References

Sources for documented composer meetings and pedagogical lineages

Methodology: Connections in this network represent historical meetings or relationships between composers, drawn from biographies, correspondence, contemporary accounts, and academic research. Most are well-documented; a small number are speculative (inferred from co-presence) or legendary (widely repeated but not securely sourced). Each connection's context notes its evidence basis. Where exact dates are uncertain, approximate periods are given.

The lineage graph extends the network with documented teacher-student relationships among performers, teachers, and composer-pedagogues. These are drawn from conservatory records, published biographies, and standard reference works on piano pedagogy. The lineage traces major schools from the early 19th century through the mid-20th century and is representative, not exhaustive. Approximate dates are given for the start of study; these may vary by a year or two across sources.

Primary Biographical Sources

Swafford, Jan. Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.
Solomon, Maynard. Mozart: A Life. HarperCollins, 1995.
Walker, Alan. Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years, 1811–1847. Cornell University Press, 1987.
Walker, Alan. Franz Liszt: The Weimar Years, 1848–1861. Cornell University Press, 1989.
Swafford, Jan. Johannes Brahms: A Biography. Knopf, 1997.
Reich, Nancy B. Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman. Cornell University Press, 2001.
Zamoyski, Adam. Chopin: Prince of the Romantics. HarperCollins, 2010.
Millington, Barry. Wagner. Princeton University Press, 1992.
Taruskin, Richard. Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions. University of California Press, 1996.
La Grange, Henry-Louis de. Gustav Mahler, Volume 2: Vienna: The Years of Challenge (1897–1904). Oxford University Press, 1995.
Cairns, David. Berlioz: The Making of an Artist, 1803–1832. University of California Press, 2000.

Pedagogical Lineage Sources

Schonberg, Harold C. The Great Pianists: From Mozart to the Present. Simon & Schuster, 1987. Standard reference on the history of piano performance and teaching lineages.
Gerig, Reginald R. Famous Pianists and Their Technique. Indiana University Press, 2007. Comprehensive study of pedagogical traditions and technical schools.
Dubal, David. The Art of the Piano. Harcourt Brace, 1989. Profiles of major pianists with attention to lineage and influence.
Plaskin, Glenn. Horowitz: A Biography. William Morrow, 1983. Documents Horowitz's studies with Blumenfeld at the Kiev Conservatory.
Sachs, Harvey. Rubinstein: A Life. Grove Press, 1995. Documents Rubinstein's studies with Barth at the Berlin Hochschule.
Brendel, Alfred. Musical Thoughts and Afterthoughts. Robson Books, 1976. Includes reflections on Fischer's masterclasses and their influence.

Notable Meetings & Their Sources

Classical Era

Haydn & Mozart — Met in Vienna, 1784. Haydn's famous quote to Leopold Mozart documented in contemporary correspondence. See: Robbins Landon, H.C. Haydn: Chronicle and Works.
Haydn & Beethoven — Student-teacher relationship 1792–1794 in Vienna. Well-documented in both composers' biographies and correspondence.
Mozart & Beethoven — A brief meeting in Vienna, 1787, is plausible and widely accepted, but details are thin. The famous "keep your eyes on him" quote is likely apocryphal. See: Solomon, Maynard. Beethoven.

Early Romantic Era

Beethoven & Schubert — Disputed: a deathbed visit in 1827 is reported by Schindler, who is notoriously unreliable. Some scholars accept it; others believe Schubert attended only the funeral procession. Earlier meetings in Vienna are plausible but not firmly documented.
Beethoven & Rossini — Met in Vienna, 1822. Rossini's own account published in Rossini: A Life by Richard Osborne.
Liszt & Paganini — Liszt heard Paganini perform in Paris, 1831. Transformative experience documented extensively in Walker's Liszt biography.
Berlioz & Paganini — Paganini's gift of 20,000 francs after hearing Harold in Italy (1838) documented in Berlioz's memoirs and correspondence.

