List of music theorists

This is a list of music theorists arranged in chronological order. The criteria for inclusion relies on publication or (especially with pre-15th-century theorists) dissemination of written theoretical work by western musicians, and their inclusion in published books discussing the history of music theory.

Since the categories for music theorists are not subdivided by nationality, this list is intended to provide an overview of music theorists and provide for further exploration of the field.

Martin Gerbert and Edmond de Coussemaker were the 18th and 19th century compilers of numerous medieval theoretical treatises. It appeared to be their custom to assign names to treatises where the author was unknown (thus names such as "Anonymous IV" or "Pseudo Odo"). Modern practice is to refer to the treatises themselves by their title or their opening line, rather than infer information about their authors.[1]

Antiquity

Name	Date	Major writing	Known for
Archytas	428–347 BC		naming the harmonic mean; may have been the first author to describe the Quadrivium[2]
Aplypius	flourished 360	Introduction to Music (Εἰσαγωγὴ Μουσική)[3]
Aristoxenus	born c. 375 BCE, flourished 335 BCE	Elementa harmonica[4]
Archestratus	early 3rd century BCE		describing the pyknon
Ptolemais of Cyrene	probably 3rd century BCE		wrote concerning the proper roles of reason and sensory experience in the study of music
Eratosthenes	circa 276 BCE – circa 195/194 BCE		calculation of the tuning of the degrees of the tetrachords[5]
Didymos	first century BCE		chromatic tetrachords[6]
Cleonides	probably first century AD	Introduction to Harmonics (ἰσαγωγὴ ἁρμονική Eisagōgē harmonikē) [7]
Ptolemy	circa 100 – circa 170	Harmonics[8]
Augustine of Hippo	13 November 354 – 28 August 430	De musica[9]
Martianus Capella	early 5th century	De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii[10]
Boethius	480–524 or 525	De institutione musica[11]
Cassiodorus	485–580	Institutiones Divinarum et Saecularium Litterarum[12]
Isidore of Seville	circa 560 – 636	Etymologiarum sive Originum libri xx (chapters 15–23 deal with music)[13]

Medieval

Name	Date	Major writing	Known for
Al-Kindi[14]	801–873	Al-risāla al-kubrā fī al-ta’līf (Grand treatise on composition)
Notker the Stammerer[15]	840–912	Epistola ad Lantbertum
Aurelian of Réôme	flourished 840–850	Musica disciplina	earliest extant treatise on medieval music[16]
Johannes Scotus Eriugena	c. 815 – 877	De divisione naturae (also called Periphiseon)	mentions organum (scholars doubt this refers to polyphony)[17]
Hucbald	c. 840 or 850 – 930	De musica (formerly known as De harmonica institutione)	"One of the foremost expositors of music theory in the Carolingian era"[18]
Anonymous 8	9th century	Musica enchiriadis	earliest extant discussion of polyphonic singing and the first chant melodies preserved in a precise pitch notation[19]
Anonymous 7	9th–10th century	Alia musica
Regino of Prüm	died c. 915	Epistola de armonica institutione	"correct the intonations and confirm the modes of the antiphons and responsories of the Mass and Office"[20]
Al-Farabi	872–950	Kitāb al-mūsīqī al-kabīr (Great book on music)	"most imposing of all Arabic works on music"[21]
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani	897–967	Kitab al-Aghani (Book of Songs)
Notker Labeo	950–1022
Pseudo-Odo	11th century	Dialogus de musica
Guido of Arezzo	c. 991 – after 1033
Avicenna (Ibn-Sīnā)	c. 980 – 1037
Berno of Reichenau	died 1048
Hermannus Contractus	1013–1054
Aribo Scholasticus[22]	fl. 1068–1078	De musica	also known as simply "Aribo." Created a "caprea," a diagram showing modal tetrachords superimposed on the gamut.
Wilhelm of Hirsau	died 1091
Frutolfus of Michelsberg[23]	mid-11th century – 1103	Brevarium	compiler of treatises, in particular Boethius and Berno of Reichenau.
Theogerus of Metz[24]	c. 1050 – c. 1120	Musica
Coussemaker, doc. 1	2nd half of 11th century	Ad organum faciendum
Johannes Cotto	fl. 1100
Guido of Eu[25]	fl. 1130s	supposed author of Regule de arte musica	earliest Cistercian treatise on music theory.
Theinred of Dover (Theinredus Doverensis) [26]	12th century	De legitimis ordinibus pentachordorum et tetrachordorum	discussion of chromatically altered tones in plainsong
Ficker Anonymous[27]	early 13th century	Ars organi
Franco of Cologne	13th century
Safi al-Din al-Urmawi	born c. 1216 AD Baghdad, died in 1294 AD
Bartholomeus Anglicus	before 1203 – 1272
Roger Bacon	1214–1292
Coussemaker, Anonymous 3, document 3	c. 1230	Discantus positio vulgaris
Egidius de Zamora[28]	fl. 1260–1280	Ars musica	noted for inclusion of Spanish instruments and description of organ used in church.
Amerus	fl. 1271	Practica artis musice
Hieronymus of Moravia[29]	died after 1272	Tractatus de musica
Anonymous IV	fl. 1270 – 1280	De mensuris et discantu
Anonymous 2	late 13th century	Tractatus de discantu
Magister Lambertus[30]	fl. c. 1270	Tractatus de musica
Engelbert of Admont	c. 1250 – 1331
Jacob of Liège	c. 1260 – after 1330
Johannes de Garlandia	fl. 1270–1320
Petrus de Cruce	late 13th century
Johannes Balox[31]	late 13th century	Gaudent brevitate moderni
Petrus de Picardia[32]	mid-13th century	Ars motettorum compilata breviter
Elias Salomo[33]	late 13th century	Scientia artis musice
Sowa Anonymous or Anonymous of St. Emmeram	1279	De musica mensurata
Anonymous 3	early 14th century	Compendiolum artis veteris
Philippe de Vitry	c. 1291 – 1361
Hugo Spechtshart	c. 1285 – 1359/60	Flores musicae omnis cantus Gregoriani
Johannes Vetulus de Anagnia[34]	1st half of 14th century]	Liber de musica
Petrus frater dictus Palma ociosa[35]	fl. early 14th century	Compendium de discantu mensurabili
Johannes de Grocheio	fl. 1300
Manuel Bryennius[36]	14th century	Harmonika
Walter Odington	died 1330
Johannes de Muris	c. 1290 – after 1344
Marchetto da Padova	fl. 1274–1319
Robert de Handlo[37]	early 14th century
Anonymous 7 (Coussemaker)	mid-14th century	De diversis manieribus
John Hanboys	late 14th century
John of Tewkesbury[38]	fl. 1351–1392	Quatuor principalia musice
Johannes Boen[39]	died 1367	Ars [musicae], Musica
Ellsworth Anonymi	before 1375	The Berkeley Manuscript
Anonymous 5	late 14th century	Ars cantus mensurabilis
Johannes Ciconia	1360–1412
Philippus de Caserta	late 14th century

