Music History Timeline

By EGraffius
  • Period: 500 to 1450

    Medieval Period

  • 1030

    Guido of Arezzo's Micrologus

    The hexachord system, four line staff, sharps and naturals, sight singing syllables
  • Period: 1098 to 1179

    Hildegard of Bingen

  • 1323

    Ars Nova Treatise

    Laid the groundwork for modern notation, introduced a new note shape (minim), divided units into triple and duple
  • Period: 1450 to

    Renaissance Period

  • 1485

    Josquin’s Ave Maria

  • 1529

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

  • 1538

    Arcadelt Madrigal Il bianco e dolce cigno

  • 1560

    Palestrina Pope Marcellus Mass

    Palestrina dedicated this to the pope. It demonstrated that sacred words could be intelligible in polyphonic music with 6 voices. Credited with saving polyphony

  • Victoria Missa O magnum mysterium

  • Gabrieli Sonata pian’e forte

    One of the first pieces in history to specify what instruments played what parts, also the first piece of music in history to designate dynamics.
  • Period: to

    Baroque Period

  • Monteverdi's L’Orfeo

  • First Public Concerts in England

  • Period: to

    Johann Sebastian Bach

  • Antonio Vivaldi's L’Estro Armonico

    The most influential publication of any music in the early 18th century. It launched the immense popularity of the Italian concerto throughout Europe.

  • Rameau's Traité de l’harmonie

    Most influential of all Theoretical Works. Codified practices of his contemporaries, especially Corelli. Became the basis for teaching functional harmony that is still used today.

  • Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier volume 1

    2 separate publications, each of which has 24 preludes and fugues in each major and minor keys.These demonstrate the possibilities for playing in all keys using an instrument tuned in near-equal temperament.
  • Period: to

    PreClassical Period

  • Period: to

    Franz Joseph Haydn

  • Handel's Messiah

  • Period: to

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

  • Period: to

    Viennese Classical Period

  • Period: to

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

    Financed by private funds. Premiered numerous new works, including unpublished music. One of the finest orchestras in Europe.

  • Mozart's Don Giovanni

  • Haydn's Symphony No. 94 "Surprise"

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

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

  • Schubert Erlkönig (composition date)

  • Nicolo Paganini 24 Caprices for Violin, op.1 (complete first publication)

  • 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

  • Musorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition (original piano version)

  • Bizet Carmen (premiere date)

  • Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen (premiere of complete cycle)

  • Brahms' Symphony No.4 (premiere)

  • Mahler Symphony No.1 (premiere)

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

  • Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag (published)

  • Jean Sibelius' Finlandia (premiere)

  • Claude Debussy's Voiles” from Préludes Book 1

  • Arnold Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire

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

  • Arnold Schönberg's Piano Suite, Op.25

  • Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than That"

  • Duke Ellington's Cottontail

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

  • Shostakovich Symphony No.5 premiere

  • Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky (film)

  • Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour le fine du temps

  • Bela Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra

  • Copland Appalachian Spring

  • John Cage's 4’33’’

  • Period: to

    Edward Varese Poeme Electronique

  • Miles Davis Kind of Blue

  • George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children

  • John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine