The Most Passionate Composer Love Letters of All Time, Part 1

 by Emily E. Hogstad  February 5th, 2026

Artists and composers are famous for their wild love lives. Turns out, their love letters are just as fascinating as you’d expect.

Today, we’re looking at love letters from ten composers, including Mozart being very saucy on a business trip, Brahms pining over Clara Schumann, and Haydn making a shocking confession to his mistress.

Joseph Haydn, 1791

Joseph Haydn

In these two love letters to his mistress, singer Luigia Polzelli, Haydn writes about her husband’s fatal illness…and longs for “four eyes [to] be closed”, a reference to his hope that his own wife will die, too!

London, 14th March 1791

Most esteemed Polzelli,

I am very sorry for you in your present circumstances, and I hope that your poor husband will die at any moment; you did well to put him in the hospital, to keep him alive…

London, 4th August 1791

Dear Polzelli!

…As far as your husband is concerned, I tell you that Providence has done well to liberate you from this heavy yoke, and for him, too, it is better to be in another world than to remain useless in this one. The poor man has suffered enough. Dear Polzelli, perhaps, perhaps the time will come, when we both so often dreamt of, when four eyes shall be closed. Two are closed, but the other two – enough of all this, it shall be as God wills.

Learn more about why Haydn hated his wife so much.

Ludwig van Beethoven, 1812

Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, finished in 1812   

In 1812, Beethoven wrote an impassioned love letter to an unknown woman. This letter has come to be known as the letter to the Immortal Beloved.

Beethoven in 1803

Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us – I can live only wholly with you or not at all – Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits – Yes, unhappily it must be so – You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart – never – never – Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V is now a wretched life – Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men – At my age I need a steady, quiet life – can that be so in our connection? My angel, I have just been told that the mail coach goes every day – therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once – Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together – Be calm – love me – today – yesterday – what tearful longings for you – you – you – my life – my all – farewell. Oh continue to love me – never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved. ever thine, ever mine, ever ours…

Read more about Who was the Immortal Beloved?

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1783

Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail overture   

Here’s a suggestive love letter from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to his wife Constanze, written in 1783 when he was about to return home to Vienna after overseeing a production of his opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Prague.

On June 1st I’ll sleep in Prague, and on the 4th – the 4th? – I’ll be sleeping with my dear little wife; – Spruce up your sweet little nest because my little rascal here really deserves it, he has been very well behaved, but now he’s itching to possess your sweet [word erased by some unknown hand]. Just imagine that little sneak, while I am writing, he has secretly crept up on the table and now looks at me questioningly; but I, without much ado, give him a little slap – but now he is even more [word erased by some unknown hand]; well, he is almost out of control, the scoundrel.

Find out what life was like with the Mozarts in the 1780s.

Hector Berlioz, 1832

Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique   

Berlioz wrote this letter to actress Harriet Smithson, a woman whom he had been obsessed over and stalking for years, for whom he had composed the Symphonie fantastique and Lélio. He was begging her to return his letter:

Harriet Smithson in Romeo and Juliet

If you do not desire my death, in the name of pity (I dare not say of love) let me know when I can see you. I cry mercy, pardon on my knees, between my sobs!!! Oh, wretch that I am, I did not think I deserved all that I suffer, but I bless the blows that come from your hand, await your reply like the sentence of my judge.

Learn more about the insane love story between Hector and Harriet.

Franz Liszt, 1834

Liszt’s Liebestraum No. 3  

In 1834, Franz Liszt wrote this to his new mistress, Countess Marie d’Agoult:

Marie d’Agoult in 1861

My heart overflows with emotion and joy! I do not know what heavenly languor, what infinite pleasure, permeates it and burns me up. It is as if I had never loved!!! Tell me whence these uncanny disturbances spring, these inexpressible foretastes of delight, these divine tremors of love. Oh! All this can only spring from you, sister, angel, woman, Marie! All this can only be, is surely nothing less than a gentle ray streaming from your fiery soul, or else some secret poignant teardrop which you have long since left in my breast.

Learn more about the passionate nature of Liszt and Marie d’Agoult’s early relationship.

