List of composers for the classical guitar

The following is a non-comprehensive list of composers who have composed original music for the classical guitar, or music which has been arranged for it.

Composer Born Died Nationality Notable works Remarks Jean Absil 1893 1974 Belgium Pièces caractéristiques, Op. 123 Samuel Adler 1928 United States Dionisio Aguado 1784 1849 Spain Miguel del Aguila 1957 Kalevi Aho 1949 Finland Mateo Albéniz 1755 1831 Spain Heinrich Albert 1870 1950 Germany Laurindo Almeida 1917 1995 Brazil Gabriel Fernández Álvez 1943 2008 Spain Liturgia de Cristal André Amellér 1912 1990 France Julian Anderson 1967 United Kingdom William Anderson 1962 United States Louis Andriessen 1939 2021 Netherlands Maria Luisa Anido 1907 1996 Argentina Denis ApIvor 1916 2004 United Kingdom Julián Arcas 1832 1882 Spain Malcolm Arnold 1921 2006 United Kingdom Eduardo Arolas 1892 1924 Argentina Boris Asafiev 1884 1949 Russia Vicente Asencio 1908 1979 Spain Collectici intim, Suite Valencia Daniel Asia 1953 United States Sérgio Assad 1952 Brazil Nicolas Astrinidis 1921 2010 Greece Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra Olivier Aubert 1763 1830 France Hector Ayala 1914 1990 Argentina Serie Americana Milton Babbitt 1916 2011 United States Salvador Bacarisse 1898 1963 Henk Badings 1907 1987 Netherlands Simon Bainbridge 1952 2021 United Kingdom Leonardo Balada 1933 United States Born in Spain. Claude Ballif 1924 2004 France Carlos Barbosa-Lima 1944 2022 Brazil Re-located to the United States in 1981. Vytautas Barkauskas 1931 2020 Lithuania Milton Barnes 1931 2001 Canada Richard Barrett 1959 United Kingdom Ángel Barrios 1882 1964 Spain Agustin Barrios 1885 1944 Paraguay Ary Barroso 1903 1964 Brazil Bruno Bartolozzi 1911 1980 Italy Abramo Basevi 1818 1885 Italy Leslie Bassett 1923 2016 United States Herbert Baumann 1925 2020 Germany Jürg Baur 1918 2010 Germany Julian Bautista 1901 1961 Spain Eduard Bayer 1822 1908 Germany Sally Beamish 1956 Robert Beaser 1954 United States Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt 1925 2010 Chile David Bedford 1937 2011 United Kingdom Franz Behr 1837 1898 Germany Siegfried Behrend 1933 1990 Germany Paulo Bellinati 1950 Brazil Carl Michael Bellman 1740 1795 Sweden Richard Rodney Bennett 1936 2012 United Kingdom Five Impromptus Gunnar Berg 1909 1989 Denmark Luciano Berio 1925 2003 Italy Sequenza XI for guitar Lennox Berkeley 1903 1989 United Kingdom Michael Berkeley 1948 United Kingdom Hector Berlioz 1803 1869 France Leonard Bernstein 1918 1990 United States Bruno Bettinelli 1913 2004 Italy Frank Michael Beyer 1928 2008 Germany Günter Bialas 1907 1995 Germany Antonio Bibalo 1922 2008 Norway Gilbert Biberian 1944 2023 Turkey Active in England. Ronald Binge 1910 1979 United Kingdom Howard Blake 1938 United Kingdom Michael Blake 1951 South Africa Juan Blanco 1919 2008 Cuba Manuel Blasco de Nebra 1750 1784 Spain Carl Blum 1786 1844 Germany Carey Blyton 1932 2002 United Kingdom Vladimir Bobri 1898 1986 United States Born in Ukraine. Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz 1805 1881 Poland Luigi Boccherini 1743 1805 Italy John Boda 1922 2002 United States Seóirse Bodley 1933 2023 Ireland Philippe Boesmans 1936 2022 Belgium Dusan Bogdanovic 1955 Serbia Rob du Bois 1934 2013 Netherlands William Bolcom 1938 United States Claude Bolling 1930 2020 France Carlos Bonell 1949 United Kingdom Luiz Bonfá 1922 2001 Brazil Carlos Bonilla Chávez 1923 2010 Ecuador Carlos Bonnet 1892 1983 Venezuela Raúl Borges 1882 1967 Venezuela Axel Borup-Jørgensen 1924 2012 Denmark Jacques Bosch 1825 1895 Spain Jean-Yves Bosseur 1947 France Pierre Boulez 1925 2016 France Timothy Bowers 1954 United Kingdom Five Preludes (1986) Guitar Concerto (2019) Brian Boydell 1917 2000 Ireland Eugene Bozza 1905 1991 France Philip Bračanin 1942 Australia Charlotte Bray 1982 United Kingdom Reiner Bredemeyer 1929 1995 Germany Benjamin Britten 1913 1976 United Kingdom Nocturnal after John Dowland José Brocá 1805 1882 Spain Leo Brouwer 1939 Cuba Humberto Bruni Lamanna 1957 Venezuela Ole Buck 1943 Denmark John Buckley 1951 Ireland Jarmil Burghauser 1921 1997 Czechoslovakia Geoffrey Burgon 1941 2010 United Kingdom Willy Burkhard 1900 1955 Switzerland Howard J. Buss 1951 United States Sylvano Bussotti 1931 2021 Italy Charlie Byrd 1925 1999 United States German Cáceres 1954 El Salvador Bartolomé Calatayud 1882 1973 Spain Leonhard von Call 1767 1815 Austria Charles Camilleri 1931 2009 Malta Dmitri Capyrin 1960 Russia Matteo Carcassi 1792 1853 Italy Cornelius Cardew 1936 1981 United Kingdom Jorge Cardoso 1949 Argentina Carlo Carfagna 1940 Italy Abel Carlevaro 1918 2001 Uruguay Preludios Americanos Roberto Carnevale 1966 Italy Inocente Carreño 1919 2016 Venezuela Elliott Carter 1908 2012 United States Ferdinando Carulli 1770 1841 Italy Re-located to France in 1808. Tristram Cary 1925 2008 Benet Casablancas 1956 Spain Francisco Casanovas 1899 1986 Spain Philip Cashian 1963 Gaspar Cassadó 1897 1966 Spain Frantz Casseus 1915 1993 Haiti Luigi Castellacci 1797 1845 Italy Evencio Castellanos 1915 1984 Venezuela Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco 1895 1968 Italy Re-located to the United States in 1939. Jacques Casterede 1926 2014 France Ignacio Cervantes 1847 1905 Cuba Luciano Chailly 1920 2002 Italy Carlos Chávez 1899 1978 Mexico Flores Chaviano 1946 Cuba Charles Chaynes 1925 2016 France Gian Paolo Chiti 1939 Italy Loris Chobanian 1933 2023 Iraq Re-located to the United States in 1960. Domenico Cimarosa 1749 1801 Italy Pier Luigi Cimma 1941 2006 Italy Charles Clagget 1740 1790 Ireland Year of death is approximate Aldo Clementi 1925 2011 Italy Joaquín Clerch 1965 Cuba Graziella Concas 1970 Marius Constant 1925 2004 Sidney Corbett 1960 Ernesto Cordero 1946 Puerto Rico Roque Cordero 1917 2008 Panama John Corigliano 1938 Dan Cosley 1979 United States Napoléon Coste 1805 1883 France Terence Croucher 1944 United Kingdom George Crumb 1929 2022 Salim Dada 1975 Algeria Georges Dandelot 1895 1975 France Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur 1908 2002 France Adam Darr 1811 1866 Germany Johann Nepomuk David 1895 1977 Austria Thomas Christian David 1925 2006 Austria Mario Davidovsky 1934 2019 Argentina, United States Peter Maxwell Davies 1934 2016 United Kingdom Jerome de Bromhead 1945 Ireland Ernesto De Curtis 1860 1926 Italy Paco de Lucia 1947 2014 Spain Jean Michel Defaye 1932 2025 France Søffren Degen 1816 1885 Denmark David Del Tredici 1937 2023 United States Georges Delerue 1925 1992 France Mark Delpriora 1959 United States Santiago de Murcia 1673 1739 Spain Michael Denhoff 1955 Germany Luigi Denza 1846 1922 Italy Ettore Desderi 1892 1974 Italy Yvonne Desportes 1903 1993 France Paul Dessau 1894 1979 Germany Eduardo di Capua 1864 1917 Italy Anton Diabelli 1781 1858 Austria David Diamond 1915 2005 United States James Dillon 1950 United Kingdom Violeta Dinescu 1953 Stephen Dodgson 1924 2013 United Kingdom Friedhelm Döhl 1936 2018 Germany Uroš Dojčinović 1959 Serbia Carlo Domeniconi 1947 Italy Franco Donatoni 1927 2000 Italy Andrew Downes 1950 2023 United Kingdom František Drdla 1868 1944 Bohemia Riccardo Drigo 1846 1930 Italy John W. Duarte 1919 2004 United Kingdom Johann Dubez 1828 1891 Austria Pierre Max Dubois 1930 1995 France Zsolt Durkó 1934 1997 Hungary Frantisek Xaver Dusek 1731 1799 Bohemia Antonín Dvořák 1841 1904 Czechoslovakia Benjamin Dwyer 1965 Ireland Roland Dyens 1955 2016 Tom Eastwood 1922 1999 United Kingdom Petr Eben 1929 2007 Czechoslovakia Ross Edwards 1943 Australia René Eespere 1953 Gottfried von Einem 1918 1996 Austria Richard Emsley 1951 Manuel Enriquez 1926 1994 József Eötvös 1962 Hungary Heimo Erbse 1924 2005 Germany Susanne Erding-Swiridoff 1955 Germany Óscar Esplá 1889 1976 Spain Sveinn Eythorsson 1964 Iceland Kenjiro Ezaki 1926 Japan Sebastian Fagerlund 1972 Finland Markus Fagerudd 1961 Finland Manuel de Falla 1876 1946 Spain Pour le tombeau de Claude Debussy Re-located to Argentina in 1939. Eduardo Falú 1923 2013 Argentina Juan Falú 1948 Argentina Dimitris Fampas 1921 1996 Greece Carlos Farinas 1934 2002 Cuba Ferenc Farkas 1905 2000 Hungary David Farquhar 1928 2007 New Zealand Ciarán Farrell 1969 Ireland Jindřich Feld 1925 2007 Czechoslovakia Jim Ferguson 1948 United States Heraclio Fernández 1851 1886 Venezuela Oscar Lorenzo Fernández 1897 1948 Brazil Gabriel Fernández Álvez 1943 2008 Spain Brian Ferneyhough 1943 United Kingdom José Ferrer 1835 1916 Spain Paul Fetler 1920 2018 United States Michael Finnissy 1946 United Kingdom Graciane Finzi 1945 Graham Fitkin 1963 United Kingdom David Flynn 1977 Ireland William Foden 1860 1947 United States Daniel Fortea 1878 1953 Spain Lukas Foss 1922 2009 François de Fossa 1775 1849 France Yorgos Foudoulis 1964 Greece Jean Françaix 1912 1997 France Peter Racine Fricker 1920 1990 United Kingdom Re-located to the United States in the 1960s Gunnar de Frumerie 1908 1987 Sweden James Fulkerson 1945 United States Blas Galindo 1910 1993 Mexico Boris Gaquere 1977 Belgium Gerald García 1949 United Kingdom Born in Hong Kong. Héctor García (guitarist) 1930 2022 USA Born in Cuba. Anton García Abril 1933 2021 Spain Rosa García Ascot 1906 2002 Spain Celso Garrido Lecca 1926 2025 Peru Odette Gartenlaub 1922 2014 France Éric Gaudibert 1936 2012 Switzerland Hans Gefors 1952 Sweden Harald Genzmer 1909 2007 Germany Roberto Gerhard 1896 1970 Spain Re-located to England in 1939. Giorgio Federico Ghedini 1892 1965 Italy Gilardo Gilardi 1889 1963 Argentina Angelo Gilardino 1941 2022 Italy Alberto Ginastera 1916 1983 Egberto Gismonti 1947 Brazil Mauro Giuliani 1781 1829 Italy Barbara Giuranna 1898 1998 Italy Detlev Glanert 1960 Germany Stanley Glasser 1926 2018 South Africa Anthony Glise 1956 Radames Gnattali 1906 1988 Brazil Vincente Gomez 1911 2001 Spain Chiquinha Gonzaga 1847 1935 Brazil Nikos Gounaris 1915 1965 Greece Filippo Gragnani 1768 1820 Italy Harold Gramatges 1918 2008 Cuba Agustí Grau 1893 1964 Spain Deirdre Gribbin 1967 Ireland Cor de Groot 1914 1993 Netherlands Camargo Guarnieri 1907 1993 Brazil Carlos Guastavino 1912 2000 Argentina Gerardo Guevara 1930 2024 Ecuador Róbert Gulya 1973 Hungary Gustav Gunsenheimer 1934 2026 Germany Alexander Gurilev 1803 1858 Russia Guyún 1908 1987 Cuba Actual name is Vincente Gonzalez Rubiera. Sampo Haapamäki 1979 Finland Alois Hába 1893 1973 Manos Hadjidakis 1925 1996 Greece Georg Hajdu 1960 Germany Kimmo Hakola 1958 Finland Cristóbal Halffter 1930 2021 Spain Ernesto Halffter 1905 1989 Spain Rodolfo Halffter 1900 1987 Spain Haflidi Hallgrimsson 1941 Iceland Hilding Hallnäs 1903 1984 Sweden Eero Hämeenniemi 1951 Finland Peter Michael Hamel 1947 Germany Albert Harris 1916 2005 United States Lou Harrison 1917 2003 United States Heinz Friedrich Hartig 1907 1969 Germany Jonathan Harvey 1939 2012 United Kingdom Roman Haubenstock-Ramati 1919 1994 Poland Halvor Haug 1952 2025 Norway Hans Haug 1900 1967 Switzerland Brian Head 1964 United States Anton Heiller 1923 1979 Austria Paavo Heininen 1938 2022 Finland Mikko Heiniö 1948 Finland Walter Hekster 1937 2012 Netherlands Hans Werner Henze 1926 2012 Germany Royal Winter Music Ernst Hess 1912 1968 Switzerland Jacques Hétu 1938 2010 Canada Paul Hindemith 1895 1963 Germany Takekuni Hirayoshi 1936 1998 Japan Evan Hirschelman 1976 United States Alun Hoddinott 1929 2008 United Kingdom Justin Holland 1819 1887 United States Vagn Holmboe 1909 1996 Denmark Joaquim Homs 1906 2003 Spain Felix Horetzky 1796 1870 Poland Joseph Horovitz 1926 2022 Alan Hovhaness 1911 2000 United States Klaus Huber 1924 2017 Switzerland Josiah Andrew Hudleston 1799 1865 United Kingdom Mostly composed while living in India. Georges Hugon 1904 1980 France Bertold Hummel 1925 2002 Germany Jacques Ibert 1890 1962 France Akira Ifukube 1914 2006 Japan Adina Izarra 1959 Venezuela David A. Jaffe 1955 Stephen Jaffe 1954 Hanns Jelinek 1901 1969 Austria Jiří Jirmal 1925 2019 Czechoslovakia Otto Joachim 1910 2010 Antonio Carlos Jobim 1927 1994 Brazil Bryan Johanson 1951 United States André Jolivet 1905 1974 France Antonio José Martínez Palacios 1902 1936 Wilfred Josephs 1927 1997 Dimitri Kabalevsky 1904 1987 Russia Pál Kadosa 1903 1983 Hungar