- Introduction: Classical Music and Onions
- A Guide to Classical Listening
- James Reel: About the Author
- John Adams: American of our time (Born 1947)
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Master of all forms (1685-1750)
- Béla Bartók: First serious folklorist (1881-1945)
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Synonymous with symphony (1770-1827)
- Alban Berg: 12-tone's popular composer (1885-1935)
- Hector Berlioz: The French storyteller (1803-1869)
- Johannes Brahms: Chamber music maestro (1833-1897)
- Benjamin Britten: England's non-conformist voice (1913-1976)
- Frédéric Chopin: Harmonic wanderings (1810-1849)
- Aaron Copland: Icon of American culture (1900-1990)
- Claude Debussy: Freeing instrumental color (1862-1918)
- John Dowland: Exquisitely sorrowful music (1563-1626)
- Antonin Dvorák: Music as nationalism (1841-1904)
- George Gershwin: The rhythm master (1898-1937)
- George Handel: Prolific Baroque composer (1685-1759)
- Franz Joseph Haydn: The string quartet (1732-1809)
- Franz Liszt: The ultimate Romantic (1811-1886)
- Gustav Mahler: Intensifying the emotions (1860-1911)
- Claudio Monteverdi: Innovator and madrigalist (1567-1643)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Creator of the modern concerto (1756-1791)
- Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: The Counter Reformation (1525-1594)
- Francis Poulenc: Shocking the bourgeoisie (1899-1963)
- Giacomo Puccini: Opera's last great (1858-1924)
- Sergei Rachmaninov: The last Russian Romantic (1873-1943)
- Jean-Philippe Rameau: Epitome of French music (1683-1764)
- Maurice Ravel: Gauzy Impressionist style (1875-1937)
- Gioachino Rossini: Crescendo and comic opera (1792-1868)
- Richard Strauss: Lavish symphonic poems (1864-1949)
- Arnold Schoenberg: 20th century trend-setter (1874-1951)
- Dmitri Shostakovich: The most important Soviet (1906-1975)
- Franz Schubert: Establishing the standards (1797-1828)
- Johann Strauss Jr.: The waltz king (1825-1899)
- Igor Stravinsky: Introducing Neoclassicism (1882-1971)
- Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Music for ballet (1840-1893)
- Giuseppe Verdi: Italian grand opera (1813-1901)
- Antonio Vivaldi: Fiddling with concertos (1678-1741)
- Richard Wagner: Unifying the arts (1813-1883)
- Acknowledgments