Robert Schumann, 1837

Robert Schumann

In December 1837, composer Robert Schumann was in love with virtuoso pianist Clara Wieck. They’d gotten engaged a few months earlier and were doing their best to navigate their relationship, given that Clara’s father didn’t approve of their romance.

New Year’s Eve, 1837, after 11 p.m.

I have been sitting here for a whole hour. Indeed, I meant to spend the whole evening writing to you, but no words would come. Sit down beside me now, slip your arm round me, and let us gaze peacefully, blissfully, into each other’s eyes…

How happy we are, Clara! Let us kneel together, Clara, my Clara, so close that I can touch you, in this solemn hour.

On the morning of the 1st, 1838.

What a heavenly morning! All the bells are ringing; the sky is so golden and blue and clear – and before me lies your letter. I send you my first kiss, beloved.

Learn more about the brutal court case between Robert, Clara, and her father.

Johannes Brahms, 1858

Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Movement 2 (he once told Clara this was a portrait of her)    

Brahms had complicated feelings for his mentor and dear friend Clara Wieck Schumann.

In 1858, her husband Robert had died two years earlier, and Clara was on tour in the Netherlands to make money to support her family. Brahms came to her home in Düsseldorf, in part to help watch her children. He wrote to her during her tour:

My beloved friend,

Night has come on again, and it is already late, but I can do nothing but think of you and am constantly looking at your dear letter and portrait. What have you done to me? Can’t you remove the spell you have cast over me? …

How are you? I did not want to ask you to write, but do so long for letters from you. Besides, I know only too well how you are – you are holding your head up. So just write me a word or two occasionally, and I shall be happy – just a friendly greeting to say that you are keeping well and that you will be back in 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 days!…

Do cheer me with writing me a few lines. I want them so badly, but above all, I want you.

Brahms and the Schumanns

Learn more about the friendship and love triangle between Robert, Clara, and Johannes.

Richard Wagner, 1863

Richard Wagner and Cosima Wagner

Richard Wagner and Cosima Wagner’s marriage became one of the most influential in music history. However, the relationship had an inauspicious start. Richard wrote this letter to his mistress Maria Volkl shortly after first declaring his love to Cosima (!):

Now, my darling, prepare the house for my return, so that I can relax there in comfort, as I very much long to do… And plenty of perfume: buy the best bottles, so that it smells really sweet. Heavens! How I’m looking forward to relaxing with you again at last. (I hope the pink drawers are ready, too???) – Yes, indeed! Just be nice and gentle, I deserve to be well looked after for a change.

Gustav Mahler

During their engagement, Gustav Mahler wrote this letter to his fiancée Alma, to let her know she must decide between becoming his wife or pursuing her passion for composing music.

Almschi, I beg you, read this letter carefully. Our relationship must not degenerate into a mere flirt. Before we speak again, we must have clarified everything, you must know what I demand and expect of you, and what I can give in return – what you must be for me. You must “renounce” (your word) everything superficial and conventional, all vanity and outward show (concerning your individuality and your work) – you must surrender yourself to me unconditionally… in return you must wish for nothing except my love! And what that is, Alma, I cannot tell you – I have already spoken too much about it. But let me tell you just this: for someone I love the way I would love you if you were to become my wife, I can forfeit all my life and all my happiness.

Learn more about the beautiful Alma Schindler’s background, her marriage to Gustav, and why he wrote this letter.

Jean Sibelius, 1891   

Sibelius wrote this letter to his fiancée Aino in early January 1891:

My own Aino darling,

Thank you for your letter and your Christmas cards. Your relatives have all been very kind to me. Please give them my respects and thank them most warmly, won’t you. But it is you who loves me more than anyone else has done, and I want you to be sure that I love you and belong to you with all my heart. Every time you write to me, I discover some new aspect of your personality. It makes me feel as if you are a store of treasures to which only I have the key, and you can imagine how proud I am to own it. You are so natural and sincere, which I like. When in the future we have a home of our own and are together alone, we must never be anything other than wholly ourselves, natural, tender towards each other, and devoted. I think and hope that you will be content with me in this respect. It is perhaps unmanly to say so, but you know, Aino, that I have always wanted to be caressed and have always missed its absence. At home, I was the only one who was demonstrative, and this in spite of the fact that I was basically very shy. But up to now, only you have caressed me, and perhaps you have thought it tiresome of me to ask you often to do this, my darling. This could well have remained unwritten, but as I am writing as quickly as I am thinking (hence my superb handwriting!), and this came into my head, it can just as well go into the letter. I sometimes cannot believe that a person like you loves me, for you are a wonderful woman.

