Music History I Summer Semester 2020

  • Period: 500 to 1400

    Medieval Period

  • 1030

    Guido of Arezzo's "Micrologus" written

    This work included the four-line staff for the first time. It also made use of relative pitch, sight-singing syllables, and the distinguishing between flat and natural pitches. These changes would be vital in following works.
  • Period: 1098 to 1179

    Hildegard of Bingen

  • 1323

    Ars Nova Treatise

  • Period: 1450 to

    Renaissance Period

  • 1485

    Josquin des Prez writes Ave Maria

  • 1529

    Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" written

  • 1538

    Arcadelt's "Il bianco e dolce cigno" written

  • 1562

    Palestrina's "Pope Marcellus Mass" written and published

    This work was pivotal to the concept of polyphony. Palestrina was credited with "saving polyphony from the Council of Trent". Basically, Palestrina proved that sacred music could be easily interpreted, even with several voices and in a polyphonic approach.
  • 1572

    Tomas Luis de Victoria's "O Magnum Mysterium" motet written

  • Gabrieli's "Sonata Pian e Forte" written

    Gabrieli was one of the world's first instrumental composers who wrote specifically instrumental music. "Sonate Pian e Forte" was written for St. Mark's church, and was to be played primarily on cornettos and sackbuts. (ancient trumpets and trombones)
  • Period: to

    Baroque Period

  • Montiverdi's "L'Orfeo" written

  • Period: to

    First public concerts begin in England

    The powerpoint slide listed this as "1670's", so this is my approximation of that time period.
  • Period: to

    Johann Sebastian Bach

  • Antonio Vivaldi's "L'estro Armonico" written

    This work is credited with launching the massive popularity of the concerto and chamber music from 1711 forward.
  • Rameau's "Traite de l'harmonie" written

    This was considered the most influential of all Baroque works from a theoretical standpoint.
  • Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier" written

    This book demonstrated a new technique that allowed one to play in all possible keys instead of having to re-tune one's instrument every time they wanted to play in a different key. This was a first in the musical world.
  • Period: to

    Preclassical Period

  • Period: to

    Franz Joseph Haydn

  • Handel's "Messiah" written

    This was completed in 1741 and first performed in 1742, just for clarification.
  • Period: to

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

  • Period: to

    Viennese Classical Period

  • Period: to

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

    This was a pinnacle moment in orchestral history. De Saint-Georges led one of the world's first modern orchestras at this time.
  • Mozart's "Don Giovanni" written

  • "Surprise" symphony debuts in London

  • Beethoven's Fifth Premiered

  • Shubert's Der Erlkonig composed

  • Paganini's 24 Caprices Published

  • Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique composed

  • Period: to

    Chopin's Mazurkas composed

  • Fanny Mendelssohn's Das Jahr composed

  • Gottschalk's Souvenir de Porto Rico

  • Pictures at an Exhibition composed (original piano version)

  • Bizet's Carmen premiered

  • Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" premiered as a full cycle

  • Brahms 4 premiered

  • Mahler 1 premiered

  • Dvorak New World Symphony composed

  • Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" published

  • Sibelius' "Finlandia" premiered

  • Debussy's "Voiles" from preludes book 1 written

  • Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" written

  • Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du Printemps" from "The Rite of Spring" premiered

  • Schoenberg's Piano Suite premiered

  • Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than That" written

  • Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" published

  • Shostakovich 5 premiered

  • Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky" premiered

  • Duke Ellington's "Cottontail" composed

  • Oliver Messiaen's "Quartet for the end of Time" premiered

  • Copland's "Appalachian Spring" premiered

  • Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra" premiered

  • John Cage's "4'33" written

  • Varese's "Poeme Electronique" produced

  • Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" released

  • George Crumb's "Black Angels" composed

  • John Adams' "Short Ride in a Fast Machine" premiered