American music is a glorious melting pot—bold, eclectic, and unmistakably its own.
In just over a century and a half, the U.S. has forged a tradition that rivals Europe’s, blending hymns, spirituals, jazz, ragtime, folk, and movie scores into a vibrant soundworld heard in concert halls worldwide.
Hollywood played a huge role, too—nurturing giants like John Williams while hosting émigrés such as Korngold and Schoenberg, who shaped a generation of American composers. And let’s not forget legendary teacher Nadia Boulanger, whose pupils—from Copland to Carter—defined much of 20th-century American music.
What unites this dazzlingly diverse group is their ability to bottle the American spirit: adventurous, restless, and brimming with invention. From symphonies to Broadway, avant-garde experiments to unforgettable film scores, these are the composers who made America sing—and reshaped music forever.
Here’s our ranking of the greatest American composers of all time.
Best American composers, ranked
20. Roy Harris (1898-1979)
Once hailed as the “Great American Symphonist,” Roy Harris briefly seemed destined to embody American classical music. His Symphony No. 3 was praised by critics and Leonard Bernstein alike for its rugged, open-hearted sound, yet Harris’s career never sustained that momentum. With dozens of symphonies and patriotic works, he carved out a niche, but history has placed him below the innovators and popular icons. Still, Harris represents a certain mid-century optimism — America dreaming itself in orchestral form.
Start here: Symphony No. 3 Colorado Symphony/Marin Alsop | Naxos 8.559227
19. Amy Beach (1867-1944)
The first American woman to gain fame as a composer, Amy Beach proved herself in a male-dominated era. Her Gaelic Symphony (1896) was the first such work written and published by an American woman. A brilliant pianist as well, Beach composed lush, late-Romantic music that rivals her European contemporaries. While her style feels more conservative compared to modernists that followed, her achievements opened doors. Today, she stands as a pioneer, rediscovered and admired for both her talent and her courage in breaking barriers.
Start here: Gaelic Symphony; Piano Concerto Alan Feinberg (piano) et al | Naxos 8.559139
18. George Crumb (1929-2022)
A magician of sound, George Crumb wrote music that seems to shimmer and whisper from another dimension. Works like Black Angels (for electrified string quartet) or Ancient Voices of Children employ extended techniques, eerie timbres, and theatrical performance. His influence in academic circles was immense, though his music remained too esoteric for mainstream fame. Crumb’s gift was reimagining what instruments — and performers — could do. His soundworld, delicate and haunted, makes him one of the most distinctive American voices of the 20th century.
Start here: Makrokosmos Books I-III Yoshiko Shimizu (piano) | Kairos KAI0015029
17. Florence Price (1887-1953)
In 1933, Florence Price became the first African American woman to have a symphony performed by a major U.S. orchestra — her Symphony in E minor premiered with the Chicago Symphony. Her music, blending European forms with African American spirituals and folk idioms, was groundbreaking. Yet systemic racism and sexism meant her work was long neglected. Recent revivals have finally brought her the recognition she deserves, with orchestras worldwide performing her symphonies. Price is now celebrated as a trailblazer whose legacy enriches American music history.
Start here: Symphonies 1 & 3
Philadelphia Orchestra | DG 486 2029
16. Morton Feldman (1926-1987)
Few composers demand patience like Morton Feldman. His works often stretch for hours, whisper-quiet and glacially slow — yet his music feels like a trance. A key figure of the New York School alongside John Cage, Feldman’s minimalist textures inspired later experimentalists. Pieces such as Rothko Chapel are breathtaking in their stillness, mirroring the abstract art he loved. He’s far from mainstream, but Feldman’s radical embrace of silence and duration makes him an essential avant-garde visionary, an antidote to musical noise and clutter.
Start here: Rothko Chapel
SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart | HAEN93023
15. William Grant Still (1895-1978)
Known as the “Dean of African American Composers,” Still’s Afro-American Symphony (1930) was the first symphony by a Black composer performed by a major orchestra. Still’s music drew on blues, jazz, and spirituals, fusing them with symphonic form to produce something distinctly American. Though underappreciated in his lifetime, his pioneering role in breaking racial barriers is now celebrated. Still’s contribution lies not only in his works but in opening pathways for future generations of Black composers to find a place in classical music.
Start here: Afro-American Symphony
14. Henry Cowell (1897-1965)
Henry Cowell was a radical experimenter whose ideas changed music forever. He invented tone clusters (smashing forearms across the piano) and pioneered playing directly on the piano strings. His book New Musical Resources influenced Ives, John Cage, and Béla Bartók. While his own compositions are less often heard today, Cowell’s impact as a thinker, innovator, and teacher was seismic. He widened the horizons of American sound, paving the way for minimalism, experimentalism, and world-music fusions. His story is one of influence over fame.
