The Most Famous

COMPOSERS from Spain

This page contains a list of the greatest Spanish Composers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,451 Composers, 35 of which were born in Spain. This makes Spain the birth place of the 9th most number of Composers behind Austria, and Czechia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Spanish Composers of all time. This list of famous Spanish Composers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Spanish Composers.

1. Manuel de Falla (1876 - 1946)

With an HPI of 68.16, Manuel de Falla is the most famous Spanish Composer. His biography has been translated into 50 different languages on wikipedia.

Manuel de Falla y Matheu (Spanish pronunciation: [maˈnwel de ˈfaʎa], 23 November 1876 – 14 November 1946) was a Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century. He has a claim to being Spain's greatest composer of the 20th century, although the number of pieces he composed was relatively modest.

2. Joaquín Rodrigo (1901 - 1999)

With an HPI of 68.00, Joaquín Rodrigo is the 2nd most famous Spanish Composer. His biography has been translated into 45 different languages.

Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez (Spanish: [xoaˈkin roˈðɾiɣo]; 22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999), was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing the Concierto de Aranjuez, a cornerstone of the classical guitar repertoire.

3. Francisco Tárrega (1852 - 1909)

With an HPI of 67.58, Francisco Tárrega is the 3rd most famous Spanish Composer. His biography has been translated into 47 different languages.

Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea (21 November 1852 – 15 December 1909) was a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the late Romantic period. He is known for such pieces as Capricho Árabe and Recuerdos de la Alhambra.

4. Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548 - 1611)

With an HPI of 65.92, Tomás Luis de Victoria is the 4th most famous Spanish Composer. His biography has been translated into 60 different languages.

Tomás Luis de Victoria (sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria; c. 1548 – c. 20–27 August 1611) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Renaissance, and was "admired above all for the intensity of some of his motets and of his Offices for the Dead and for Holy Week". His surviving oeuvre, unlike that of his colleagues, is almost exclusively sacred and polyphonic vocal music, set to Latin texts. As a Catholic priest, as well as an accomplished organist and singer, his career spanned both Spain and Italy. However, he preferred the life of a composer to that of a performer.

5. Enrique Granados (1867 - 1916)

With an HPI of 65.47, Enrique Granados is the 5th most famous Spanish Composer. His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enrique Granados in Spanish or Enric Granados in Catalan, was a Spanish composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Catalonia, Spain. His most well-known works include Goyescas, the Spanish Dances, and María del Carmen.

6. Jordi Savall (b. 1941)

With an HPI of 64.29, Jordi Savall is the 6th most famous Spanish Composer. His biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Jordi Savall i Bernadet (Catalan: [ˈʒɔɾði səˈβaʎ i βəɾnəˈðɛt]; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of instruments (notably the viola da gamba) in contemporary performance and recording. As a historian of early music his repertoire features everything from medieval, Renaissance and Baroque through to the Classical and Romantic periods. He has incorporated non-western musical traditions in his work; including African vernacular music for a documentary on slavery.

7. Antonio Soler (1729 - 1783)

With an HPI of 59.55, Antonio Soler is the 7th most famous Spanish Composer. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Antonio Francisco Javier José Soler Ramos, usually known as Padre ('Father', in the religious sense) Antonio Soler, known in Catalan as Antoni Soler i Ramos (baptized 3 December 1729 – died 20 December 1783) was a Spanish composer whose works span the late Baroque and early Classical music eras. He is best known for his many mostly one-movement keyboard sonatas.

8. Joaquín Turina (1882 - 1949)

With an HPI of 58.77, Joaquín Turina is the 8th most famous Spanish Composer. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Joaquín Turina Pérez (9 December 1882 – 14 January 1949) was a Spanish composer of classical music.

9. Federico Mompou (1893 - 1987)

With an HPI of 57.74, Federico Mompou is the 9th most famous Spanish Composer. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Frederic Mompou Dencausse (Catalan: [fɾəðəˈɾiɡ mumˈpow]), or Federico Mompou (16 April 1893 – 30 June 1987), was a Spanish composer and pianist.

10. Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga (1806 - 1826)

With an HPI of 57.41, Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga is the 10th most famous Spanish Composer. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Juan Crisóstomo Jacobo Antonio de Arriaga y Balzola (27 January 1806 – 17 January 1826) was a Spanish Basque composer. He was nicknamed "the Spanish Mozart" after he died, because, like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he was both a child prodigy and an accomplished composer who died young. They also shared the same first and second baptismal names; and they shared the same birthday (due to both having been born on the feast of St. John Chrysostom), 27 January (fifty years apart).

People

Pantheon has 36 people classified as Spanish composers born between 1500 and 1967. Of these 36, 4 (11.11%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Spanish composers include Jordi Savall, Alberto Iglesias, and Javier Navarrete. The most famous deceased Spanish composers include Manuel de Falla, Joaquín Rodrigo, and Francisco Tárrega. As of April 2024, 1 new Spanish composers have been added to Pantheon including Federico Chueca.