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Peter Maxwell Davies: a bold innovator with a passion for our musical past
The British composer (1934-2016) Peter Maxwell Davies achieved a unique blend of adventurous experimentalism and passion for older musical forms
Narcissist, adulterer, social climber, frustrated genius... Who was Alma Mahler?
Thwarted as a composer, was Gustav Mahler's wife, Alma Mahler, really a ‘boundless narcissist’? Perhaps a troubled soul lurked beneath...
Henry Mancini: iconic film composer from a golden age of Hollywood, from Moon River to The Pink Panther
He's perhaps best known for 'Moon River' and 'The Pink Panther'. In truth, Henry Mancini helped define a whole glorious era of film music
15 unusual uses for Mozart: from helping grapes ripen in expensive vineyards to encouraging cows to produce more milk
The weird and wonderful uses for Mozart's music we have seen over the years
How Mozart's marriage stopped a visit from the police, on grounds of indecency...
Mozart's marriage, hastily arranged, stops a visit from the Vienna police, writes Terry Blain
Olivier Messiaen: 20th-century visionary whose music spans birdsong, gamelan, ghostly instruments and more
Olivier Messiaen was one of modern music's most distinctive and influential composers, who conveyed the mysteries of his faith in music
James MacMillan: the composer who found fame with a story of 17th-century witch trials
One of the most prolific in the UK, Scottish composer James MacMillan’s music is oft-programmed and recorded. But exactly who is he? Here’s a brief guide…
The visionary French composer who risked the guillotine, went on a secret mission and was kidnapped
Hélène de Montgeroult risked the guillotine during the French Revolution – but there’s far more to this talented composer than her remarkable survival, as pianist Clare Hammond tells Rebecca Franks
Fanny Mendelssohn: an unsung Romantic
Bella Noel uncovers the talents of Felix's big sister and how the determined woman battled social prejudices.
Monteverdi, Claudio
Meet Monteverdi, early opera pioneer and classical music's first great dramatist
Felix Mendelssohn: effortlessly gifted Romantic
The ultimate child prodigy
Mozart: a brief biography of the incomparable melodist
Was Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart the greatest composer who ever lived?
Pietro Mascagni: why the Italian composer should be remembered for more than Cavalleria rusticana
Famous for Cavalleria rusticana, Mascagni would probably be well known for his other operas too had the tide of political history not turned against him, says George Hall
Albéric Magnard: unveiling the passion and tragedy of France's forgotten composer
A combination of bad timing, unfortunate circumstance and his own bloody-mindedness condemned Magnard’s music to obscurity. It was, says Roger Nichols, an unjust fate
Mussorgsky, Modest
Meet Modest Musorgsky (or Mussorgsky), the revolutionary realist of Russian music
Who is Paul Mealor?
Meet Paul Mealor, one of the composers writing music for King Charles's coronation
Mahler, Gustav
Meet Gustav Mahler, the symphony's great synthesist
Meyerbeer, Giacomo
One of the most fêted composers of his era, Giacomo Meyerbeer also did much to develop opera into the visual spectacle we know today. So why, asks Andrew Green, has his name been relegated to the list of operatic also-rans?
Medtner, Nikolai
A younger contemporary of Rachmaninov - and composer of some stirring piano music
Royal Philharmonic Society honorary membership for Thea Musgrave
The composer's outstanding services to music have been recognised
Who is Missy Mazzoli?
You might know the name, but who is Missy Mazzoli? What kind of music does she write? Here's everything you need to know about the genre-defying American composer, who, since the pandemic, has been training to be a death doula
Myaskovsky, Nikolai
In his lifetime Nikolai Myaskovsky was the Soviet Union’s most honoured symphonist, yet his heartfelt music expressed a personal tragedy, says David Nice
Martinů, Bohuslav
Bohuslav Martinů: cosmopolitan dreamer, Czech master symphonist, and man of many musical forms
Massenet, Jules
Opera's neglected genius