The Big List of Names

This list is not meant as an exhaustive reference; you can try to use it as such, but I make no guarantees about comprehensiveness. The portions on specific languages are meant to provide examples for anyone trying to learn to pronounce those languages. The other portions at the bottom present a list of names, some well-known and others more obscure, which for one reason or another cannot be dealt with by the rules listed elsewhere in this guide.

Note that some of the Central European names below appear without important diacritics, due to technological limitations. However there is a special Central European list which displays all the same names in their fully correct spellings. Names that are shown without diacritics below are marked with asterisks.

Index

German names, and others that might as well be

Claus Adam klows ah -dahm Bayreuth biy -royt (never to be confused with Beirut!) Ludwig van Beethoven lood -vig fahn bay -toh-ven Alban Berg ahl -bahn behrg Heinrich von Biber hiyn -rikh fon bee -ber Karl Boehm böm (or approximately, bu(r)m) Willi Boskovsky vil -lee bos- koff -skee Frans Brüggen frahns brü -gen (it's actually Dutch, but don't say it that way) Hans von Bülow fon bü -loh Dietrich Buxtehude books -teh-hood-uh Jörg Demus yurg day -moos Kurt Equiluz koort ay -kvee-loots Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau dee -trisch fih -sher dees -kow Friedrich von Flotow free -drisch fon flaw -toh Wilhelm Furtwängler vill -helm foort -vehn-gler Gächinger Kantorei gaysch -ing-er kahn-tor- iy Michael Gielen mee -schiyl gee -lehn Andreas Groethuysen ahn- dray -ahs grö -toy-zen (the name is Dutch, but he is German) Ernst Haefliger hef -li-ger Georg Friedrich Händel gay -org free -drisch hehn -dehl (German version) George Frederic Handel "George Frederic Handle" (English version) Paul Hindemith powl hin -de-mit (rhymes with "pit", NOT with "myth") Johann Nepomuk Hummel yoh -hahn nep -uh-mook hoo -mel (oo as in "book") Eugen Jochum oy -ghen yoh -khum Herbert von Karajan hehr -bert fon kah -rah-yahn Rudolf Kempe roo -dolf kem -puh Walter Klien vahl -ter kleen Hans Knappertsbusch knah -perts-boosh (rhymes with "bush") Franz Lehár lay -har Gustav Leonhardt goos -tahv lay -on-hart Emmy Loose em -mee loh -zuh Kurt Masur koort mah- zoor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart vohlf -gahng ah-ma- day -oos moht -zart Hermann Prey hehr -mahn priy (rhymes with "rye", NOT with "ray") RIAS spell out, or say ree -ahs ; acronym for Radio in the American Sector (of Berlin, during the Cold War) Artur Schnabel ahr -toor shnah -bel Othmar Schoeck ot -mar shök Arnold Schoenberg schön -berg Robert Schumann ro -behrt shoo -mahn Elisabeth Schwarzkopf eh- lee -zah-beht shvarts -kopf Staatskapelle shtahts -kuh-pell-uh Richard Strauss ree -khard shtrows (rhymes with "house") Klaus Tennstedt klows tenn -shtet Christian Thielemann kris -tyahn tee -leh-mahn Richard Wagner ree -khard vahg -ner Kurt Weill koort viyl (like the word "vile"); though after he emigrated to the United States he was known as kurt "while" Hugo Wolf hoo -go volf Fritz Wunderlich voon -der-lisch (or voon -der-likh)

Titles:

Also sprach Zarathustra ahl-zoh shprakh tsah-rah- toos -trah Davidsbündlertänze dah -veedz- bünd -ler- tents -uh Dichterliebe disch -ter-lee-buh Götterdämmerung gö-ter- dehm -mer-oong Grosse Fuge gro -suh foo -guh (or just say "Great Fugue") Gurrelieder gurr -uh-lee-der Kinderszenen kin -der-stsay-nen (a common approximation is kin -der-zay-nen ) Tannhäuser tahn -hoy-zer Verklärte Nacht fehr- klehr -tuh nahkht

Dutch/Flemish

Anner Bylsma ah -ner bilz -muh Concertgebouw Orchestra kuhn- sehrt -guh-bow (rhymes with "now") Bernard Haitink behr -nard hiy -teenk Wieland Kuijken wee -luhnd kow -ken (Dutch w = v, but Flemish w = w) Sigiswald Kuijken see -gihs-wahlt Barthold Kuijken bar -tolt Jaap ter Linden yahp tehr lin -den

Danish/Swedish/Norwegian

Franz Berwald frans behr -vahld Niels Gade neelz gah -thuh (last syllable as in the word "the") Mariss Jansons mar -iss yahn -sohns Per Nørgård pehr nör -gor Leif Segerstam layf say -ger-stahm Elisabeth Söderström sö -der-strum (initial s is NOT z as in German) Wilhelm Stenhammar vil -helm sten -hahm-er Erik T. Tawaststjerna tah-vahst- shtehr -nah (or simplify to tah-vahs- chehr -nah ) Mogens Wöldike mo -wens völ -di-keh

Title:

Peer Gynt Anglicized as peer ghint , though original Norwegian = pehr yünt

French and related

Adolphe-Charles Adam ah-dolf sharl ah- dahm Charles-Henri Alkan sharl awn-ree ahl- kahn Ernest Ansermet ehr- nest ahn-sehr- may Auber oh- behr Beaux Arts Trio "Boze Ar" or "Boze Art", but definitely not "Bow Art" Hector Berlioz behr -lee-ohz Georges Bizet zhorzh bee- zay Leon Boellmann lay-ohn boh-ell- mahn Nadia Boulanger nahd -ya boo-lahn- zhay Pierre Boulez pyehr boo- lez Robert Cadadesus roh- behr kah-sah-deh- sü Charpentier shar-pahn- tyay René Clemencic re-nay kleh-mahn- seek François Couperin frahn-swah koo-per- an Claude Debussy klohd deh-bü- see Michel-Richard Delalande mee-shel ree-shar duh lah- lawnd Leo Delibes lay-oh deh- leeb Guillaume Dufay ghee- yohm dü- fiy (rhymes with "sky") Paul Dukas pol dü- kah Henri Dutilleux awn-ree dü-tee- yö (or doo-tee- yuh ) Charles Dutoit sharl dü- twah Pierre Fournier pyehr foor- nyay Arthur Honegger ar-tur on-neh- gehr Jacques Ibert zhak ee- behr Vincent D'Indy van-son dahn- dee Josquin Des Prez zho-skan day pray Charles Koechlin sharl kösh- lan Olivier Messiaen oh-lee-vee-yay mess-see- ehn Darius Milhaud dah-ree-üs mee- yoh Pierre Monteux pyehr mon- tö (or mon- tuh ) Francis Poulenc frahn-sees poo -lenk Christophe Rousset roo- say Camille Saint-Saëns kuh- meel sahn- sawnz Gérard Souzay zhehr-ard soo- zay Jean-Yves Thibaudet zhahn-eev tee-boh- day Eugène Ysäye ö-zhehn ee- ziy

Titles:

Bransle (an early-baroque dance) brahn -luh (last syllable very short) Jeux zhö Lakmé lahk -may Les Nuits d'été lay nwee day- tay

Italian

Luciano Berio loo- tchahn -oh bay -ree-oh Luigi Boccherini loo- ee -jee bok-keh- ree -nee Luigi Cherubini loo- ee -jee kehr-roo- bee -nee Luigi Dallapiccola dah-lah- pee -koh-lah Giovanni Gabrieli jo- vahn -nee gah-bree- el -lee (first name has only three syllables!) Carlo Maria Giulini joo- lee -nee Pietro Mascagni pyay-troh mah- skahn -yee Gian Carlo Menotti djahn (similar to "John") kar -lo me- not -tee Luciano Pavarotti loo- chah -noh Ottorino Respighi ot-toh- ree -noh res- pee -ghee Giuseppe Sinopoli joo- zeh -peh see- noh -poh-lee

Titles:

Così fan tutte koh- zee fahn too -teh La Forza del Destino lah for -tsah dehl des- tee -noh Francesca da Rimini fran- cheh -ska dah ree -mee-nee Gianni Schicchi jahn -nee skee -kee Semiramide seh-mee- rah -mee-day Il Trovatore eel troh-vah- toh -ray

Romanian

Sergiu Celibidache sehr -joo chel-ih-bih- dah -kay Ileana Cotrubas ee-leh- ah -nah koht -roo-bahsh (in Romanian this s carries a diacritic to distinguish it from an ordinary s sound, but it's almost never printed this way by non-Romanians)