Start here: The Banshee for solo piano
13. Eliott Carter (1908-2012)
With music as dense and complex as a mathematical proof, Elliott Carter defined high modernism in America. His double and triple concertos, string quartets, and symphonies explore layered rhythms and shifting meters. Musicians adored the challenge; audiences often fled.
Yet Carter’s influence in academia was immense, and he lived long enough (to 103!) to see younger generations rediscover his brilliance. Though not a household name, Carter is revered among composers as one of America’s greatest intellectual innovators in music.
Start here: Symphony No. 1; Piano Concerto etc Mark Wait (piano); Nashville Symphony Orchestra/Kenneth Schermerhorn | Naxos 8.559151
12. John Williams (b. 1932)
A film composer he may be — but dismiss John Williams at your peril. His scores (Star Wars, Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park) are some of the most recognizable music of the 20th century. His mastery of orchestral color, leitmotif, and sweeping melody revitalized symphonic writing in the late 20th century. While not an innovator like Ives or Cage, his cultural impact is unparalleled: millions experienced orchestral music through Williams. He made the orchestra cool again — and kept classical tradition alive in Hollywood.
Start here: The Empire Strikes Back score (1980)
11. John Adams (b. 1947)
The great post-minimalist, John Adams fused minimalist techniques with Romantic sweep and contemporary relevance. His operas (Nixon in China, Doctor Atomic) explore politics and history, while works like Harmonielehre redefined orchestral writing in the late 20th century. Unlike Glass or Reich, Adams embraced narrative and grandeur, bridging accessibility and sophistication. He became the most prominent American opera composer of recent decades, revitalizing the genre for modern audiences. Adams’s music is living proof that contemporary classical can still thrill, provoke, and inspire.
Start here: Short Ride in a Fast Machine, etc San Francisco Symphony | Nonesuch 75597914
10. Philip Glass (b. 1937)
Few composers are so instantly recognizable. Philip Glass’s pulsating arpeggios and hypnotic structures became a global soundworld, influencing film, pop, and classical alike. Works like Einstein on the Beach shattered the boundaries of opera, while his film scores (Koyaanisqatsi, The Hours) brought minimalism to the mainstream. Critics often derided his “repetitiveness,” but audiences embraced him. Glass’s ability to blend high art with mass appeal makes him one of the most successful living American composers — a minimalist who became a maximal icon.
Start here: Glassworks
9. Steve Reich (b. 1936)
Where Glass was meditative, Steve Reich was rhythmic and kinetic. His phasing experiments (Piano Phase, Clapping Music) changed how we think about time and rhythm. Later works like Different Trains merged minimalism with sampling, memory, and history. His influence reaches from classical to electronic, from Radiohead to techno. Reich gave minimalism its groove, its humanity, and its energy. Among the minimalist “big three,” Reich is often considered the most rigorously inventive — and the most musically satisfying to performers and listeners alike.
Start here: Different Trains Kronos Quartet | Nonesuch 7559791762
8. John Cage (1912-92)
John Cage didn’t just compose music — he redefined it. 4’33”, his infamous silent piece, asked: what is music? His use of chance, prepared piano, and radical indeterminacy shocked audiences but liberated generations of composers. Love him or hate him, Cage forced us to confront sound itself as art. Beyond his works, his philosophy left an indelible mark on music, visual art, and even pop culture. Few figures embody the radical, questioning spirit of 20th-century America like John Cage.
Start here: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano Boris Berman (piano) | Naxos 8 554562
7. Samuel Barber (1910-81)
Lyrical, romantic, and deeply American, Samuel Barber gave us one of the most iconic works of the century: 1936's soulful, stirring Adagio for Strings. His operas (Vanessa) and songs (Knoxville: Summer of 1915) showcase his melodic gift. In an age of modernism, Barber held fast to tonal beauty — and audiences loved him for it. Critics sometimes dismissed him as conservative, but his emotional honesty ensures his works remain among the most performed in the American repertoire. Barber proved heart still matters in modern music.
Start here: Songs Cheryl Studer et al | DG 435 8672
6. Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
Duke Ellington was America’s Mozart of jazz — endlessly inventive, endlessly stylish. Though known as a bandleader, he composed extended works (Black, Brown and Beige) that blurred jazz and classical. His orchestration genius gave every musician a voice, and his tunes remain immortal.
While not a classical composer in the traditional sense, Ellington’s contribution to American composition is undeniable. He gave jazz the stature of art music while keeping it rooted in swing and joy. Ellington is the sound of elegance and freedom.
