composer, made use of extreme chromaticism, known for "Tristan und Isolde" as well as the famous four-opera cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen"
* Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (1814–1865), violinist and composer, considered by some the greatest violinist of his time after Paganini
* Friedrich Robert Volkmann (1815–1833)
* Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880), Romantic composer and cellist
* Clara Schumann (1819–1896), Romantic composer, wife of Robert and pianist who also wrote piano music, chamber music and songs
* Carl Reinecke (1824–1910), musician and composer
* Albert Dietrich (1829–1908), composer and conductor
* Johannes Brahms (1833–1897), Romantic composer, somewhat similar in style to Beethoven, known for his "Hungarian Dances" and "Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn"
* Franz Wohlfahrt (1833–1884), Romantic era violin teacher
* Max Bruch (1838–1920), Romantic era composer, today known mostly for his "Violin Concerto No. 1"
* August Friedrich Martin Klughardt (1847–1902), composer and conductor
* Fritz Seitz (1848–1918), Romantic era violin teacher
* Max Wagenknecht (1857–1922), composer of organ and piano music
* Julius Klengel (1859–1933), cellist and composer
* Richard Strauss (1864–1949), late Romantic composer, known for "Also Sprach Zarathustra", based on Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy
* Hans Pfitzner (1869–1949), composer and self-described anti-modernist
* Carl Orff (1895–1982), 20th century modernist composer
* Paul Hindemith (1895–1963), 20th century composer, conductor and theorist, developer of "Gebrauchsmusik"
* Martin Scherber (1907-1974), 20th century composer of three symphonies
* Berthold Goldschmidt (1903–1996)
* Bertold Hummel (1925–2002), 20th century modernist composer
* Hans Zimmer (born 1957), contemporary film score composer ("Gladiator") and ("")