Biography: Composers and Songwriters.

Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the few composers of his day to gain personal fame during his lifetime. Amazingly, most of his works were composed after he began to lose his hearing.

Irving Berlin wrote over 200 songs in his lifetime, many of which were used in films, despite not knowing how to read or write music and only being able to play the piano in one key.

Aaron Copland worked to make classical music accessible to and enjoyable by young Americans.

George Gershwin was responsible for such well-known hits as "Swanee" and "Rhapsody in Blue," as well as the musicals Funny Face, Girl Crazy, and Porgy and Bess.

Gilbert and Sullivan were responsible for some of the most popular operattas in the history of English theater, including H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado.

Franz Joseph Haydn developed the symphony from a short, simple form of musical composition to a long form for large orchestra.

Lowell Mason published The Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music in 1822. In 1837, his efforts led to music becoming a part of the curriculum in the Boston public school system.

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was a respected musician, composer, and conductor by the time he was a teen-ager. As a conductor, he was well known for organizing concerts aimed at presenting composers representing particular periods in music history.

John Knowles Paine was the first American composer to have a work performed in Europe, the first American to write a symphony, and the first professor of music in the United States.

Bedrich Smetana played a major role in the establishment of the Czech national opera and creation of a Czech national style.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner composed the series of operas known collectively as The Ring of the Nibelung, as well as Tristan and Isolde, The Flying Dutchman, and many others.