Editing Composer (section)

==Etymology and definition==
{{see also|Lists of composers}}

The term is descended from [[Latin]], [[wikt:compono|''compōnō'']]; literally "one who puts together".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=compose (v.) |encyclopedia=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/compose |access-date=4 April 2022 }}</ref> The earliest use of the term in a musical context given by the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' is from [[Thomas Morley]]'s 1597 ''A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music'', where he says "Some wil {{sic}} be good descanters [...] and yet wil be but bad composers".{{sfn|''OED'': composer|loc=3.}}

"Composer" is a loose term that generally refers to any person who writes music.{{sfn|''OED'': composer|loc=3.}} More specifically, it is often used to denote people who are composers by occupation,<ref name="NOAD">{{Cite encyclopedia |editor-last1=Stevenson |editor-first1=Angus |editor-last2=Lindberg |editor-first2=Christine A. |year=2015 |orig-year=2010 |title=Composer |encyclopedia=New Oxford American Dictionary |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195392883.001.0001/m_en_us1234993 |access-date=4 April 2022 |isbn=978-0-19-539288-3 }}</ref> or those who work in the tradition of [[Western classical music]].<ref name="Collins">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Composer |encyclopedia=[[Collins English Dictionary]] |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/composer |access-date=19 January 2021 }}</ref> Writers of exclusively or primarily [[song]]s may be called composers, but since the 20th century the terms '[[songwriter]]' or '[[singer-songwriter]]' are more often used, particularly in [[popular music]] genres.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Root |first=Deane L. |year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Songwriter |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.26215 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000026215 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}</ref> In other contexts, the term 'composer' can refer to a literary writer,{{sfn|''OED'': composer|loc=2.}} or more rarely and generally, someone who combines pieces into a whole.{{sfn|''OED'': composer|loc=1.}}

Across cultures and traditions composers may write and transmit music in a variety of ways. In much popular music, the composer writes a [[Musical composition|composition]], and it is then transmitted via [[oral tradition]]. Conversely, in some Western classical traditions music may be composed aurally—i.e. "in the mind of the musician"—and subsequently written and passed through [[Sheet music|written documents]].{{sfn|Nettl|1983|p=192}}