What Makes a Great Composer?

How education, institutions, emotion, and opportunity shape creativity in classical music

Why do we still listen to Mozart’s music but not Salieri’s? Would Nadia Boulanger be better known as a composer than a teacher if she were a man? Why did so many composers move to Vienna, Paris, and London, despite the hardships of city life? In What Makes a Great Composer?, economists Karol J. Borowiecki and Marc T. Law offer a novel perspective on why some composers and their works have endured while others have not. Drawing on data-driven methods and economic theory rather than the usual anecdotes and received wisdom regarding the sources of musical genius, Borowiecki and Law uncover previously unnoticed patterns of creativity. Spanning nearly a millennium of musical history—following composers from medieval courts and cathedrals to modern concert halls and conservatories—their account shows how the creative lives of composers were molded by opportunity, constraint, talent, and temperament.

Borowiecki and Law consider not only celebrated masters but also forgotten voices, including female composers whose paths were blocked by structural barriers. They explore key determinants of success, including education, cities and migration, war and conflict, and economic incentives. Drawing on a wealth of data gathered over nearly twenty years, and using such metrics as expert rankings, the length of biographical entries, stylistic originality, influence on peers, and contemporary popularity, they uncover the forces that shaped composers’ creativity. By showing how composers lived, struggled, and sometimes transcended the worlds that formed them, Borowiecki and Law shed light not only on music history but also, more broadly, on the conditions that allow creativity to flourish.