Aino and Jean Sibelius

Yuja Wang - Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1

Franz Liszt: Dante Symphony Premiered on 7 November 1857

by Georg Predota

Franz Liszt, 1858

Enjoying the shores of Lake Como with Marie d’Agoult in 1837, Franz Liszt (1811-1886) immersed himself in a close reading of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The idea of composing a symphony to Dante’s Divine Comedy, one that would combine music, poetry and the visual arts, gradually took shape. Initially, Liszt suggested that the performance might be accompanied by the projection of lanternslides, showing scenes painted by Bonaventura Genelli. Apparently, he even considered “the use of an experimental wind machine at the end of the first movement to evoke the winds of Hell.”

Dante and His Poem by Domenico di Michelino

In the event, in June 1855, Liszt wrote to his future son-in-law Richard Wagner. “So you are reading Dante. He’s good company for you, and I for my part want to provide you with a kind of commentary on that reading. I have long been carrying a Dante Symphony around in my head – this year I intend to finish it. Three movements, Hell, Purgatory and Paradise – the first two for orchestra alone, the last with chorus. When I visit you in the autumn I shall probably be able to bring it with me; and if you don’t dislike it you can let me inscribe your name on it.” Wagner was enthusiastic, but advised against including a choral finale on the grounds that “Paradise could not be depicted in music.”

Royal Theatre in Dresden

On the advice of Wagner, Liszt discarded the idea of a choral finale and added a brief setting for women’s voices of the first two verses of the “Magnificat,” all ending with a “Hallelujah.” When Liszt played the Dante symphony for Wagner in Zürich in October 1856, Wagner greatly disliked the fortissimo conclusion. He wrote in his autobiography, “If anything had convinced me of the man’s masterly and poetical powers of conception, it was the original ending of the Faust Symphony, in which the delicate fragrance of a last reminiscence of Gretchen overpowers everything, without arresting the attention by a violent disturbance. The ending of the Dante Symphony seemed to me to be quite on the same lines, for the delicately introduced “Magnificat” in the same way only gives a hint of a soft, shimmering Paradise. I was the more startled to hear this beautiful suggestion suddenly interrupted in an alarming way by a pompous, plagal cadence. No! I exclaimed loudly, not that, away with it! No majestic Deity! Leave us the fine soft shimmer!” Liszt kept both endings; the loud one is indicated in his version for two pianos, but in the orchestral score it is usually omitted. The Dante Symphony is dedicated to Richard Wagner, and the first performance took place at the Royal Theatre in Dresden on 7 November 1857. Liszt conducted, and Hans von Bülow—still married to Liszt’s daughter Cosima—wrote, “the occasion proved a fiasco.” The press was hostile and Liszt wrote that the performance was “very unsuccessful from lack of rehearsal.”

Sandro Botticelli: Chart of Hell

A published preface functioning as a program guided audiences through the composition, but the music continued to challenge audiences for decades to come. George Bernard Shaw reviewed the work in 1885 and wrote, “the manner in which the program was presented by Liszt could just as well represent a London house when the kitchen chimney is on fire.” In terms of musical narrative, the opening movement is entitled “Inferno” and guides us through the nine Circles of Hell. The “Gates of Hell” sing slow recitative-like themes, and at “The Vestibule and First Circle Hell” the music becomes frantic. When Dante and Virgil enter the “Second Circle of Hell,” the infernal “Black Wind” that perpetually shakes the damned greets them. Here we find the tragic love of Francesca, whose adulterous affair with her brother-in-law Paolo cost her life and soul. The “Black Wind” motif returns in the “Seventh Circle of Hell,” and Liszt writes, “this entire passage is intended to be a blasphemous mocking laughter.” The “Eight” and “Ninth Circles of Hell” present slightly varied themes, and Dante and Virgil gradually emerge from Hell. They ascend Mount Purgatorio in the second, initially solemn and tranquil movement. Dante and Virgil ascend the two terraces of Ante-Purgatory, where souls repent their sins. The “Seven Cornices of Mount Purgatory” represent the seven deadly sins, and “Earthly Paradise” guides the soul to Paradise. In the score, Liszt directs that the choir be hidden from the audience in the concluding “Magnificat.” Liszt wrote, “Art cannot portray heaven itself, only its image in the hearts of those souls, which have turned to the light of heavenly grace. Thus for us the radiance is still shrouded, although it increases with the clarity of understanding.”

Schumann-Liszt Widmung

by Anson Yeung  

Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck © pages.stolaf.edu

Marked by its technical bravura, Widmung (or Dedication in English) has remained one of the most popular encore pieces in piano recital, allowing pianists to display their virtuosity. However, Widmung is much more than a mere showpiece – containing probably the most passionate music writing and most heartfelt feelings. Written by Robert Schumann in 1840 (this piece was from a set of Lieder called Myrthen, Op.25), this piece was later arranged for piano solo by Franz Liszt. Myrthen was dedicated to Clara Wieck as a wedding gift, as he finally married Clara in September, despite the opposition from Clara’s father (who was also Robert’s piano teacher).

Below is the text of Widmung, written by Friedrich Rückert, with English translation:

Original Text by Friedrich Rückert

English Translation (by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005))

Du meine Seele, du mein Herz, Du meine Wonn’, o du mein Schmerz, Du meine Welt, in der ich lebe, Mein Himmel du, darein ich schwebe, O du mein Grab, in das hinab Ich ewig meinen Kummer gab! Du bist die Ruh, du bist der Frieden, Du bist vom Himmel mir beschieden. Dass du mich liebst, macht mich mir wert, Dein Blick hat mich vor mir verklärt, Du hebst mich liebend über mich, Mein guter Geist, mein bess’res Ich!

You my soul, you my heart, You my rapture, O you my pain, You my world in which I live, My heaven you, to which I aspire, O you my grave, into which My grief forever I’ve consigned! You are repose, you are peace, You are bestowed on me from heaven. Your love for me gives me my worth, Your eyes transfigure me in mine, You raise me lovingly above myself, My guardian angel, my better self!

The work starts with a flowing sense of pulse, while the first phrase (“Du meine Seele, du mein Herz”) already captures Schumann’s love for Clara and devotion to the relationship. Here, Schumann sincerely confesses to Clara, declaring how important she is to him. For him, Clara is his angel, his spiritual support, and his entire world. Nevertheless, there is still a sense of fear and insecurity in the music, due to separation and uncertainty about their future. This complex mixture of feelings, as a true and full-bodied representation of love, certainly strengthens the emotional power of the music.

Friedrich Rückert © www.britannica.com

Liszt lengthened the first section by repeating the first theme, but with the melodic line mostly embedded in left hand (with some intertwining) and accompaniment in higher register. Then, the music moves on to the chordal section in E major, which is unchanged in Liszt’s arrangement. The repeated chords convey warmth, tenderness and peace, especially when the text here is associated with death and heaven. Here, the love has changed into everlasting, eternal one – love that transcends space and time.

Franz Liszt © img.wikicharlie.cl

After the brief hand-crossing passage, the music reaches its most technically brilliant and rousing part with arpeggios on right hand and chords highlighting the melodic line on left hand, revealing Schumann’s most intimate feelings. It is the moment when Schumann’s love for Clara becomes so dramatic and uncontrollable, and eventually erupts – a perfect combination of rapture, passion, commitment and sense of elevation. The rich orchestral colours (such as the harp-like figurations, quasi-brass calls) in the music further heightens the emotional intensity. What an outpouring of love here.

In the extended coda, where there are some triumphant chords marked fff, the passion in the music remains, but this time presenting different moods. With ecstatic joy, the music transforms into a declaration, as if Schumann is announcing that he is determined to spend the rest of his lifetime with Clara and willing to make sacrifices in the face of adversity, for Clara is an indescribable miracle of his life.

The Eight Greatest Teachers in Classical Music History?

by Emily E. Hogstad  

Have you ever wondered who the best teachers in classical music history were?

Us, too. But of course, there’s no way to objectively measure who “the best” teachers are. (Surely the best teachers in your life are the incredible men and women who have taught you over the years.)

Nevertheless, we wanted to try to put together some kind of list addressing the question, so today we’re looking at eight candidates.

If a teacher worked with over half a dozen famous names, they became a candidate for this list. From there, we looked at who had the most impact on the art. After that, we made some subjective choices.

It goes without saying, it was a hard job to narrow a list down to the top eight, but here’s our best shot at it, presented in rough reverse order of influence and importance.

Let us know if you think we got our ranking wrong (or right!).

8) Maria Curcio

Pupils: Martha Argerich, Myung-whun Chung, Simone Dinnerstein, Leon Fleisher, Radu Lupu, Mitsuko Uchida

Maria Curcio – piano teacher, her life and musical philosophy (part 1) 

Maria Curcio was born in the summer of 1918. Her father was Italian, and her Jewish-Brazilian mother was a talented pianist.

She began playing piano when she was three years old and was consequently barred by her parents from having a normal childhood. She enrolled in the Naples Conservatory when she was nine years old and graduated at fourteen.

An important moment in her artistic development came in 1933, when she auditioned for the studio of influential pianist Artur Schnabel. Initially, he didn’t want to accept such a young pupil, but when he heard her, he was flabbergasted and claimed she was “one of the greatest talents I have ever met.”

Maria Curcio

In 1939, barely twenty years old, she followed Schnabel’s Jewish secretary Peter Diamand on tour to Amsterdam. While they were there, World War II broke out, and soon the city fell under Nazi control.

The couple went into hiding. Between the stress, poor nutrition, and a tuberculosis infection, Curcio ended the war very sick. The chronic health issues that developed afterwards derailed her performing career for over a decade.

Effectively barred from a performing career, she began teaching more and more. Her studio witnessed a number of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century, and her legacy lives on through them today.

7) Franz Liszt

Pupils: Eugen d’Albert, Hans von Bülow, Amy Fay, Agathe Backer Grøndahl, Sophie Menter, Carl Reinecke, Pauline Viardot, and countless others. 

Today, Franz Liszt is remembered primarily as a composer and virtuoso who revolutionised piano technique. But he was also a hugely important mentor for countless nineteenth-century musicians.

According to student Amy Fay, who wrote a book about her European training, Liszt hated being thought of as an official teacher. His teaching arrangements tended to be loose and informal.

But he was incredibly generous with his time and attention, and even those musicians he never taught “officially” soaked in his artistry and technique via listening and conversation. They, in turn, shared what they had learned with their students. His legacy continues today.

In the words of Fay:

Under the inspiration of Liszt’s playing, everybody worked “tooth and nail” to achieve the impossible. A smile of approbation from him was all we cared for. This is how it is that he turned out such a grand school of piano-playing.

He was not afraid, and his pupils are like him. They are not afraid, either, and it is they who have revealed Liszt’s beautiful compositions and brilliant concert style to the world.

It is the direct inheritance of his teaching and ex­ample, and even his least eminent pupils have caught something of Liszt’s largeness of horizon.

6) Johann Georg Albrechtsberger

Pupils: Ludwig van Beethoven, John Field, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Friedrich Kalkbrenner, Ignaz Moscheles, Anton Reicha

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger taught some of the most influential teachers of the nineteenth century, but he is little-known today.

He was born just outside of Vienna in 1736. Initially, he pursued a career in church music. Later, his facility with compositional technique made him a popular teacher in Vienna.

In 1790, he wrote a treatise on compositional theory. After his death, his writings on harmony were published posthumously. These works remained in print for many years.

He died in 1809, never witnessing the full flowering of his best students’ potential.

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger

Without knowing it, Albrechtsberger laid the groundwork for the Romantic era: the revolutionary compositions of Beethoven; the emotional and virtuosic piano playing of Field, Kalkbrenner, and Moscheles; and the pedagogical influence of Anton Reicha, whose time working at the Paris Conservatoire in the 1830s made a huge impact on French music.

5) Carl Reinecke

Pupils: Isaac Albéniz, Max Bruch, Ferruccio Busoni, Edvard Grieg, Leoš Janáček, Amanda Röntgen-Maier, Ethel Smyth, Charles Villiers Stanford  

Romantic era music also owes a huge debt to the pupils of Carl Reinecke.

Reinecke was born in the city of Altona, Hamburg, in present-day Germany in 1824. Working under his musician father, he began composing at the age of seven. He gave his first public performance on the piano when he was twelve.

As a young man, he moved to Leipzig, Germany, where he studied under Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, and Franz Liszt.

Carl Reinecke

In 1860, when he was in his mid-thirties, he was named to the music directorship of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He also took a position teaching piano and composition at the Leipzig Conservatory.

Over his decades of working as a teacher, a truly amazing array of pupils came through his studio, including many who composed in diverse styles influenced by the rising tide of nationalism in music.

Albéniz wrote famously Spanish music; Grieg, of course, took great inspiration from the folk music of Norway; Janáček became one of the most famous Czech composers ever; and Ethel Smyth and Charles Villiers Stanford helped to set the stage for a turn-of-the-century renaissance in British music.

4) Antonio Salieri

Pupils: Ludwig van Beethoven, Carl Czerny, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Franz Liszt, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Ignaz Moscheles, Maria Theresia von Paradis, Franz Schubert  

Thanks to the movie Amadeus, Antonio Salieri is unfairly remembered as “the jealous composer who murdered Mozart.” (There is no evidence that he ever did such a thing.)

He was born in 1750 near Verona in present-day Italy. He began studying the violin with a musically talented brother, and moved to Vienna when he was sixteen.

Antonio Salieri painted by Joseph Willibrord Mähler

He eventually worked his way up to become the preeminent composer of Italian opera in Vienna during the late eighteenth century. (Mozart, being a native-born Austrian, was jealous of Salieri’s success.)

In addition to being a well-respected opera composer, he was also a sought-after teacher. Over the course of his career, he ended up tutoring some of the biggest names in nineteenth-century music, including Beethoven, Liszt, Meyerbeer, and Schubert. During these lessons, he usually focused on addressing vocal writing.

Sadly, Salieri’s mental and physical health declined in his later years. He attempted suicide in 1823 and suffered from dementia until his death in 1825. The monument at his grave is decorated with a poem written by one of his pupils, Joseph Weigl.

3) Dorothy DeLay

Pupils: Sarah Chang, Nigel Kennedy, Anne Akiko Meyers, Midori Goto, Shlomo Mintz, Itzhak Perlman, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Gil Shaham, Jaap van Zweden   

The last fifty years of violin playing would be unrecognisable without the pupils of Dorothy DeLay.

DeLay was born in small-town Kansas in 1917 to a musical family. She began playing the violin when she was four.

She studied at Oberlin Conservatory, Michigan State University, and Juilliard. In 1946, she began working at Juilliard as violin teacher Ivan Galamian’s assistant.

From there, she became an increasingly influential presence. She was deeply beloved for her curiosity, collaborative spirit, and willingness to let her students all develop their own unique creative voices.

Itzhak Perlman, arguably her most famous student, once described her teaching style:

I would come and play for her, and if something was not quite right, it wasn’t like she was going to kill me.

She would ask questions about what you thought of particular phrases—where the top of the phrase was, and so on. We would have a very friendly, interesting discussion about ‘Why do you think it should sound like this?’ and ‘What do you think of that?’

I was not quite used to this way of approaching things.

She died in 2002 at the age of eighty-four. She had led one of the most remarkable teaching careers in the entirety of classical music history.

Dorothy DeLay and Midori Goto

2) Mathilde Marchesi

Pupils: Suzanne Adams, Frances Alda, Emma Calvé, Ada Crossley, Emma Eames, Marie Fillunger, Mary Garden, Gabrielle Krauss, Blanche Marchesi, Nellie Melba, Emma Nevada, Sibyl Sanderson

Mathilde Marchesi was born Mathilde Graumann to a musically talented family in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1821.

