Books by Composers

The list is arranged in alphabetical order by the last name of the composer / author.

Letters and librettos are not included.

Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel
(1714-1788)

• “The True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments”

Beethoven, Ludwig van
(1770-1827)

• Conversation books

• "The Heiligenstadt Testament"

Berlioz, Hector
(1803-1869)

• “Treatise on Instrumentation”

• “Evenings with the Orchestra”

• “Mémoires”

• “The Musical Madhouse”

• “The Art of Music and Other Essays”

Bernstein, Leonard
(1918-1990)

• "The Joy of Music”

• "The Infinite Variety of Music”

Copland, Aaron
(1900-1990)

• "What to Listen for in Music”

Debussy, Claude
(1862-1918)

• “Proses lyriques”

Hindemith, Paul
(1895-1963)

• "The Craft of Musical Composition”

Ives, Charles
(1874-1954)

• "Essays Before a Sonata”

Janáček, Leoš
(1854-1928)

• "Bedřich Smetana: On Musical Forms”

• "A Word on Counterpoint”

• "A New Trend in Music Theory”

• "Modern Harmonic Music”

• "On the Course of Mental Compositional Work”

• "A Complete Theory of Harmony”

Korsakov, Nikolai Rimsky
(1844-1908)

• "Principles of Orchestration»

• "My Musical Life»

Liszt, Franz
(1811- 1886)

• "Life of Chopin”

• "Diary 1827"

Messiaen, Olivier
(1908-1992)

• "Technique of My Musical Language”

• "Le rythme chez Igor Stravinsky”

• "Traité de rythme, de couleur et d'ornithologie”

Mozart, Leopold
(1719-1787)

• "A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing”

Prokofiev, Sergey
(1891-1953)

• "Diaries”

Quantz, Johann Joachim
(1697-1773)

• "On Playing the Flute”

Rameau, Jean-Philippe
(1683-1764)

• "Treatise on Harmony”

Reich, Steve
(1936)

• "Conversations”

Saint-Saëns, Camille
(1835-1921)

• "Musical Memories”

Schumann, Robert & Clara
(1810-1856 & 1819-1896)

• "The Marriage Diaries”

Schönberg, Arnold
(1874-1951)

• "Brahms the Progressive”

• "Theory of Harmony”

• "Structural Functions of Harmony”

• "Fundamentals of Musical Composition”

Shostakovich, Dmitri
(1906-1975)

• "Testimony”

Stravinsky, Igor
(1882-1971)

• "An Autobiography”

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich
(1840-1893)

• "Guide to Practical Study of Harmony”

Wagner, Richard & Cosima
(1813-1883 & 1837-1930)

• "The Artwork of the Future»

• "Opera and Drama”

• "On Conducting”

• "Art and politics”

• "Actors and Singers”

• "Religion and Art”

• "Jewishness in Music”

• "In Paris and Dresden”

• "My life”

• "Diaries"