A Composer of the Baroque era. As a child, George Frideric Handel showed a great deal of musical talent and planned to pursue music as a career. His local music teachers taught him as much as they could and encouraged his parents to further George's musical studies. His father however, wanted George to become a lawyer. At the age of 17, George entered the University of Halle, in Germany, to study law. He maintained his interest in music by playing the organ at a nearby cathed

A Composer of the Classical era. Franz Joseph Haydn was the second of twelve children. His family was quite poor. When Franz was six, his parents sent him to live with a family relative, Johann Frankh, in Hainburg, Austria. Mr. Frankh was a private music teacher and gave Franz lessons on the harpsichord, violin, and in music harmony and theory. In Hainburg, young Franz sang in a church boychoir and eventually became the chief soloist for the group. When Franz turned 17 and be

A Composer of the Classical era. Encouraged by his father, Leopold, Wolfgang Mozart began playing the clavier (a keyboard instrument like a piano) at the age of four. In less than a year, he began composing, and by age ten Wolfgang had written his first symphony. He could play any music put in front of him on the clavier, organ or violin. He wrote his first opera at fourteen. Wolfgang was a child musical prodigy. His father, a violinist, guided Wolfgang’s career as a touring