History of Music I & 2: Timeline Project

By Barasoain
  • Period: 500 to 1450

    Medieval Period

    The Medieval Period introduced music notation for the very first time.
  • 1030

    Guido of Arezzo's "Micrologus"

    Guido of Arezzo, who invented Solmization and the Hexachord System, wrote his book "Micrologus" to teach about the 4-line staff, relative pitch, and sight singing.
  • Period: 1098 to 1179

    Hildegard of Bingen

    The first prominent female composer in known existence.
  • 1323

    Ars Nova Treatise

    The Ars Nova Treatise, written by Phillipe de Vitry, includes innovations in musical rhythms and notation. This would become the basis for modern music notation we use to this day.
  • Period: 1450 to

    Renaissance Period

  • 1485

    Josquin de Prez's "Ave Maria... virgo serena"

  • 1529

    Martin Luther's Chorale "Ein feste burg (A Mighty Fortress..)"

  • 1538

    Arcadelt's Madrigal: "Il bianco e dolce cigno"

  • 1567

    Palestrina's "Pope Marcellus Mass"

    This compositional piece would go on to be the standard for counterpoint.
  • 1572

    Victoria's Missa O magnum mysterium

  • Gabrieli's "Sonata pian'e forte"

    First, Gabrieli's wrote that "pian" (piano) was soft and "forte" was loud within his compositions. He also had dedicated lines for each instrument to read within the composition.

  • Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor (premiere date)

    This is the estimated time when Beethoven 5th symphony was first performed, which would go on to be his most iconic piece of work.

  • Schubert Erlkönig (composition date)

    This horrifying poem converted master composition for a solo vocalist was created by Franz Schubert. Schubert perfectly capture different emotions such as confusion, terror, and even an eerily version of happiness, which was uncommon to do at the time.

  • Nicolo Pagini's 24 Caprices Publication Date

    Pagini, the violin virtuoso that was rumored to be in league with the Devil himself, is known as one of the best violinists in recorded history, mainly for his technical prowess that was unmatched during his peak. These 24 caprices display his unique compositional style and prestigious skill level.

  • Frederic Chopin Mazurkas Op.7 (composition date range) (1829-44)

    Chopin to this day is considered one of the greatest piano performers and composers. His unique melodic ideas and high difficulty compositions are one of a kind and represent the limits of what even the best pianists can play.

  • Berlioz Symphonie fantastique (composition date)

    This was the radically original composer Hector Berlioz's most recognizable piece he composed. It was one of the first "programmatic", or chronologically based compositions, to exist. This was done by telling the story of Hamlet through the music itself.

  • Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel Das Jahr (composition date)

    The sister to Felix Mendelssohn, she composed this piece through the inspiration of the 12 months of the year.

  • Louis Moreau Gottschalk Souvenir de Porto Rico (composition date) (1857-58)

    Gottschalk was one of the first American born, specifically from New Orleans, composers to have his music to become popularized across the globe. "Souvenir de Porto Rico" in particular was an iconic celebratory dance-like piece that was adored by both young partiers and distinguished pianists for its technical yet jubilant feel.

  • Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

  • Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition (original piano version)

  • Bizet Carmen (premiere date)

    One of the most iconic opera pieces to this day, this piece by Georges Bizet was based on a novel Prosper Mérimée

  • Bizet Carmen (premiere date)

  • Wagner "Der Ring des Nibelungen" 1876

    Wagner's complete concert cycle of four music dramas was premiered this year

  • Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen

    In this premier, Wagner's piece had 4 cycles of music. This included Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold), Die Walküre, (The Valkyrie), Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods).

  • Brahms' Symphony No.4 (premiere)

    With 30 themes and variations, this piece was the pinnacle of modern composition at its time, showing off his prestige in a variety of styles.

  • Brahms' Symphony No.4 (premiere)

    With 30 variations, this piece written in E minor used a ternary form with each variation including a developing variation titled Schonberg.

  • Mahler Symphony No.1 (premiere)

  • Mahler Symphony No.1 (premiere)

    Known as the symphony of the end of the century, this created the story of a funeral march of a hunter, presented by animals he intended to hunt.

  • Dvorak Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"

  • Dvorak Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"

    This composition was inspired by sounds from America while working as the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America from 1892 to 1895.

  • Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag (published)

    One of the most iconic pieces by the King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin

  • Jean Sibelius' Finlandia (premiere)

    This piece paid homage to his home country, and after premiering at the Helsinki Philharmonic Society, it would go on to be his most famous piece.

  • Claude Debussy's Voiles” from Préludes Book 1

    A set of 12 pieces for solo piano, arguably some of his most popular works.

  • Arnold Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire

    The first popular piece to use 12 tone harmony and the "Sprechstimme" vocal style, it began the uproar of a new kind of new music that would be called "Radical Modernism".

  • Igor Stravinsky's Le sacre du Printemps (premiere)

    This piece was the pinnacle of the emerging music subgenre "Neo-Classicism".

  • Arnold Schönberg's Piano Suite, Op.25

    One of Schönberg's most iconic pieces, it was in direct relation of the more experimental approach that Picasso used in his art (they were inspired by each other). This would arguably create some of the most expressive music to date at the time.

  • Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than That"

    This piece by Louis Armstrong began than transcension of jazz into mainstream media as became popular not only in clubs and bars, but on the radio as well.

  • George and Ira Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" (published)

    This piece would become the foundation for most standards in early jazz.

  • Shostakovich Symphony No.5 premiere

  • Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky (film)

  • Duke Ellington's Cottontail

    One of the first of Ellington's many iconic piece

  • Olivier Messiaen's "Quatuor pour le fine du temps"

  • Bela Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra

    With the help of Serge Koussevitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony, they commissioned this piece in honor of his deceased wife. By creating the fusion of "high end" music with "peasant music", using experimental harmonies liker quarter harmonies, and even palindromes in music, he created one of the most innovated yet still accessible pieces of music of the 20th century.

  • Copland Appalachian Spring

  • John Cage's 4’33’’

    An experimental piece that pushed the boundaries of what constituted as music.

  • Edward Varese Poeme Electronique

    Written for the 1958 Phillips Pavillion at the Brussells' World Fair.

  • Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue"

    The album that would go on to popularize modal jazz.

  • George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children

  • John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine