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71 GENIUSES

Les Plus Grands Génies Musicaux et Compositeurs

Music is math you can feel. These 71 composers — most of them trained as child prodigies — built the sonic architectures we still listen to centuries later.

Al-Kindi

Al-Kindi

A Muslim philosopher, mathematician, physician, and musician who is hailed as the "father of Arab philosophy".

Alma Deutscher

Alma Deutscher

Is an English composer, pianist and violinist who completed a short opera The Sweeper of Dreams at age 7.

Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer

IQ 185

a German philosopher best known for his 1818 work The World as Will and Representation (expanded in 1844).

Camille Saint-Saëns

Camille Saint-Saëns

A French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era.

Carl Filtsch

Carl Filtsch

A Transylvanian pianist and composer who was a student of Frédéric Chopin.

Charles-Valentin Alkan

Charles-Valentin Alkan

A French-Jewish composer and virtuoso pianist.

Christoph Willibald Gluck

Christoph Willibald Gluck

IQ 145

A composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period.

Claudio Arrau

Claudio Arrau

A Chilean pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning the baroque to 20th-century composers, esp

Daniel Barenboim

Daniel Barenboim

A pianist and conductor who is a citizen of Argentina, Israel, Palestine, and Spain who gave his first formal concert in

Emily Bear

Emily Bear

A genius American composer, pianist, songwriter and singer who started playing the piano and composing music as a small

Eratosthenes

Eratosthenes

IQ 175

A Greek mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist. He was the chief librarian at the Library of Al

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

An Austrian-born American composer and conductor who became one of the most important and influential composers in Holly

Ethan Bortnick

Ethan Bortnick

An American pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer and musician who discovered a set of music skills when he was o

Evgeny Kissin

Evgeny Kissin

A Russian concert pianist and composer who rose to international fame as a child prodigy. He is known interpretations of

Felix Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn

IQ 165

A German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period best known for A Midsummer Night's Dream

Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt

A Hungarian composer who is regarded as one of the greatest pianists and was a friend of Frédéric Chopin, Richard Wagne

Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn

IQ 160

Austrian composer who was a mentor of Mozart, a tutor of Beethoven, and the older brother of Michael Haydn.

Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert

19th-century Austrian composer

Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric Chopin

IQ 165

Polish composer and pianist who is regarded as a leading musician of his era

William Herschel

William Herschel

IQ 165

A German-born British astronomer and composer who discovered the planet Uranus.

George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel

IQ 165

18th-century German, later British, Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi and

Georges Bizet

Georges Bizet

French composer

Gian Carlo Menotti

Gian Carlo Menotti

An Italian-American composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas

Gioachino Rossini

Gioachino Rossini

IQ 145

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

IQ 155

An Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music and the best-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School of mu

Glenn Gould

Glenn Gould

Canadian composer and pianist who is one of the best known and most celebrated pianists of the 20th century

Hildegard of Bingen

Hildegard of Bingen

IQ 160

A German Benedictine abbess who is among the best best-known composers of sacred monophony

Igor Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky

IQ 165

A Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who is widely considered one of the most important composers of the 20th cent

Jascha Heifetz

Jascha Heifetz

A Russian-American violinist who was a child virtuoso and one of the leading violinists of the 20th century.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

IQ 180

Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer whose political philosophy influenced the progress of the Enlightenment throug

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

IQ 165

18th-century German composer & music genius

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms

IQ 165

A German composer, pianist, and conductor of the Romantic period.

Josef Hofmann

Josef Hofmann

Polish American pianist, composer, music teacher, and inventor

Joseph Joachim

Joseph Joachim

Joseph Joachim was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Han

Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga

Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga

A Spanish Basque composer who was nicknamed "the Spanish Mozart".

Carl Maria von Weber

Carl Maria von Weber

IQ 165

A German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist famous for his operas Der Freischütz and Oberon.

Kit Armstrong

Kit Armstrong

An American classical pianist, composer, and former child prodigy of British-Taiwanese parentage.

Lang Lang

Lang Lang

A Chinese concert pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, the United States, and Europe

Leslie Howard (musician)

Leslie Howard (musician)

An Australian pianist, musicologist, and composer.

Lili Boulanger

Lili Boulanger

A French composer, and the first female winner of the Prix de Rome composition prize.

Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz

IQ 160

French composer

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven

IQ 180

AGerman composer and pianist who remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music

Marnen Laibow-Koser

Marnen Laibow-Koser

IQ 268

Is a genius with a proclaimed IQ of 268, who started studying and playing music at the age of 3 and is a multi-instrumen

Martha Argerich

Martha Argerich

Classical concert pianist who is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of all time.

Minou Drouet

Minou Drouet

Arbre, mon ami

Niccolò Paganini

Niccolò Paganini

An Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer.

Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev

Composed an opera at age nine

Peter Abelard

Peter Abelard

IQ 160

A medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, teacher, musician, composer, and poet.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

IQ 160

A Russian composer of the Romantic period who was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression

Pierre Beaumarchais

Pierre Beaumarchais

IQ 165

French polymath & renaissance man

Pierre-Jean de Béranger

Pierre-Jean de Béranger

IQ 155

Prolific French poet and chansonnier songwriter

Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner

IQ 175

A German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas.

Samuel Barber

Samuel Barber

An American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator.

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff

IQ 160

Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the late Romantic period

Vincenzo Galilei

Vincenzo Galilei

IQ 165

An Italian lutenist, composer, and music theorist.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

IQ 170

An Austrian composer who created more than 600 works of virtually every genre during his time.

Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin

An American-born violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain.

Ariel Lanyi

Ariel Lanyi

Music Prodigy Pianist

Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Verdi

IQ 165

An Italian opera composer

Vincenzo Bellini

Vincenzo Bellini

Vincenzo Bellini-An Italian opera composer

William Zhang

William Zhang

A 6 years old piano virtuoso from USA.

Matt Savage

Matt Savage

An American autistic savant musician who released 13 jazz albums

Leslie Lemke

Leslie Lemke

IQ 58

Leslie Lemke is a genius American musician who can perfectly play any music piece he had heard despite suffering from ce

Clara Schumann

Clara Schumann

A genius German piano virtuoso and compositor who gave her first concert at the age of 9.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

A Mexican prodigy who learned to read at 3, learned Latin in 20 lessons.

Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau

Plácido Domingo

Plácido Domingo

A Spanish opera singer, conductor and arts administrator.

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

An American singer-songwriter, author and visual artist regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

GZA

GZA

An American rapper, songwriter and actor who is a founding member of the hip hop group the Wu-Tang Clan.

Yo Yo Ma

Yo Yo Ma

An American cellist

McCoy Tyner

McCoy Tyner

An American jazz pianist and composer known as one of the most recognizable and most influential pianists in jazz histor

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Questions Fréquentes

Who is the greatest composer of all time?

Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven are universally ranked as the three greatest composers in Western music.

What was Mozart's IQ?

Mozart's IQ is estimated at 160-180; he composed his first symphony at 8 and an opera at 11.

Who was deaf and still composed?

Ludwig van Beethoven went almost totally deaf by his 40s but composed the Ninth Symphony — arguably the greatest symphony ever written — while deaf.

Who is considered a musical prodigy?

Mozart, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Saint-Saëns, and Korngold are the most famous classical musical prodigies; modern examples include Alma Deutscher.

What is perfect pitch?

Perfect pitch (absolute pitch) is the rare ability to identify any musical note by ear without reference; roughly 1 in 10,000 people have it.