Spanish

Carlos Chávez kar -lohs tchah -vays (or tchah -vehz) Plácido Domingo plah -thee-doh (European Spanish c/z = th instead of s) Manuel de Falla mahn- well day fiy -yah Alberto Ginastera hee-nah- stehr -ah Jesus López-Cobos hay- sooss loh -pays koh -bohs

Title:

El Amor Brujo ayl ah- mor broo -hoh

Portuguese

Guiomar Novaes ghee-yoh- mar no- viysh Maria João Pires mah- ree -ah zhoh- own peer -esh Heitor Villa-Lobos hay -tor vee -lah loh -boosh

Titles:

Bachianas Brasileiras bah-kee- yah -nuhsh brah-zee- lehr -uhsh Chôros shoh -roosh

Russian and related

Irina Arkhipova ee- ree -nah ar- khee -po-vah Vladimir Ashkenazy vla- dee -meer ahsh -ken-ah-zee (Anglicized vla -di-meer is also fine) Alexander Borodin bohr -ruh-deen (this is Anglicized; full Russian is bah-rah- deen ) Fyodor Chaliapin shahl- lyah -pin (it's a French spelling, thus ch = sh) Sofia Gubaidulina goo-biy- doo -lee-nah Aram Khachaturian katch-uh- toor -ee-uhn (Anglicized); technically it should be more like khah-chah-toor- yahn ) Evgeny Kissin yev-geh-nee kis -sin Marina Mescheriakova mesh-chehr- yah -ko-va (a more standard transliteration of the Russian would be Meshcheryakova) Modest Mussorgsky mo- dest Sergei Prokofiev sehr-gay pro- kohff -yeff (or somewhat Anglicized pro- kohff -ee-yev) Mstislav Rostropovich mstee- slahff ros-tro- poh -vitch (or Anglicized mist -ih-slahv ) Gennady Rozhdestvensky geh- nah -dee rozh- dyest -ven-skee (rozh-dest- ven -skee is also common) Rodion Shchedrin ruh- dyohn sheh- dreen (shch is really just a longish sh) Dmitri Shostakovich dmee -tree shos-tah- koh -vitch Evgeny Svetlanov yev-geh-nee svet- lahn -off Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky pyoh -tr eel -yich chiy- koff -skee Yuri Temirkanov teh-meer- kahn -off

Title:

Evgeny Onegin yev-geh-nee (or Anglicized "Eugene" ) oh- nyeh -gin

Czech/Slovak

As mentioned above, the names marked below with asterisks are displayed without all their proper diacritics. This amounts to incorrect spelling, a practice which is misleading but unfortunately common in the record industry. The fully correct spellings can be found on a special Central European list.

Antonín Dvorák * dvor -zhahk Rudolf Firkusny * feer -koosh-nee Edita Gruberová eh -dee-tah groo -behr-oh-vah Leos Janácek * lay -ohsh yahn -ah-chek Ernst Krenek * krzhen -ek (or kzhen -ek) Rafael Kubelik koo -be-lik Bohuslav Martinu * boh -hoo-slahv mar -ti-noo Ivan Moravec ee -vahn mor -a-vets Josef Pálenícek * yoh -sef pah -leh-ni-chek Ivan Parík * ee -vahn par -zheek Václav Smetácek * vahts -lahf smeh -ta-chek Bedrich Smetana * bed -rzheekh (or bed -zheekh) smeh -ta-na Karl Stamic (or Stamitz) stah -mits Josef Suk yoh -seff sook (rhymes with "book") Václav Talich vahts -lahf tah -likh Jirí Válek * yeer -zhee vah -lek Jan Krtitel Vanhal * yahn kerzh -tee-tl vahn -hahl Jan Václav Hugo Vorísek * yahn vahts-lahf hoo -goh vor -zhi-shek

Titles:

Taras Bulba tah -rahs bool -bah Jenufa yeh -noo-fah Vltava vuhl -tah-vah Mlady mlah -dih

Polish

As mentioned above, the names marked below with asterisks are displayed without all their proper diacritics. This amounts to incorrect spelling, a practice which is misleading but unfortunately common in the record industry. The fully correct spellings can be found on a special Central European list.

Henryk Górecki hen -rik goo- rets -kee Mieczyslaw Horszowski * myeh -chih-swahff hor- shoff -skee Wanda Landowska vahn -da lahn- doff -ska Witold Lutoslawski * vee -tolt loo-to- swahf -skee Krzysztof Penderecki kzhish -toff pen-der- ets -kee Artur Rodzinski ar -toor ro- jin -skee Henryk Szering hen -rihk shehr -ring Karol Szymanowski shih-ma- noff -skee

Hungarian

György Cziffra jörj tseef -ra Ernst von Dohnányi ehrnst fon dokh -nahn-yee (first name is Germanicized version of Hungarian Ernö) Antál Doráti ahn -tahl doh -rah-tee Ferenc Fricsay feh -rents free -tchoy István Kertész eesht -vahn kehr -tayss Zoltan Kodály zohl -tahn koh -dah-yee György Ligeti jurj lih -geh-tee Miklos Rozsa meek -lohsh roh -zhah György Sándor jurj shahn -dor Georg Solti gay -org shol -tee (Anglicized "George" is also fine ) Jozsef Szigeti yoh -zhef sih -geh-tee Joseph Szigeti yoh -sef (Germanicized version, more common than Jozsef) Takács String Quartet taw -kahtch Sandor Vegh shahn -dor vayg

Title:

Csárdás char -dahsh

Finnish/Estonian

Neeme Järvi nay -muh yehr -vee Robert Kajanus kiy -yah-noos Joonas Kokkonen yoh -nahs koh -ko-nen Olli Mustonen oh -lee moos -toh-nin Arvo Pärt pehrt Einojuhani Rautavaara ay -no-yoo-hah-nee row -ta-vah-ra ("row" rhymes with "now") Aulis Sallinen ow -lis sah -li-nen Essa-Pekka Salonen ess -ah peh -kah sah -luh-nen Jukka-Pekka Saraste yoo -kah peh -kah sah -rah-stay

Titles:

Kalevala kah -leh-vah-lah Lemminkäinen's Return leh -min-kiy-nen (Anglicized); technically should be more like leh -min-kay-ee-nen

British and American (not as easy as you think)

The problem with English is that its spelling is less consistent than any of the other languages treated in this guide. So even if it is your native language, you may not find it obvious how to pronounce the following names. Many of the American names come originally from German, French etc., but have been adapted to American culture, so that following the rules of the original language will lead you astray.

George Antheil ann -tile Cathy Berberian ber- behr -ee-un (American) Lennox Berkeley lehn -ux bark -lee Richard Bonynge bahn -eeng (British) Sir Adrian Boult ay -dree-en bolt Leonard Bernstein "burn" -stine (rhymes with "pine") Jan Degaetani (American) "Jan" dih-giy-uh- tah -nee Frederick Delius dee -lee-us David del Tredici treh -dih-chee John Dowland doh -lund ( dow -lund is also ok) Kathleen Ferrier fehr -ee-ur Roger Goeb (American) "Roger" gayb Alan Hovhaness hoh- vahn -ness Monica Huggett hug -it Maria Jette jet -ee Leon Kirchner kersh -ner (American) Raymond Leppard leh-pard (equal stress on both syllables) James Levine le- vine (rhymes with "vine" and "Bernstein") Nathan Milstein mill -stine (like "Bernstein") Gervase de Payer jehr- vayz duh pay -er (British) Vincent Persichetti per-sih- ket -tee Henry Purcell "purr" -sl (ALWAYS stress the first syllable) George Rochberg rock -brg Frederic Rzewski zheff -skee (pronounced just like Polish) Peter Schikele shi -kul-lee Gunther Schuller (American) gun-ther shoo -ler William Schuman shoo -mn (American; not like "Schumann") Gil Shaham ghil (hard "g") sha- hahm (Israeli origin) Ivan Tcherepnin ee- vahn tcher- rep -nin Bryn Terfel brinn tehr -vl (Welsh) Ralph Vaughan Williams rafe vawn "Williams" Ellen Taafe Zwilich tayf zwil -ik

other languages, mixtures, and idiosyncracies

Here's a sampling of musical names with miscellaneous peculiarities that make proper pronunciation less than obvious:

