Medieval and Renaissance composers (born 1300-1550)
Baroque composers (born 1550-1700)
Classical era composers (born 1700-1800)
Romantic composers (born 1800-1880)
- Adolphe Adam (1803-1856)
- Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
- Ambroise Thomas (1811-1896)
- Louis-Antoine Jullien (1812-1860)*
- Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888), Romantic era composer and pianist
- Charles Dancla (1817-1907)*, 19th century violin teacher and composer
- Charles Gounod (1818-1893), composer, best known for his opera Faust
- Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), French operetta composer, known for The Tales of Hoffmann
- Edouard Lalo (1823-1892), Romantic composer remembered primarily for his Symphonie Espagnole for violin and orchestra
- Adolphe Blanc (1828–1885)
- Jean-Baptiste Accolay (1833-1900), 19th century violin teacher and composer
- Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), Romantic composer perhaps best known for The Carnival of the Animals
- Leo Delibes (1836-1891), ballet composer known for his Coppelia, Sylvia, and Lakmé
- Georges Bizet (1838-1875), Romantic composer famous for his opera Carmen
- Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894)
- Jules Massenet (1842-1912), Romantic composer best known for "Meditation" from his opera Thaïs
- Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937), Romantic composer, noted for his works for the organ
- Gabriel Faure (1845-1924), Romantic composer, known for his chamber music and a requiem among other pieces
- Henri Duparc (1848-1933)
- Vincent d'Indy (1851-1931)
- Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
- Alfred Bruneau (1857-1934)
- Claude Debussy (1862-1918), 20th century composer, his music is often described as impressionist, although he dismissed the term, wrote 'Clair de Lune' from Suite bergamasque
- Paul Dukas (1865-1935), late Romantic composer known today for his piece of program music, The Sorcerer's Apprentice
- Erik Satie (1866-1925), 20th century modernist and impressionist composer, known for his Gymnopedies
- Charles Koechlin (1867-1950)
- Claude Terrasse (1867-1923)
- Albert Roussel (1869-1937)
- Florent Schmitt (1870-1958)
- Charles Tournemire (1870-1939)
- Louis Vierne (1870-1937)
- Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947)
- Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), 20th century composer in the impressionist and neoclassicist styles
20th century composers (born 1880- )
Other 20th century composers
Lists of composers
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