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500
Medeival Music Era
The Medieval Period of music is the period from the years c.500 to 1400. It is the longest “period” of music and runs right through from around the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance. Gregorian chant, consisting of a single line of vocal melody, unaccompanied in free rhythm was one of the most common forms of medieval music. Composers from this era are Stephen of Liège, Hildegard of Bingen, and Peter Abelard -
1400
Renaissance Music Period
The Renaissance was a time for 'rebirth', 'revival'. Music was influenced greatly by the Pope and the Church, the architecture of the buildings influenced the sounds of music.
The rise of humanistic thought; the recovery of the literary and artistic heritage of ancient Greece and Rome; increased innovation and discovery; the growth of commercial enterprise all had impacts on the art and music. Popular composers are Palestrina, Tallis, Victoria, and Dowland -
Baroque Music Period
The baroque period saw the creation of functional tonality. During the period, composers and performers used more elaborate musical ornamentation, made changes in musical notation, and developed new instrumental playing techniques. Baroque music expanded the size, range, and complexity of instrumental performance, and also established opera as a musical genre. Many musical terms and concepts from this era are still in use today. The "Composer of the Era" goes to J.S Bach -
Classical Music Period
Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music and is less complex. It is mainly homophonic — melody above chordal accompaniment (but counterpoint is by no means forgotten, especially later in the period).
Composers: Mozart and Beethoven -
Romantic Music Period
Romantic music attempted to increase emotional expression and power to describe deeper truths or human feelings, while preserving but in many cases extending the formal structures from the classical period. The subject matter in the new music was now not only purely abstract, but also frequently drawn from other art-form sources such as literature, or history (historical figures) or nature itself.
Composers to listen to are: Schubert, Schumann -
20th Century Music Period
This is the period of 'isms'. The period can be divded into different styles or genres. Late Romantic, Neoclassicism, Jazz-influence. Art and music movements dominated the scene... Impressionism, Modernism, Expressionalism, Minimalism, Surrealism and more. Listen to sounds from Mahler and Strauss to Debussy and then to Stravinsky, Schoenberg and more.