Start here: Ellington at Newport (1956)
5. Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021)
Stephen Sondheim revolutionized the American musical. His works (Company, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods) wove psychological depth, complex harmonies, and razor-sharp lyrics into Broadway. Where others chased easy hits, Sondheim demanded intelligence from his audience. His influence extends beyond theatre, shaping songwriting, storytelling, and musical craft. The musical became an art form thanks to him, its possibilities expanded to rival opera. Sondheim belongs not just to Broadway but to the canon of America’s greatest composers, full stop.
4. Leonard Bernstein (1918-90)
Leonard Bernstein reshaped American music with a body of work that bridged Broadway, the concert hall, and popular culture. As a composer, he fused jazz, Latin rhythms, and classical traditions into a distinctive, vibrant voice. West Side Story redefined the Broadway musical with its sophistication and emotional depth, while works like Candide, Chichester Psalms, and his symphonies revealed both intellect and heart. Bernstein proved American composition could be both populist and profound, leaving an indelible legacy.
3. George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Any discussion of the best American composers must include the legendary George Gershwin. This prodigiously gifted composer and songwriter began his career as one of the most successful writers in New York’s Tin Pan Alley, and ended arguably the first American to write an operatic masterpiece with Porgy and Bess. His first great hit was the song ‘Swanee’ (1919), and a number of successful Broadway musicals starting with Piccadilly to Broadway followed.
Talented and highly ambitious, the sensation caused by Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (as orchestrated by Grofé) spurred him to aspire to be a great classical composer. He famously approached at least three leading European composers asking for composition lessons. These were Ravel, Stravinsky and Schoenberg, who all told him in effect that he was already pursuing his own valid and successful path.
Gershwin’s highly characteristic orchestral style is to heard particularly in his Piano Concerto (1925) and An American in Paris (1928). Yet there are hints of greater harmonic adventurousness in his Variations on ‘I got rhythm’ for piano and orchestra (1934), and a consummate range of musical expression in his opera.
Start here: Rhapsody in Blue; An American in Paris; Piano Concerto in F
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/André Previn (piano) | Decca
2. Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Born the same year as Arnold Schoenberg, Charles Ives was America’s maverick modernist. Raised in Danbury, Connecticut, he absorbed his bandmaster father’s love of experimentation—marching bands colliding in clashing keys became musical inspiration.
At Yale, Ives composed his First Symphony as a student, but after graduating pursued a career in insurance, leaving his increasingly radical works to after-hours. His eerie The Unanswered Question (1906) and vast 'Concord' Sonata broke new ground in tonality and structure.
Later symphonies fused hymn tunes, folk songs, and barn dances with astonishing originality. Symphony No. 3, 'The Camp Meeting', belatedly premiered in 1946, won Ives the 1947 Pulitzer Prize—though he dismissed it with characteristic defiance: “Prizes are for boys, and I’m all grown up!”
Start here: Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Ives | Sony 19439788332
- We named Charles Ives one of the best composers of all time
And the greatest American composer is...
1. Aaron Copland (1900-90)
Though based in New York, Aaron Copland effectively distilled the essence of rural America in his cowboy ballets. Two of these in particular, Billy the Kid and Rodeo with their robust orchestrations, lively rhythms and penny-plain harmonies, helped define the sound of Hollywood’s Wild West. Copland’s style was widely imitated in scores for films starring John Wayne and Gary Cooper.
His formula was to take a number of genuine folk and popular songs from that late-19th-century world, and set them in a clean-cut, muscular style derived from Stravinsky’s neo-classical works (a style very much promoted by his teacher, Nadia Boulanger).
'Copland effectively distilled the essence of rural America'
Copland refined this style for another evocation of historic Americana, Appalachian Spring, composed in 1944. As if in reaction to the stresses of war, his new ballet mythologises America’s past. It evokes a lush green pastoral of rural Pennsylvania, in which a young couple plan to settle upon their marriage. The wartime spirit is more directly addressed in his defiant Symphony No. 3 – started during World War II but completed shortly after its end – from which ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’ is taken.
This is not quite the full measure of Copland, however. He started off as a bold modernist in the style of Bartók and Prokofiev, causing a sensation with his Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, written in 1924 for his former teacher Nadia Boulanger to make her American debut as organist. In the 1950s and ‘60s he incorporated serial techniques in Stravinsky’s manner into a number of his own works, including the orchestral works Connotations (1961) and Inscape (1967).
Start here: A Copland Celebration
London Symphony Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Columbia Chamber Ensemble, Columbia String Ensemble/Aaron Copland
Pics Getty Images
