Although now beloved and revered by millions as the greatest composer who ever lived, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was best known in his lifetime as an organist, and was eclipsed in fame as a composer by two of his 20 children.

For many people, Beethoven is the greatest composer who ever lived. In this portrait-in-sound, actors' readings combine with his music to reveal a titanic personality, vulnerable and belligerent, comic and tragic, and above all heroic…

Brahms is one of the best loved, yet most controversial of all the Romantics. Almost uniquely, his works have never suffered the slightest period of eclipse.

No great composer's story is more predominantly happy than Haydn's, though even his has its share of clouds.

Instruments of the orchestra, yes, but not just instruments in the orchestra. This is a set of portraits in depth, featuring individual instruments in many contexts and in pieces from the Middle Ages to the present.

For many people, Beethoven is the greatest composer who ever lived...

Frédéric Chopin is the pianist-composer par excellence.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the most astonishing child prodigy in the history of music, is felt by many people to be the greatest composer who ever lived.

Tchaikovsky is one of the most popular composers of all time. Many people who may never have heard his name know his melodies. They crop up on mobile telephones, alarm clocks and answering machines as often as on records and concert programs.

With the possible exception of Mozart, Verdi is the most popular opera composer who ever lived. Quite early in his career his tunes were being cranked out by barrel organs throughout Europe and were well known to many who may never even have heard his name.