Thomas Adès a -des (British, though the surname originates in Egypt) Arleen Auger oh- zhay (American "Arleen") Martha Argerich mar -ta ar -ger-isch (she's Argentinian, but pronounced like German) Daniel Barenboim bar -en-boym (NOT "bear" -en-boym) Jorge Bolet "George" bo- lett (Cuban, and conventionally mispronounced) Frantisek Xaver Brixi frahn -ti-shek zah -vehr bree -xee (technically there should be a hacek on the s) Paata Burchuladze pah -tuh bur-khu- lah -dzuh (Georgian) Montserrat Caballe mon-seh- raht kah-bahl- yay (Catalán) Riccardo Chailly shiy- ee Alfred Cortot al-fred cor- toh Cesar Cui say -zar kwee (he's Russian, really) Carl Czerny "chair" -nee Georges Enesco zhorzh eh- nehs -koh (French version of Romanian Enescu) Montserrat Figueras mon-seh- raht fee- gehr -rahs (Catalán) Angela Gheorghiu gay- or -gyoo (Romanian) Emil Gilels ay -meel ghil -elz (hard g) Reinhold Glière riyn -hold glee- ehr (German + French; yet he's actually Russian...) Gothenburg Symphony gah -thin-brg (Anglicized version of Swedish Göteborg) Nikolaus Harnoncourt nih -ko-"louse" ar-non- koor (or Anglicized har -nuhn-koort ) Philippe Herreweghe fil- leep hehr -eh-vay-guh (Belgian = French + Flemish) Jascha Horenstein yah -shuh hor -en-shtiyn René Jacobs reh-nay yah -kobs Antonio Janigro ahn- toh -nyoh yah- nee -groh Kiri te Kanawa kee -ree teh kah -nuh-wuh (the name is Maori, from New Zealand) Orlandus Lassus lahs -oos (Latin version) Roland de Lassus ro- lahn duh lah- sü (French version) Orlando di Lasso (Italian version ; all three are the same person) Zdenek Mácal zdeh -nyek mah -tsahl (hacek on the second e), but he is more widely known by the Americanized version: zdeh -nek muh- kall ) Franck Martin frahnk mar- tan (Swiss, NOT British or American!) Zubin Mehta zoo -bin may -tuh (Indian) Yehudi Menuhin ye- hoo -dee men -yoo-in (Anglicized pronunciation of an Israeli name) Dimitri Mitropoulos mih- troh -poo-los (Greek) Frederic Mompou freh-der- eek mom- poo (Catalán) Charles Munch sharl münsh (or Americanized: "Charles Moonch" ) Václav Neumann vats -lahf noy -mahn (Czech + German) Seiji Ozawa say -jee oh- zah -wah (Japanese) Antonín Rejcha (Anton Reicha) riy -khuh (Czech, but usually spelled and pronounced as German) Sviatoslav Richter sfyah -to-slahv rikh -ter (Russian + German) Jordi Savall jor -dee suh- vahl (Catalán) Alfred Schnittke shnitt -kuh (actually Russian, but a German name) Skip Sempé sehm -pay Jean Sibelius zhahn sih- bay -lyoos (Finnish composer, but first name is French, last is Latin) Jan Sibelius yahn (Swedish version, though Sibelius preferred the French) George Szell sell (Hungarian last name) Mitsuko Uchida mee -ts-koh oo- chee -da (Japanese, with very short voiceless u between consonants) Roger Voisin "Roger" (as in English) vwah- zan Charles-Marie Widor sharl -ma- ree vee- dor Iannis Xenakis yah -nis zeh- nah -kis (Greek) Pinchas Zuckerman peen -kus zoo -ker-mn (Israeli name somewhat Anglicized)

Titles:

Carmina Burana kar- mee -nah boo- rah -nah (Latin) Terpsichore terp- sih -kor-ree (ancient Greek)

Ensemble names

Most of these are just peculiar enough not to fit neatly in any linguistic category.

Capriccio Stravagante kuh- pree -chee-oh strah-vah- gahn -tay Collegium Aureum ko- lay -ghee-oom ow -ree-oom (hard g in "Collegium") Collegium Musicum ko- lay -ghee-oom moo -zee-koom Concentus Musicus Wien kuhn- tsen -tus moo -zee-kus veen (or "of Vienna" instead of "Wien") Ensemble Intercontemporain ahn-sahm-bluh an-tehr-kon-tahm-por- ehn Hespèrion XX hehs- pehr -ee-un "twenty" (or "twenty-one" for their more recent recordings) Sequentia see- quen -tsee-uh Tragicomedia tra-ji-ko- may -dee-uh

top of this page

table of contents