Renaissance

Name	Date	Major writing	Known for
Fernand Estevan[40]	fl. 1410	Reglas de canto plano è de contrapunto, è de canto de organo
Giorgio Anselmi	c. 1386 – 1440/43
Ugolino of Forlì or Ugolino of Orvieto	c. 1380 – 1452
Antonius de Leno[41]	early 15th century	Regulae de contrapunto	(title created by Coussemaker from incomplete treatise)
John Hothby	c. 1410 – 1487
Johannes Gallicus[42]	c. 1415 – 1473	Praefatio libelli musicalis de ritu canendi vetustissimo et novo	First 15th century theorist to describe attributes of Renaissance music.[42]
Prosdocimus de Beldemandis	died 1428
Johannes Tinctoris	c. 1435 – 1511
Bartolomeus Ramis de Pareia	c. 1440 – after 1491
Adam von Fulda	1445–1505
Johannes Cochlaeus	1449–1552
Anonymous 11	mid-15th century	Tractatus de musica plana et mensurabili
Anonymous 12	2nd half of 15th century	Tractatus de musica
Franchinus Gaffurius	1451–1522	Practica musicae, 1496
Nicolò Burzio[43]	1453–1528	Musices opusculum
Giovanni Spataro[44]	1458–1541	Tractato di musica di Gioanni Spataro musico bolognese nel quale si tracta de la perfectione da la sesqualtera producta in la musica mensurata exercitate
Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples (alias Jacobus Faber Stapulensis)	c. 1460 – 1536	Musica libris demonstrata quattuor, Paris 1496
Domingo Marcos Durán	c. 1460 – 1529
Erasmus Horicius[45]	c. 1465 – early 16th century	Musica and Tractatus de sphera
Michael Keinspeck[46]	c. 1470 – mid-16th century	Lilium musicae planae
Lodovico Fogliano[47]	c. 1475 – 1542	Musica theorica (Venice, 1529)
Johannes Aventinus	1477–1534
Pietro Aaron	c. 1480 – c. 1550
Nicolaus Wollick[48]	c. 1480 – 1541	Enchiridion musices (1512)
Sebastian z Felsztyna	c. 1480/1490? – after 1543
Melchior Schanppecher[49]	born c. 1480	Opus aurem musicae (Cologne, 1501)
John Tucke[50]	c. 1482 – after 1539	His notebook[51]
Martin Agricola	1486–1556
Heinrich Glarean	1488–1563
Georg Rhau	1488–1548
Giovanni Del Lago[52]	c. 1490 – 1544	Correspondence with Giovanni Spataro and Pietro Aaron[52]
Giovanni Maria Lanfranco[53]	c. 1490 – 1545	Scintille di musica	Author of the earliest treatise on music theory in Italian[53]
Andreas Ornithoparchus[54]	born c. 1490	Musicae activae micrologus (Leipzig, 1517)
Bonaventura da Brescia[55]	late 15th century	Breviloquium musicale (Brescia, 1497) (later editions known as Regula musicae planae)
Gulielmus Monachus[56]	late 15th century	De preceptis artis musicae
Guillermo de Podio[57]	late 15th century	Ars musicorum (Valencia, 1495); In enchiridion de principiis musicae
Silvestro Ganassi dal Fontego	c. 1492 – mid-16th century
Stephanus Vanneo	1493–1535
Henricus Grammateus (alias Heinrich Schreiber)	1495–1525/6
Sebald Heyden	1499–1561
Heinrich Faber	before 1500–1552
Simon de Quercu[58]	early 16th century	Opusculum musices (Vienna, 1509)
