Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German philosopher. His writing included critiques of religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy, and science, using a distinctive style and displaying a fondness for aphorism. Nietzsche's influence remains substantial within and beyond philosophy, notably in existentialism and postmodernism. Nietzsche began his career as a philologist before turning to philosophy.

Eduard Hanslick was a Bohemian-Austrian writer on music, perhaps the most influential music critic of the 19th century. Hanslick was born in Prague, the son of Joseph Adolph Hanslick, a bibliographer and music teacher from a German-speaking family, and one of his piano pupils, the daughter of a merchant from Vienna. At the age of 18 Hanslick went to study music with Tomášek, one of Prague's most important musicians.

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and known generally as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 - November 4, 1847) was a German composer and conductor of the early Romantic period. Born to a notable Jewish family, being the grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. His work includes symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano and chamber music. After a long period of relative denigration due to changing musical tastes in the late 19th century, …

Johannes Brahms (May 7, 1833 - April 3, 1897) was a German composer of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, he eventually settled in Vienna, Austria.

Robert Schumann (June 8, 1810 - July 29, 1856) was a German composer and pianist. He was one of the most famous Romantic composers of the nineteenth century, as well as a famous music critic. An intellectual as well as an aesthete, his music reflects the deeply personal nature of Romanticism. Introspective and often whimsical, his early music was an attempt to break with the tradition of classical forms and structure which he thought too restrictive.

Clara Josephine Wieck Schumann (September 13, 1819 - May 20, 1896) was a German musician, one of the leading pianists of the Romantic era, as well as a composer, and wife of composer Robert Schumann.

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of Italian opera in the 19th century and went well beyond the work of Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini. His works are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, …

Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein, (November 28, 1829 - November 20, 1894) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival to Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the greatest keyboard virtuosos.

(Isaac) Ignaz Moscheles (May 23, 1794-March 10, 1870) was a Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso, whose career after his early years was based initially in London, and later at Leipzig, where he succeeded his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as head of the Conservatoire.

Max Christian Friedrich Bruch (January 6, 1838 - October 2, 1920) was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works, including a violin concerto which is a staple of the violin repertoire. Bruch was born in Cologne, Prussia, where he received his early musical training under the composer and pianist Ferdinand Hiller, to whom Robert Schumann dedicated his piano concerto. Ignaz Moscheles recognized his aptitude. He had a long career as a teacher, …

Pyotr (Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. Although not a member of the group of Russian composers usually known in English-speaking countries as 'The Five', his music has come to be known and loved for its distinctly Russian character as well as for its rich harmonies and stirring melodies.

Charles-Valentin Alkan (November 30 1813-March 29 1888) was a French composer and one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of his day. His compositions for solo piano include some of the most difficult ever written, and performers who can master them are few and far between. His attachment to his Jewish origins is displayed both in his life and his work.

Gioachino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 - November 13, 1868) was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. His best known works include "Il barbiere di Siviglia" ("The Barber of Seville") and "Guillaume Tell" ("William Tell").

Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno was a German sociologist, philosopher, pianist, musicologist, and composer. He was a member of the Frankfurt School along with Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse, Jürgen Habermas, and others. He was also the Music Director of the Radio Project. Already as a young music critic and amateur sociologist, Theodor W. Adorno was primarily a philosophical thinker.

Max Simon Nordau, born Simon Maximilian Südfeld, Südfeld Simon Miksa in Pest, Hungary, was a Zionist leader, physician, author, and social critic. He was a co-founder of the World Zionist Organization together with Theodor Herzl, and president or vice president of several Zionist congresses. As a social critic, he wrote a number of controversial books, including "The Conventional Lies of Our Civilisation" (1883), …

Satie and furniture music: not all of Satie's music is "furniture music". In the strict sense the term applies only to five of his compositions, which he wrote in 1917, 1920, and 1923. For the first public performance of "furniture music" see Entr'acte. Satie as precursor: the only "precursor" discussion Satie was involved in during his lifetime was whether or not he was a precursor of Claude Debussy, but many would follow.

Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 - 30 April 1945) was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (The Nazi party). He was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, and became FAhrer (leader) [2] in 1934, remaining in power until his suicide in 1945.

Houston Stewart Chamberlain (September 9, 1855 - January 9, 1927) was a British-born naturalized German natural scientist, and author of popular scientific and political philosophy books (includes those on Richard Wagner, Immanuel Kant and Johann Wolfgang Goethe) as well as proponent of a nationalist and pan-Germanic antisemitism.

Otto Weininger was an Austrian philosopher. In 1903, he published the book "Geschlecht und Charakter" ("Sex and Character") which gained popularity after Weininger's suicide at the age of 23. Today, the book is often dismissed as sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic, especially by those in the academic community ; however, it continues to be held up as a great work of lasting genius and spiritual wisdom by others, …

François-Joseph Fétis, Belgian musicologist, composer, critic and teacher. He was one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century, and his enormous compilation of biographical data in the "Biographie universelle des musiciens" remains an important source of information today. He was born in Mons, Hainaut, and was trained as a musician by his father, who followed the same calling. His talent for composition manifested itself at the age of seven, …