Music History Timeline

Middle Ages

Period: 400 to Jan 1, 1450

Fall of the Roman Empire

476

Hildegard of Bingen (1089-1179)

Feb 1, 1098

• Ordo Virtutum (1151)
• Alleluia, O virga mediatrix (Late 12th century)
• Scivias (1152)

Adam de la Halle (1245-1288)

Jan 1, 1245

• De ma dame vient (1270)
• J'os bien a m'amie parler (1270)
• Le jeu de Robin et de Marion (1280)

Marco Polo Travels to China

Nov 28, 1271

Guillaume De Machaut (1300-1377)

Jan 1, 1300

• Messe de Notre Dame (1360s)
• En amer a douce vie (before 1342)
• Dame, de qui toute ma joie (before 1342)

Black Death strikes in Europe

Nov 28, 1348

Josquin Des Prez (1450-1521)

Jan 1, 1450

• Virgo salutiferi (1504-1505)
• Miserere mei Deus (1503)
• Ma fin est mon commencement (mid-14th century)

Renaissance Period

Period: Jan 1, 1450 to Jan 1, 1600

Gutenberg Bible Printed

Nov 28, 1455

Columbus discoveres the New World

Nov 28, 1492

Thomas Tallis (1510-1585)

Jan 1, 1510

• Gaude gloriosa Dei mater P. 123 (1540)
• Absterge Domine, P. 180 (1575)
• Candidi facti sunt Nazarei P. 186 (1575)

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)

Jan 1, 1525

• Gloria, from pope Marcellus Mass (1567)
• Missa Aeterna Christi munera (1590)
• Missa Tu es pastor ovium (1585)

Council of Trent Begins

Nov 28, 1545

Baroque Period

Period: Jan 1, 1600 to Jan 1, 1750

Shakespeare's Hamlet Produced

Nov 28, 1602

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Jan 1, 1678

• The Four Seasons (1723)
• Orlando furioso (1727)
• Stabat Mater (1712)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Jan 1, 1685

• Toccata and Fugue in D minor (1703-1707)
• Mass in B Minor (1749)
• Brandenburg Concertos (1721)

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Sep 1, 1685

• Messiah (1742)
• Almira (1705)
• Ezio (1732)

Reign of Louis XV Begins

Nov 28, 1715

George Washington Born

Nov 28, 1732

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Nov 29, 1732

• Symphony No. 61 in D major (1776)
• Il mondo della luna (1777)
• Armida (1783)

Classical Period

Period: Jan 1, 1750 to Jan 1, 1825

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Jan 1, 1756

• Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1787)
• Le Nozze di Figaro (1786)
• Die Zauberflote (1791)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Jan 1, 1770

• Symphony No. 5 (1804-1808)
• Symphony No. 9 (1817-1824)
• Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor “Moonlight”

(1801)

American Revolution

Nov 28, 1775

French Revolution

Nov 28, 1789

Napoleon Crowned Emperor of France

Nov 28, 1804

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Jan 1, 1813

• Die Walküre (1870)
• Das Rheingold (1869)
• Siegfried (1876)

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

Jan 1, 1813

• La traviata (1853)
• Otello (1887)
• Rigoletto (1851)

Romantic Period

Period: Jan 1, 1820 to Jan 1, 1900

Charles Darwin's Origin of Species Published

Nov 28, 1859

American Civil War Begins

Nov 28, 1861

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Jan 1, 1862

• Suite bergamasque (1890)
• Deux arabesques (1888-1891)
• Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)

Thomas Edison Invents the Cylinder Phonograph

Nov 28, 1877

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Jan 1, 1882

• The Rite of Spring (1913)
• The Firebird (1910)
• The Nightingale (1914)

The Twentieth Century and Beyond

Period: Jan 1, 1900 to Jan 1, 2016

World War I Begins

Jul 28, 1914

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

Jan 1, 1918

• New York, New York (1944)
• I Feel Pretty (1957)
• Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1941-1942)

John Williams (b.1932-Present)

Jan 1, 1932

• The Imperial March (1980)
• Duel of the Fates (1999)
• The Tale of Viktor Navorski (2004)

First Nuclear WeaponTested

Jul 16, 1945

Soviet Union Disolves

Dec 26, 1991