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Period: 500 to 1450
Medieval Period
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1030
Guido of Arezzo's Micrologus
This document was a guide for singers that created ideas such as the 4-line staff, relative pitch with intervals, scales, and modes, and was used to teach people how to sight sing. -
Period: 1098 to 1179
Hildegard of Bingen
A famous nun composer who wrote her own music. She has 69 large musical composition that set her music apart from the rest of the music at the time due to her large melodic ranges, divine harmonies, and more lyrical foundation compared to gregorian chant. Most famous work: Ordo virtutum. -
1323
Ars Nova Treatise
This Treatise, written by Philippe de Vitry, shows the innovations in rhythmic notations of new music. -
Period: 1450 to
Renaissance Period
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1485
Josquin’s Ave Maria ... virgo serena Motet
Often called the Mona Lisa of Renaissance Music. Text refers to the five feasts of the virgin or the stations in the life of Mary from Conception through Assumption. The text contains 7 sections. -
1529
Martin Luther Chorale Ein feste burg (A Mighty Fortress..)
Anthem hymn for the Reformation. It is based off of Psalm 46 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." -
1538
Arcadelt Madrigal Il bianco e dolce cigno
One of the most performed early madrigals with points of imitation and harmony. -
1567
Palestrina Pope Marcellus Mass
This mass became a model for generations to come and is used to to show counterpoint. It has stepwise melodic motion. Dissonances are only allowed in a stepwise motion before being resolved on strong beats during a suspension. Also, most leaps are followed by stepwise motion in the opposite direction, resulting in the Palestrina Arch. -
Victoria Missa O magnum mysterium
A parody mass of his earlier composed motet "O magnum mysterium" in 1572. -
Gabrieli Sonata pian’e forte
Gabrieli was the main composer for St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. He composed the Sonata Pian'e Forte. It was the first piece with dynamics written and notated in the music. It was also the first piece to show what instruments would play what voice part (line). -
Period: to
Baroque Period
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Monteverdi's L'Orfeo
It was the first opera to enter standard repertory. The librettist was Alessandro Striggio. -
First Public Concerts
England -
Period: to
J.S. Bach
He wrote about 500 Lutheran church cantatas and several motets, as well as five Passions and other sacred works. His music is a prime example of Baroque musical style. -
Antonio Vivaldi's L'Estro Armonico
L'Estro Armonico is a set of 12 concertos. This was the first collection of concerti to be published with a title. It is also part of the concerto a 7 format where in each concerto there are 7 independent parts. -
Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier Vol. 1
This was one of the most important collection of pieces of music. It was made to make sure that all instruments can play along with each other. It created a single mathematical key to tune to. In order to do this, the 3rd and 6th intervals were tuned, causing the perfect intervals to be out of tune. -
Rameau's Traité de l’harmonie
This treatise codified practices of his contemporaries. It defined the root of the chord and recognized their inversions and established the triad and 7th chord as primal dominance in basic music theory. It also was the first to establish the use of the tonic, dominant, and subdominant chords as the primary chords of harmony. It stated that V7 to I was the strongest progression in tonal music. Finally, it established a fundamental baseline of the theory that we use today. -
Period: to
Franz Joseph Haydn
Haydn was a self-taught musician and composer that worked at Esterhaza Palace. He wrote ca.106 Symphonies, 68 String Quartets, 47 Piano sonatas, 26 Operas, 4 Oratorios, and ca.35 Concerti. -
Period: to
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges as director of Concerts des Amateurs
The Concerts des Amateurs was one of the finest orchestras in Europe.The group was filled with only virtuoso musicians. It was led by one of France's best composer, conductor, and violinist: Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges. He was known as Le Mozart Noir. -
Handel's Messiah
It was like an opera for a stage concert. It premiered in Dublin in 1742 but was not successful until it reached London in 1750. -
Period: to
W.A. Mozart
Mozart was a child prodigy who composed over 600 compositions. He learned the international style by traveling and playing for nobility. -
Period: to
Viennese Classical Period
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Mozart's Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an Italian dramma giocoso opera based on the story of Don Juan. The libresttist is Lorenzo Da Ponte. -
Haydn's Symphony No. 94 "Surprise"
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Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor
Premiered at Theater an der Wien in Vienna along with Symphony No.6 “pastoral” and Piano concerto No. 4 -
Schubert Erlkönig
composition date -
Nicolo Paganini 24 Caprices for Violin, op.1
First published -
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
composition date -
Period: to
Frederic Chopin Mazurkas Op.7
composition date range -
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel Das Jahr
composition date -
Period: to
Louis Moreau Gottschalk Souvenir de Porto Rico
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Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
original piano version -
Bizet Carmen
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Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen Premiere
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Brahms' Symphony No.4
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Mahler Symphony No.1
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Dvorak Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"
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Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag (published)
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Jean Sibelius' Finlandia (premiere)
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Claude Debussy's Voiles” from Préludes Book 1
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Arnold Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire
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Igor Stravinsky's Le sacre du Printemps (premiere)
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Arnold Schönberg's Piano Suite, Op.25
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Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than That"
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George and Ira Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" (published)
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Shostakovich Symphony No.5 premiere
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Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky
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Duke Ellington's Cottontail
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Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour le fine du temps
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Bela Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra
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Copland Appalachian Spring
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John Cage's 4’33’’
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Period: to
Edward Varese Poeme Electronique
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Miles Davis Kind of Blue
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George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children
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John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine