History of Music Timeline

By ShrömSquanch
  • Period: 500 to 1450

    Medieval Period

  • 1030

    Guido of Arezzo’s Micrologus

    Guido of Arezzo’s Micrologus allowed for the development of a 4-line staff, relative pitch, and the use of sight singing.
  • Period: 1098 to 1179

    Hildegard of Bingen

  • 1323

    Ars Nova Treatise

    Ars Nova had replaced Ars Antiqua, allowing for a reformation to be made to music notation. This treatise set the groundwork for what we use in modern notation.
  • Period: 1450 to

    Renaissance Period

  • 1485

    Josquin’s Ave Maria ... Virgo serena Motet

  • 1529

    Martin Luther Chorale Ein feste burg ist unser Gott

  • 1538

    Arcadelt Madrigal Il bianco e dolce cigno

  • 1567

    Palestrina’s Pope Marcellus Mass

    It was an example of Palestrina’s style featuring Counterpoint, and was used as a model for generations afterwards. It was also created to demonstrate that sacred words can be understood within the polyphonic texture of 6 voices.
  • 1572

    Victoria Missa O magnum mysterium

  • Gabrieli’s Sonata pian’e forte

    It was created at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy. It’s two fold importance would be how it was the first piece to display dynamics and it was also the first piece to indicate what instrument plays on what voice line.
  • Period: to

    Baroque Period

  • Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo

  • First Public Concerts in England

  • Period: to

    JS Bach

  • Antonio Vivaldi's L'Estro Armonico

    It has an expanded and interesting harmony that heavily stood out, especially as its' title means "The Harmonic Inspiration."

  • Rameau's Traité De l’Harmonie

    It was the most influential of all theoretical works as it became the basis for teaching functional harmony.

  • Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier volume 1

    It proved that Bach's tuning allowed for each of the twelve major and minor scales could be played on the keyboard, allowed for students to learn and use each of the scales.
  • Period: to

    Franz Joseph Haydn

  • Period: to

    WA Mozart

  • Period: to

    Viennese Classical Period

  • Period: to

    Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges as director of Concerts des Amateurs

    One of the finest orchestras in Europe being led by Le Mozart Noir, or the Black Mozart. He was one of France’s best composers, conductors, and violinists.

  • Mozart's Don Giovanni

  • Haydn's Symphony No. 94 "Surprise"

  • Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor

  • Schubert Erlkönig

  • Nicolo Paganini 24 Caprices for Violin, op.1

  • Period: to

    Frederic Chopin Mazurkas Op.7

  • Berlioz Symphonie fantastique

  • Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel Das Jahr

  • Louis Moreau Gottschalk Souvenir de Porto Rico

    “The March of the Peasants”, written about the farmers within the inner parts of Puerto Rico with inspiration from the wandering bands’ Christmas songs.

  • Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

  • Bizet Carmen

  • Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen

  • Brahms' Symphony No.4

  • Mahler Symphony No.1

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

  • Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag

  • Jean Sibelius' Finlandia

  • Claude Debussy's Voiles” from Préludes Book 1

    The whole-tone scale and the break of uniformity was Debussy's Niche, and had given the piece a mysterious but eerie sort of feeling, with a loud and faster break inbetween the mystery.

  • Arnold Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire

    Schonberg had written this piece with a focus towards the test to allow for the atonality and sprechstimme to speak for itself and allow for his story to be relayed properly.

  • Igor Stravinsky's Le sacre du Printemps

  • Arnold Schönberg's Piano Suite, Op.25

    This piece had the Second Viennese School's edition of the 12 tone system which did not put emphasis on any specific note but rather ensured the 12 chromatic notes were all equally played.

  • Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than That"

    I believe Armstrong had introduced Scat Singing in this piece, which sets syllables to an improvised line.

  • George and Ira Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm"

  • Shostakovich Symphony No.5 premiere

    It attempted to conform to the soviet symphonic style to represent a hero’s journey.

  • Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky (film)

    Propaganda to rally the Russians to fight for their home,

  • Duke Ellington's Cottontail

    It brought new approaches to writing music that highlight other members of the band as well as show the importance of improvisation.

  • Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour le fine du temps

    Uses bird noises to create a sense of freedom in a piece that is designed to feel endless due to the rhythmic qualities.

  • Copland Appalachian Spring

    Captured the idea of the American dream, with people believing in prosperity where people could be United.

  • Bela Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra

    Bartok wrote this piece with a soloistic mindscape, allowing for emphasis upon individual instruments in the orchestra, all while being influenced by Hungarian Folk Music

  • John Cage's 4’33’’

    Proved to the world that any auditory experience can be considered music.

  • Edward Varese Poeme Electronique

    Varese composed it to be a liberation of sounds using non musical noise throughout.

  • Miles Davis Kind of Blue

    It popularized a new approach to improvisation.

  • George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children

    It had bizarre voice effects along with other experimental sounds and instruments to give a creepy yet virtuosic sense to poems by Federico Garcia Lorca

  • John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine

    A minimalist piece designed to evoke the emotion of riding in a sports car, though you wish you had not gotten in the car. It used repetition, steady beats, and harmonic language to evoke these emotions.