Vicente Lusitano	16th century
Auctor Lampadius[59]	c. 1500 – 1559	Compendium musices, tam figurati quam plani cantus, ad formam dialogi (Berne, 1537, 5/1554)
Adrianus Petit Coclico	c. 1500 – 1562
Juan Bermudo	c. 1510 – 1565
Nikolaus Listenius[60]	born c. 1510	Rudimenta musicae (1533)
Ghiselin Danckerts	c. 1510 – after 1565
Diego Ortiz	c. 1510 – 1570
Nicola Vicentino	1511–1576
Francisco de Salinas	1513–1590
Gioseffo Zarlino	1517–1590
Girolamo Mei	1519–1594
Aiguino da Brescia[61]	1520–1581	Illuminata de tutti i tuoni di canto fermo (Venice, 1562)
Vincenzo Galilei	late 1520–1591
Hermann Finck	1527–1558
Francisco de Montanos[62]	c. 1528 – after 1592	Arte de música (1592)
Ercole Bottrigari	1531–1612
Pietro Pontio	1532–1595
Gallus Dressler	1533 – c. 1580/89
Orazio Tigrini[63]	c. 1535 – 1591	Il compendio della musica nel quale si tratta dell’arte del contrapunto
Giovanni Maria Artusi	c. 1540 – 1613
Giulio Caccini	c. 1545 – 1618
Cyriakus Schneegass	1546–1597
Philibert Jambe de Fer	fl. 1548–1564
John Wylde	mid-15th century
Riccardo Rognoni	c. 1550 – 1620	Passaggi per potersi esercitare nel diminuire Venice 1592
Pierre Maillart	1550–1622
Scipione Cerreto	c. 1551 – 1633
Elway Bevin	c. 1554 – 1638
Girolamo Diruta	c. 1554 – after 1610
Jean Yssandon	c. 1555 – 1582
Lodovico Zacconi	1555–1627
Sethus Calvisius	1556–1615
Johannes Nucius	c. 1556 – 1620
Thomas Morley	c. 1557 – 1602
Claudius Sebastiani	fl. 1557–65
Adam Gumpelzhaimer	1559–1625
Giovanni Luca Conforti	c. 1560 – 1608	Breve et facile maniera d’essercitarsi..., Rome 1593
Charles Butler	1560–1647	The Principles of Musik (1636)
Giovanni Bassano	1560/61–1617	Ricercate, passaggi et cadentie... Venice 1585
Pietro Cerone	1561–1625
Peter Eichmann	1561–1623
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck	1562–1621
Giovanni Camillo Maffei	fl 1562–73	Delle lettere del Signor Gio. Camillo Maffei da Solofra, libri due ..., Naples 1562
William Bathe	1564–1614
Joachim Burmeister	1564–1629
Johannes Christoph Demantius	1567–1643
Claudio Monteverdi	1567–1643
Thomas Campion	1567–1620
Adriano Banchieri	1568–1634
Girolamo Dalla Casa	before 1568 – 1601	Il vero modo di diminuir con tutte le sorti di stromenti di fiato, & corda, & di voce humana Venice: Angelo Gardano 1584
Michael Praetorius	c. 1569/73 – 1621
Georg Quitschreiber	1569–1638
Tomás de Santa María	died 1570
Francesco Bianciardi	c. 1571 – 1607
Eucharius Hoffmann	died 1588
Rudolf Schlick	flourished 1588	Exercitatio, qua musices origo prima, cultus antiquissimus, dignitas maxima et emolumenta … breviter ac dilucide exponuntur Speyer, 1588[64]
Giovanni Battista Bovicelli	fl 1592–94	Regole, passaggi di musica, madrigali et motetti passeggiati Venice, 1594
Gaspar Stoquerus	late 16th century
Francesco Rognoni Taeggio	second half of the 16th century – after 1626	Selva de varii passaggi Milan, 1620

17th century

Name	Date	Major writing	Known for
Aurelio Virgiliano	fl c1620	Il Dolcimelo, c1620
Wolfgang Schonsleder	1570–1651
John Coprario	c. 1570 – 1626
Johannes Kepler	1571–1630
Giulio Monteverdi	1573–1630/31
Robert Fludd	1574–1637
Salomon de Caus	c. 1576 – 1626
Gerhard Johann Vossius	1577–1649
Agostino Agazzari	1578–1640	Del sonare sopra il basso, 1607
Henricus Baryphonus	1581–1655
Severo Bonini	1582–1663
Thomas Ravenscroft	c. 1582 – 1635
Johannes Lippius	1585–1612
Antoine Parran	1587–1650
Johann Heinrich Alsted	1588–1638
Johann Andreas Herbst	1588–1666
Marin Mersenne	1588–1648
Heinrich Grimm	1593–1637
Giovanni Battista Doni	1595–1647
René Descartes	1596–1650
Galeazzo Sabbatini	1597–1662
Joan Albert Ban	1597–1644
Johann Crüger	1598–1662
Joachim Thuringus	born late 16th century	Opusculum bipartitum de primordiis musicis, Berlin, 1624
Agostino Pisa	early 17th century
Jean Denis	c. 1600 – 1672
Antoine de Cousu	c. 1600 – 1658
Marco Scacchi	c. 1600 – 1681/87
Athanasius Kircher	1601–1680
Christopher Simpson	c. 1605 – 1669
Hans Mikkelsen Ravn	c. 1610 – 1663
Wolfgang Ebner	1612–1665
Otto Gibelius	1612–1682
Thomas Mace	1612/3 – c. 1706
Lorenzo Penna	1613–1693
William Holder	1616–1696
John Wallis	1616–1703
Isaac Vossius	1618–1689
Conrad Matthaei	1619 – c. 1667
Matthew Locke	1621–1677
John Playford	1623–1686
Andrés Lorente	1624–1703
René Ouvrard	1624–1694
Bénigne de Bacilly	c. 1625 – 1690
Giovanni Andrea Bontempi	c. 1624 – 1705
Christoph Bernhard	1628–1692
Christiaan Huygens	1629–1695
Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers	c. 1632 – 1714
Nikolay Diletsky	c. 1630 – after 1680
Angelo Berardi	c. 1636 – 1694
Daniel Speer	1636–1707
Francis North	1637–1685
Wolfgang Caspar Printz	1641–1717
Giovanni Maria Bononcini	1642–1678
Jean Rousseau	1644–1700
Andreas Werckmeister	1645–1706
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz	1646–1716
Thomas Salmon	1648–1706
Johann Georg Ahle	1651–1706
Roger North	1653–1734
Zaccaria Tevo	1651 – c. 1709/12
Joseph Sauveur	1653–1716
Georg Muffat	1653–1704
Pier Francesco Tosi	c. 1653 – 1732
Pablo Nassarre	c. 1654 – 1730
Johann Baptist Samber	1654–1717
Johann Beer	1655–1700
Sébastien de Brossard	1655–1730
Étienne Loulié	c. 1655 – 1707
Giovanni d’Avella	fl. 1657	Regole di musica, divise in cinque trattati, Rome, 1657
Henry Purcell	1659–1695
Nicola Matteis	fl. 1670–c. 1698
Friedrich Erhard Niedt	1674–1717
Charles Masson	fl. 1680–1700
De La Voye-Mignot	died 1684

18th century

Name	Date	Major writing	Known for
Johann Joseph Fux	1660–1741
Johann Kuhnau	1660–1722
Tomáš Baltazar Janovka	1669 –1741
Francesco Gasparini	1661–1727
Johann Heinrich Buttstett	1666–1727
Johann Christoph Pepusch	1667–1752
David Kellner	c. 1670 – 1748
Johann Philipp Treiber	1675–1727
Georg Philipp Telemann	1681–1767
Johann Mattheson	1681–1764
Johann David Heinichen	1683–1729
Jean-Philippe Rameau	1683–1764
Meinrad Spieß	1683–1761
Johann Gottfried Walther	1684–1748
Alexander Malcolm	1685–1763
Johann Georg Neidhardt	1685–1739
François Campion	c. 1686 – 1748
Francesco Geminiani	1687–1762
Giuseppe Tartini	1692–1770
Johann Joachim Quantz	1697–1773
Francesco Antonio Vallotti	1697–1780
Jakob Adlung	1699–1762
Christoph Gottlieb Schröter	1699–1782
William Tans'ur	1700–1783
De Saint-Lambert	fl. 1700–1710
Georg Andreas Sorge	1703–1778
Gottfried Keller	died 1704
Jean-Adam Serre	1704–1788
Giovanni Battista Martini	1706–1784
Leonhard Euler	1707–1783
Johann Adolph Scheibe	1708–1776
Jean Laurent de Béthizy	1709–1781
Joseph Riepel	1709–1782
Lorenz Christoph Mizler Kolof	1711–1778
Jean-Jacques Rousseau	1712–1778
Nicola Sala	1713–1801
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach	1714–1788
Pierre-Joseph Roussier	1716–1792
Jean le Rond d'Alembert	1717–1783
Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg	1718–1795
Niccolo Pasquali	c. 1718 – 1757
Leopold Mozart	1719–1787
Johann Friedrich Agricola	1720–1774
Johann Georg Sulzer	1720–1779
Martin Gerbert	1720–1793
Johann Philipp Kirnberger	1721–1783
George Simon Löhlein	1725–1781
Giuseppe Paolucci	1726–1776
Antonio Eximeno y Pujades	1729–1808
Antonio Soler	1729–1783
Johann Friedrich Daube	c. 1730 – 1797
Luigi Antonio Sabbatini	c. 1732 – 1809
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger	1736–1809
Vincenzo Manfredini	1737–1799
Johann Gottlieb Portmann	1739–1798
Honoré François Marie Langlé	1741–1807
Johann Abraham Peter Schulz	1747–1800
Maximilian Stadler	1748–1833
Georg Michael Telemann	1748–1831
Johann Nikolaus Forkel	1749–1818
Heinrich Christoph Koch	1749–1816
Abbé Vogler	1749–1814
Antonio Ventura Roel del Rio	fl. mid-18th century
Augustus Frederic Christopher Kollmann	1756–1829
Daniel Gottlob Türk	1756–1813
Francesco Galeazzi	1758–1819
Luigi Cherubini	1760–1842
Jérôme-Joseph de Momigny	1762–1842
Bedřich Diviš Weber	1766–1842
Józef Elsner	1769–1854
Anton Reicha, (alias Antoine-Joseph Reicha, alias Antonín Reijcha)	1770–1836
Alexandre-Étienne Choron	1771–1834
John Holden	died c. 1771
Charles Simon Catel	1773–1830
Matthew Peter King	1773–1823
Johann Anton André	1775–1842
Johann Bernhard Logier	1777–1846
Gottfried Weber	1779–1839

19th century

Name	Date	Major writing	Known for
Christian Theodor Weinlig	1780–1842
François-Joseph Fétis	1784–1871
Simon Sechter	1788–1867
Carl Czerny	1791–1857
Moritz Hauptmann	1792–1868
Adolf Bernhard Marx	c. 1795–1866
Sarah Mary Fitton	c. 1796–1874
Johann Christian Lobe	1797–1881
Siegfried Dehn	1799–1858
Auguste Barbereau	1799–1879
Joseph d'Ortigue	1802–1866
Edmond de Coussemaker	1805–1876
Henri Reber	1807–1880
Carl Friedrich Weitzmann	1808–1880
Ernst Friedrich Richter	1808–1879
Alfred Day	1810–1849	A Treatise on Harmony
George Alexander Macfarren	1813–1887
Hermann von Helmholtz	1821–1894
Anton Bruckner	1824–1896
Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley	1825–1889
Eduard Hanslick	1825–1904
Rudolf Westphal	1826–1892
Friedrich Chrysander	1826–1901
François-Auguste Gevaert	1828–1908
Mathis Lussy	1828–1910
František Zdeněk Skuherský	1830–1892
Salomon Jadassohn	1831–1902
Heinrich Bellermann	1832–1903
Arthur von Oettingen	1836–1920
Ebenezer Prout	1835–1909
Théodore Dubois	1837–1924
John Stainer	1840–1901
Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky	1840–1893
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov	1844–1908
Bernhard Ziehn	1845–1912
Otakar Hostinský	1847–1910
Carl Stumpf	1848–1936
Hugo Riemann	1849–1919
Vincent d'Indy	1851–1931
Percy Goetschius	1853–1943
Guido Adler	1855–1941
Sergei Taneyev	1856–1915
Ludwig Thuille	1861–1907

20th century

Name	Date	Major writing	Known for
Stephan Krehl	1864–1924
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze	1865–1950
Ferruccio Busoni	1866–1924
Charles Koechlin	1867–1950
André Gedalge	1868–1926
Alfred Lorenz	1868–1939
Thorvald Otterstrom	1868–1942	A Theory of Modulation
Heinrich Schenker	1868–1935	Free Composition, part 3 of New Musical Theories and Fantasies	Schenkerian Analysis
August Otto Halm	1869–1929	Die Symphonie Anton Bruckners
Hans Pfitzner	1869–1949
André Pirro	1869–1943
Rudolf Louis	1870–1949
Charles Herbert Kitson	1874–1944
Hugo Leichtentritt	1874–1951
Arnold Schoenberg	1874–1951
Donald Tovey	1875–1940
Arnold Schering	1877–1941
Boleslav Leopoldovich Yavorsky	1877–1942
Zdeněk Nejedlý	1878–1962
Otakar Zich	1879–1934
Marion Bauer	1882–1955
Mario de Andrade	1883–1945
Boris Vladimirovich Asafiev	1884–1949
Hermann Keller	1885–1967	The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach
Rudolph Reti	1885–1957
Vladimír Helfert	1886–1945
Ernst Kurth	1886–1946
Charles Seeger	1886–1979
Nadia Boulanger	1887–1979
Ernst Ferand	1887–1972
Adele T. Katz	1887–1979
Ludvík Kundera	1891–1971
Knud Jeppesen	1892–1974
Josef Hutter	1894–1959
Nicolas Slonimsky	1894–1995
Paul Hindemith	1895–1963
Joseph Schillinger	1895–1943
Howard Hanson	1896–1981
Roger Sessions	1896–1985
Henry Cowell	1897–1965
Erwin Ratz	1898–1973
Felix Salzer	1904–1986
Alain Daniélou	1907–1994
Ernst Oster	1908–1977
Zofia Lissa	1908–1980
Olivier Messiaen	1908–1992
George Perle	1915–2009
Miroslav Venhoda	1915–1987
Milton Babbitt	1916–2011
Edward T. Cone	1917–2004
Alfred Mann	1917–2006
Deryck Cooke	1919–1976
Iannis Xenakis	1922–2001
George Russell	1923–2009
Jaroslav Volek	1923–1989
Joseph Kerman	1924–2014
Ernő Lendvai	1925–1993
Allen Forte	1926–2014
Eric Sams	1926–2004
William Ennis Thomson	born 1927
Ernst Widmer	1927–1990
Harold Powers	1928–2007
Tomislav Volek	born 1931
Karlheinz Stockhausen	1928–2007
Carl Schachter	born c. 1932
David Lewin	1933–2003
Benjamin Boretz	born 1934
Edward Aldwell	1938–2006
Edward Laufer	1938–2014
Stefan Kostka	born 1939
Fred Lerdahl	born 1943
Jean-Jacques Nattiez	born 1945
Maury Yeston	born 1945	The Stratification of Musical Rhythm
Vladimir Martynov	born 1946
William Caplin	born 1948
Laurence Dreyfus	born 1952
Miller Puckette	born 1959	The Theory and Technique of Electronic Music	Max (software), Pure Data
David Carson Berry	born 1968
Dmitri Tymoczko	born 1969	A Geometry of Music

21st century

Name	Date	Major writing	Known for
Richard Cohn	born 1955	"Transpositional Combination of Beat-Class Sets in Steve Reich’s Phase-Shifting Music" "Maximally Smooth Cycles, Hexatonic Systems, and the Analysis of Late-Romantic Triadic Progressions"
Victor Kofi Agawu	born 1956	African Rhythm, A Northern Ewe Perspective
James Hepokoski	born 1946	Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations in the Late-Eighteenth-Century Sonata. (Co-authored with Warren Darcy) (Awarded the Wallace Berry Prize from the Society for Music Theory, 2008)

See also

• List of music students by teacher

References

1. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Accessed March 2016. (subscription required)

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Further reading

• Damschroder, David and David Russell Williams. Music theory from Zarlino to Schenker : a bibliography and guide. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1990. ISBN 0-918728-99-1
• Williams, David Russell and C. Matthew Balensuela. Music theory from Boethius to Zarlino: a bibliography and guide. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-57647-157-9