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John Williams: the maestro behind some of cinema's most iconic soundtracks
It’s likely more people around the world know some music written by John Williams than they do Bach or Beethoven. From Star Wars to Harry Potter, via Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park, his music for films has made him a bit of a superstar. Here’s everything you ought to know about the legendary composer.
Eric Whitacre: Nevada's most famous composer, who has broken records with his virtual choirs
Meet Eric Whitacre, the hugely popular US composer, conductor and founder of the Virtual Choir
Richard Wagner: the composer who shook the opera world
Composer of the Ring cycle: discover the life and work of opera's colossus, Richard Wagner
Errollyn Wallen: why sea, sky and solitude are key to her magical soundworld
From her first piano lesson, composer Errollyn Wallen has lived and breathed music; and though inspired by a range of styles, her composing is a deeply personal expression, as she tells Kate Wakeling
Who is Debbie Wiseman?
Meet Debbie Wiseman, a noted film and TV composer who has written music for Wolf Hall, Inspector Lynley... and Charles's Coronation
Judith Weir - former Master of the King's Music, whose eclectic music spans sagas, ghost stories and more
Learn about the life and works of the Master of the King's Music, Judith Weir
Mieczysław Weinberg: how the scars of war and Soviet politics shaped his music and life
The powerful work of Mieczysław Weinberg, a composer who lived through war and imprisonment, is at last being celebrated, says Erik Levi
Wang, Jie
Meet Wang Jie, the Chinese-born composer of the chamber opera It Rained on Shakopee and more
William Walton: romantic modernist
From gritty, complex symphonies to hugely popular film scores, the music of Walton is notably tricky to pin down. And that, says Malcolm Hayes, is part of its enduring appeal
Walker, George
Over the course of a long career, the American composer George Walker produced works as individual as they were immaculately crafted, says Elizabeth de Brito
Who was Philip Heseltine, also known as Peter Warlock?
A peerless song-writer and the craftsman of exquisite carols such as Bethlehem Down, Warlock was not without his dark and dangerous side, as Calum MacDonald explains
Composer Eric Whitacre on his writing process and combining words and music
The choral conductor and composer tells Freya Parr about his compositional methods and how he still uses pencil and paper
Webern, Anton von
20th-century modernist pioneer
Wolf, Hugo
The wild man of 19th-century song
Weber, Carl Maria von
If one had to choose a symbolic moment when musical Romanticism was born, then the 18 June 1821 would surely be it. That was the day when the 35-year-old Carl Maria von Weber conducted the premiere of his new opera Der Freischütz (The Free shot) at the Berlin Schauspielhaus. This fairy-tale opera about a pact between a huntsman and the devil to achieve a miraculously perfect shot ‘set the German people’s pulse racing’ as a contemporary observer wrote, and it transformed Weber’s reputation at a stroke.
Weill, Kurt
Two distinct styles dominate the music of Kurt Weill: the sharp satire of the Weimar Republic and the instant popular appeal of the Broadway musical. Which was truer to his spirit?