Which musicians have been the biggest innovators?

Answer 1

Some of the composers mentioned in the previous answer are excellent. I would add Berlioz for his orchestral scoring advances. Then Wagner who took opera to new places, especially in Tristan. The whole opera is about 4 1/2 hours and never establishes a key. Tonality was further expanded by Mahler and Schonberg. Stravinsky brought on the 20th century with his first three ballets.Schonberg's 12 tone system tried to end tonality altogether. Inthe early 20th century there were composers using different types of scales and chords., whole tone scales and chords using intervals other than the third. That century was a real free for all. After world war 2 came composers using aleatoric or chance in writing, John Cage and others. Then quarter tones came in the late 1950's and 60s along with the end of measures using blocks of seconds,Penderecki,Ligeti, Nono. After that came the minimalists, John Adams, Philip Glass etc.

Music has been evolving since it began around 500 AD and continues on today.

Answer 2

I think the biggest innovators in music history are the ones who really changed things up in the music world. When we think back to the time periods of music history- Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic, etc. People were the ones who ushered in a new era. Bach made the Baroque era, Mozart made the classical era, Beethoven made the transition from Classical to Romantic. Debussy made the Impressionistic era what is was. So many other have come before and after these examples, but that's who I believe were some of the biggest musical innovators!