Clustering of composers

Famous composers have been remarkably clustering in certain cities throughout history. Based on over 12'000 prominent composers that are listed in Grove Music Online and using word count measurement techniques the most important cities for classical music can be quantitatively identified.
Paris has been the main hub for classical music of all times. It was ranked fifth in the 15th and 16th centuries but first in the 17th to 20th centuries inclusive. London was the second most meaningful city: eight in the 15th century, seventh in
the 16th, fifth in the 17th, second in the 18th and 19th centuries, and
fourth in the 20th century. Rome topped the rankings in the 15th century, dropped to second in the 16th
and 17th centuries, eight in the 18th century, ninth in the 19th century but
back at sixth in the 20th century. Berlin appears in the top ten ranking only in the 18th century, and was
ranked third most important city in both the 19th and 20th centuries. New York entered the rankings in the 19th century (at fifth place) and stood
at second rank in the 20th century.
The patterns are very similar for a sample of 522 top composers.

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