Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Top 50 Composers from Broadway and the Early 20th Century

Broadway/Early 20th Century Composers:

Top 50

This list was first posted on March 22, 2012 in honor of the births of two of Broadway’s most celebrated composers (Stephen Sondheim: March 22, 1930; Andrew Lloyd Webber: March 22, 1948). This list focused on the top composers from Broadway and the early 20th century. A separate list produced around the same time focused on The Top 100 Songwriters of the Rock Era.

See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories.

George and Ira Gershwin, image from wmky.org

1. George Gershwin
2. Richard Rodgers
3. Stephen Sondheim
4. Andrew Lloyd Webber
5. Oscar Hammerstein II

Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II

6. Irving Berlin
7. Cole Porter
8. Leonard Bernstein
9. Jerry Herman
10. Alan Jay Lerner

Stephen Sondheim

11. Tim Rice
12. Frederick Loewe
13. Cy Coleman
14. Frank Loesser
15. Stephen Schwartz

Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice

16. Jerome Kern
17. Sheldon Harnick
18. John Kander
19. Charles Strouse
20. Lee Adams

Irving Berlin

21. Marvin Hamlisch
22. Harold Arlen
23. Jerry Bock
24. Betty Comden
25. Adolph Green

Cole Porter, image from pbs.org

26. Jule Styne
27. Ira Gershwin
28. Richard Adler
29. Jerry Ross
30. Fred Ebb

Leonard Bernstein, image from npr.org

31. Woody Guthrie
32. Lorenz Hart
33. E.Y. “Yip” Harburg
34. John Phillip Sousa
35. Burton Lane

Jerry Herman, image from theargyros.org

36. Harold Rome
37. Kurt Weill
38. Johnny Mercer
39. Bob Merrill
40. Noel Coward

Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe

41. George M. Cohan
42. Alan Menken
43. Richard Sherman
44. Robert Sherman
45. Dorothy Fields

Jerome Kern, image from discogs.com

46. Pete Seeger
47. Jonathan Larson
48. Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter
49. Fats Waller
50. Irving Caesar


Resources/Related Links:


First posted 3/22/2012; last updated 1/26/2022.

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