Paris Circle (1830s–40s)

Chopin & Liszt — Close friendship in Paris, 1830s. Extensively documented in both composers' correspondence and contemporary accounts.
Chopin & Schumann — Met in Leipzig, 1835. Schumann's review "Hats off, gentlemen, a genius!" published in Neue Zeitschrift für Musik.
Schumann & Mendelssohn — Colleagues at Leipzig Conservatory in the 1830s–40s. Documented in correspondence and Schumann's diaries.
Liszt & Berlioz — Close friends in Paris. Liszt's transcription of Symphonie fantastique is musical evidence of their relationship.

Brahms Circle

Schumann & Brahms — Schumann's 1853 article "Neue Bahnen" (New Paths) in Neue Zeitschrift für Musik publicly championed the young Brahms.
Brahms & Clara Schumann — Lifelong correspondence (hundreds of letters) published and extensively studied. See: Reich, Nancy B. Clara Schumann.
Brahms & Dvořák — Brahms recommended Dvořák to publisher Simrock in 1877. Documented in correspondence.

Late Romantic Era

Liszt & Wagner — Lifelong friendship and collaboration. Wagner married Liszt's daughter Cosima. Extensively documented.
Wagner & Brahms — Met but became artistic rivals in the "War of the Romantics." Contemporary press documented the aesthetic divide.
Tchaikovsky & Brahms — Met in Hamburg, 1889. Documented in Tchaikovsky's diaries and correspondence.
Liszt & Grieg — Met in Rome, 1870. Liszt's praise of Grieg's Piano Concerto documented in Grieg's letters.

Modern Era

Debussy & Stravinsky — Met in Paris, 1910. Debussy attended Firebird premiere. Documented in both composers' correspondence.
Mahler & Strauss — Close friends and correspondents. Conducted each other's works. Extensive published correspondence.
Schoenberg, Berg & Webern — Teacher-student relationships in Vienna, 1904–1911. Foundation of Second Viennese School. Extensively documented.
Prokofiev & Shostakovich — Colleagues in Soviet Russia. Complex professional relationship documented in Soviet-era sources and later biographies.

Teacher-Student Lineages

Liszt School

Liszt → Hans von Bülow — Von Bülow studied with Liszt in Weimar from 1851. One of Liszt's most prominent students and later a leading conductor. See: Walker, Franz Liszt: The Weimar Years.
Liszt → Alexander Siloti — Siloti studied with Liszt in Weimar from 1883, becoming one of the last generation of Liszt pupils.
Liszt → Emil von Sauer — Von Sauer studied with Liszt in Weimar from 1884. Became known for preserving the Liszt tradition into the recording era.
Liszt → Moriz Rosenthal — Rosenthal studied with Liszt in Weimar and Rome from 1876.
Liszt → Martin Krause — Krause studied with Liszt in Weimar from 1869. Later became a leading pedagogue in Berlin.
Krause → Claudio Arrau — Arrau studied with Krause at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin from 1912. Arrau considered Krause the definitive link to the Liszt tradition.
Krause → Edwin Fischer — Fischer studied with Krause at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin from 1904.
Edwin Fischer → Alfred Brendel — Brendel attended Fischer's masterclasses in Lucerne from 1949. While not a formal long-term student, Brendel acknowledged Fischer's formative influence. See: Brendel, Musical Thoughts and Afterthoughts.
Von Bülow → Karl Heinrich Barth — Barth studied with von Bülow in Berlin. Later became a professor at the Berlin Hochschule.
Barth → Arthur Rubinstein — Rubinstein studied with Barth at the Berlin Hochschule from 1897. See: Sachs, Rubinstein: A Life.

Leschetizky School

Czerny → Theodor Leschetizky — Leschetizky studied with Czerny in Vienna from age 10 (c. 1840), making him a direct pedagogical descendant of Beethoven through Czerny.
Leschetizky → Ignacy Jan Paderewski — Paderewski studied with Leschetizky in Vienna from 1884.
Leschetizky → Artur Schnabel — Schnabel studied with Leschetizky in Vienna from age 9 (c. 1891). Later became one of the foremost Beethoven interpreters.
Leschetizky → Anna Yesipova — Yesipova studied with Leschetizky at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1870. They later married (1880–1892).
Leschetizky → Isabelle Vengerova — Vengerova studied with Leschetizky in Vienna from 1895. Later became a leading pedagogue at the Curtis Institute.
Leschetizky → Mieczysław Horszowski — Horszowski studied with Leschetizky in Vienna as a child prodigy from 1899. He performed publicly until age 99.
Schnabel → Clifford Curzon — Curzon studied with Schnabel in Berlin from 1928.
Schnabel → Leon Fleisher — Fleisher studied privately with Schnabel from 1938 in Italy and later at Lake Como.
Vengerova → Gary Graffman — Graffman studied with Vengerova at the Curtis Institute from 1936.
Yesipova → Prokofiev — Prokofiev studied piano with Yesipova at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1904.

Moscow Conservatory

Nikolai Rubinstein → Siloti — Siloti studied at the Moscow Conservatory under Nikolai Rubinstein from 1875.
Zverev → Rachmaninoff — Rachmaninoff lived and studied in Zverev's household from age 12 (1885), the intensive boarding arrangement typical of Zverev's pedagogy.
Zverev → Scriabin — Scriabin studied with Zverev at the Moscow Conservatory from 1885.
Zverev → Siloti — Siloti studied with Zverev before moving to Liszt in Weimar.
Siloti → Rachmaninoff — Siloti taught Rachmaninoff piano at the Moscow Conservatory from 1888. They were also cousins.
Safonov → Scriabin — Scriabin studied piano with Safonov at the Moscow Conservatory from 1888.
Safonov → Rosina Lhévinne — Lhévinne studied with Safonov at the Moscow Conservatory from 1898. She later taught at Juilliard for decades.
Lhévinne → Van Cliburn — Van Cliburn studied with Lhévinne at Juilliard from 1951, shortly before winning the first Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958.
Anton Rubinstein → Tchaikovsky — Tchaikovsky studied composition with Anton Rubinstein at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1862.

St. Petersburg & Kiev Schools

Rimsky-Korsakov → Felix Blumenfeld — Blumenfeld studied composition with Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1881.
Blumenfeld → Vladimir Horowitz — Horowitz studied with Blumenfeld at the Kiev Conservatory from 1919. See: Plaskin, Horowitz: A Biography.
Blumenfeld → Heinrich Neuhaus — Neuhaus studied with Blumenfeld, his uncle by marriage, from 1906. Neuhaus later founded the dominant Soviet piano school at the Moscow Conservatory.
Neuhaus → Sviatoslav Richter — Richter studied with Neuhaus at the Moscow Conservatory from 1937.
Neuhaus → Emil Gilels — Gilels studied with Neuhaus at the Moscow Conservatory from 1935.

French School

Chopin → Émile Decombes — Decombes studied piano with Chopin in Paris from c. 1845. Later passed the Chopin tradition to his own students at the Paris Conservatoire.
Decombes → Alfred Cortot — Cortot studied with Decombes at the Paris Conservatoire from 1892.
Louis Diémer → Cortot — Cortot also studied with Diémer at the Paris Conservatoire from 1894.
Diémer → Robert Casadesus — Casadesus studied with Diémer at the Paris Conservatoire from 1909.
Cortot → Dinu Lipatti — Lipatti studied with Cortot at the École Normale de Musique in Paris from 1934.

Clara Schumann School

Clara Schumann → Fanny Davies — Davies studied with Clara Schumann at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt from 1883. See: Reich, Clara Schumann.
Clara Schumann → Adelina de Lara — De Lara studied with Clara Schumann at the Hoch Conservatory from 1886. She is believed to be the last surviving student of Clara Schumann.

Additional Resources

Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Oxford University Press, 2001. 29 volumes.
Taruskin, Richard. The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press, 2005. 6 volumes.
Bonds, Mark Evan. A History of Music in Western Culture. Pearson, 2012.

Notes on Methodology

This network includes only meetings with reasonable historical evidence. Some well-known "meetings" have been excluded due to lack of verification:

Bach & Handel — Despite being born the same year (1685) and living in relative proximity, there is no documented record of them meeting. Bach attempted to meet Handel twice but was unsuccessful.
Wagner & Verdi — Never met despite being exact contemporaries (both born 1813) and dominating 19th-century opera.