Composers and Songwriters – What is the difference?
- A Composer is a person who writes music, usually professionally as a career.
- A Songwriter is a person writes lyrics and/or music, often for popular (POP) songs.
- A composition is a piece of written music.
- A song is piece of music which is sung.
- Similarities of composers and songwriters are that both are musicians who write music and can play instruments.
- Differences between them are that composers do not use lyrics and the instrumentation is often very different.
- The differences between a song and a composition are the genres, instrumentation, performance and use of lyrics.
Famous Composers:
John Williams – A few of his scores and orchestrations include: Jaws, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Home Alone, Harry Potter, E.T., Schindler’s List, Indiana Jones, Superman, The BFG, RWBY and more! John Williams is a very famous film composer who has had 41 Oscar nominations, earning his first one in 1969 for his score to Valley of the Dolls. He grew up in New York with his father, who was a drummer. As a child he studied many instruments including piano, trumpet, trombone and clarinet. He studied at UCLA before joining the US Air Force in 1951, where he took up conducting. He has also studied piano with Rosina Lhevinne at Juilliard and composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. In 2003 the International Olympic Committee awarded him the Olympic Order and in 2009 he received the National Medal of Arts at the White House. In 2016 he became the first composer to receive the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Hans Zimmer – A few of his scores and orchestrations include: Seven Worlds One Planet, X-Men, Blue Planet 2, Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049, The Boss Baby, Planet Earth 2, Batman Vs Superman, Kung Fu Panda 1, 2 and 3, Chappie, Interstellar, Man of Steel, Pirates Of the Carribbean, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Gladiator and more! Hans Zimmer is a famous composer who has become a brand. He is so popular that with all of the work that he does, he has a group of employees who help him to compose in his style. He has composed over 150 soundtracks which have gained him an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, three Grammys, an American Music Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for a BAFTA and Critics’ Choice nomination for Best Score.
Franz Joseph Haydn – Haydn is a Classical Era composer who has written a total of 100 sonatas, which adds up to more than 340 hours of music! Famous Haydn pieces include the Clock Symphony (no. 101) movement 2 and the Surprise Sympony (no. 94).
Ludwig van Beethoven – Beethoven is a composer from the Romantic Era. He was born in Germany in 1770, where he received musical training from local composers and his father. During his teenage years, he earned money as an assistant for his teacher. Later in his life, he was faced with many personal problems such as a lot of failed relationships and a custody battle for his nephew.