Carl Friedrich Abel (1725–1787), composer
Martin Agricola (1466–1506), composer
Siegfried Alkan (1858–1941), composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788), composer, son of J. S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), composer
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), composer
Martin Boettcher (born 1927), film-composer (Karl May movies)
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897), composer
Max Bruch (1838–1920), composer
Hanns Eisler (1898–1962), composer
Friedrich von Flotow (1812–1883), composer
Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759), composer, opera composer
Fanny Hensel, composer
Paul Hindemith (1895–1963), composer
Engelbert Humperdinck (1854–1921), composer
Albert Lortzing (1801–1851), composer
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864), composer
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847), composer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), composer and musician
Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880), composer
Carl Orff (1895–1982), composer
Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706), composer
Hans Pfitzner (1869–1949), composer
Max Reger (1873–1916), composer
Wolfgang Rihm (born 1952), composer
Leopold Schefer (1784–1862), writer and composer
Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672), composer
Clara Schumann (1819–1896), composer
Robert Schumann (1810–1856), composer, songwriter
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007), modern composer
Richard Strauss (1864–1949), composer, opera composer
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767), composer
Richard Wagner (1813–1883), composer
Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826), composer
Kurt Weill (1900–1950), composer (Threepenny Opera, "September Song")
Hans Zimmer (born 1957), film-composer