Her pianist aunt Dorothea von Ertmann was one of Beethoven’s most beloved pupils and creative partners. After his death, Dorothea championed his music, helping to usher it into the canon.

When she was in her early twenties, Mathilde’s family lost their fortune, so she went to seek hers in Vienna and Paris as an opera singer. She made her debut in 1844, but never became a star.

Instead, she married baritone Salvatore Marchesi in 1852, retired from the stage, and shifted her attention to teaching.

Mathilde Marchesi

She began her teaching career working at the conservatories in Cologne and Vienna. In 1881, when she was sixty, she began her own school in Paris.

She specialised in teaching the bel canto style and valued a more natural attitude than was common at the time.

It is mind-boggling how many famous students she taught. Frances Alda (born 1879) became a famous onstage partner of Caruso. Emma Calvé (born 1858) was considered to be the greatest Carmen of her generation. Ada Crossley (born 1871) was the first recording artist hired by the Victor Talking Machine Company. Mary Garden (born 1874) premiered the role of Mélisande in Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande. Sibyl Sanderson became one of Jules Massenet’s favourite performers, and she created the role of Thaïs. Dame Nellie Melba (born 1861) was possibly the most famous singer of the Victorian era, period.

The depth and breadth of the accomplishments of her students, and the way they influenced late nineteenth and early twentieth century opera, makes Mathilde Marchesi one of the best teachers in classical music history.

1) Nadia Boulanger

Pupils: George Antheil, Daniel Barenboim, Marion Bauer, Lili Boulanger, Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland, Roy Harris, Gian Carlo Menotti, Ginette Neveu, Astor Piazzolla, Julia Perry, Walter Piston, and countless others

How Nadia Boulanger Raised a Generation of Composers  

Nearly every classical music lover can agree: Nadia Boulanger has been the single most influential teacher in classical music history. It’s possible that she’s one of the most influential teachers of all time, period.

Nadia was born in Paris in 1887 to a musical family. Her elderly father, Ernest Boulanger (she was born on his 72nd birthday), was a composer and pianist.

Nadia began studying music when she was five years old. When a sister named Lili arrived five years later, Nadia became devoted to her and her education, too.

Both sisters were incredibly gifted, but Lili was a once-in-a-generation talent. Accordingly, when Nadia began studying at the Paris Conservatoire when she was nine, Lili tagged along with her.

Nadia Boulanger

Nadia dreamed of winning the prestigious Prix de Rome prize: something her father had done in his youth, but which a woman had never done. She came close, but never actually won. Lili ended up breaking that particular glass ceiling in 1913.

Despite her promise, Lili’s health was extremely poor, and she died of Crohn’s disease at the end of World War I.

After her sister’s devastating death, Nadia began gravitating more and more toward teaching instead of composing. She also needed to focus on a field that would guarantee a steady income, in order to support herself and her mother. Consequently, in 1921, she began teaching harmony at the French Music School for Americans in Fontainebleu. One of her first students there would become one of her most famous: Aaron Copland.

Copland would later write of her:

Nadia Boulanger knew everything there was to know about music; she knew the oldest and the latest music, pre-Bach and post-Stravinsky.

All technical know-how was at her fingertips: harmonic transposition, the figured bass, score reading, organ registration, instrumental techniques, structural analyses, the school fugue and the free fugue, the Greek modes and Gregorian chant.

Nadia was blunt about her talent for analysis:

I can tell whether a piece is well-made or not, and I believe that there are conditions without which masterpieces cannot be achieved, but I also believe that what defines a masterpiece cannot be pinned down. I won’t say that the criterion for a masterpiece does not exist, but I don’t know what it is.

Her decades of teaching were not without controversy. She could be emotionally abusive and held ideas that today would be considered offensively sexist. She was also accused of advancing students whom she liked personally and making other students’ lives miserable.

Despite those and other shortcomings, she is unquestionably the most influential music teacher of all time. Classical music as we know it today would not exist without her, period.