List of Romantic composers

The Romantic era of Western Classical music spanned the 19th century to the early 20th century, encompassing a variety of musical styles and techniques. Part of the broader Romanticism movement of Europe, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert are often seen as the dominant transitional figures composers from the preceding Classical era. Many composers began to channel nationalistic themes, such as Mikhail Glinka, The Five and Belyayev circle in Russia; Frédéric Chopin in Poland; Carl Maria von Weber and Heinrich Marschner in Germany; Edvard Grieg in Norway; Jean Sibelius in Finland; Giuseppe Verdi in Italy; Carl Nielsen in Denmark; Pablo de Sarasate in Spain; Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar in England; Mykola Lysenko in Ukraine; and Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák in what is now the Czech Republic.

A European-wide debate took place, particularly in Germany, on what the ideal course of music was, following Beethoven's death. The New German School—primarily Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner—promoted progressive ideas, in opposition to more conservative composers such as Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann.

Note that this list is purely chronological, and includes a substantial number of composers, especially those born after 1860, whose works cannot be conveniently classified as "Romantic", or those whose early compositions did begin in the Romantic style but later developed beyond it in the 20th century.

Late Classical/Proto-Romantic (born 1770–1799)
Repertoire key: B=In Classical Net's basic Timeline of Major Composers 1600–present