Timeline 5: Post-Romanticism (1890-1930)

  • Period: to

    Gustav Mahler

    Mahler was an Austrian composer and conductor who made important expansions to symphonies composing in a maximalist style.
  • Period: to

    Claude Debussy

    Debussy was a French impressionist credited with composing the first modern orchestral work. He led the impressionist style using non-western scales and a general sense of vagueness in his compositions.
  • Period: to

    Richard Strauss

    Strauss was a German composer known for his use of chromaticism and maximalist style in the post-romantic era. His famous works include his operas, such as Elektra (1903), and his tone poems, Don Juan (1889) for example.
  • Period: to

    Arnold Schoenberg

    Schoenberg was an Austrian-American composer who heavily influenced the expressionist movement and invented the 12-Tone Method. His most notable works include Five Orchestral Pieces, Op. 16 (1909), and opera Moses und Aron (1930).
  • Period: to

    Maurice Ravel

    Ravel was a French impressionist composer credited with composing the first impressionist piano piece. His best-known work is his orchestral piece Belero (1928).
  • Period: to

    Igor Stravinsky

    Stravinsky was a prolific Russian composer known for his many styles and use of complex rhythm, dissonance, and colorful instrumentation. His most well-known piece is The Rite of Spring (1913).
  • Period: to

    Impressionism

    French
    Led by Debussy, musical impressionism can be characterized by having a general sense of vagueness. In practice, composers used unresolved 7ths, 9ths, and dissonances as well as parallel movement. Instrumental tone and color gained importance.
  • Period: to

    Maximalism

    German-speaking areas
    Led by Strauss and Mahler, maximalism can be characterized by extreme chromaticism, extreme use of themes and motivic complexity, thick textures, and large ensembles sizes.
  • Period: to

    The Post Romantic Era: Musical stylistic traits

    In the Post-Romantic era, odd orchestration or extreme ensembles sizes were common. Harmonically, expectations for resolutions weren't always met leaving dissonances intentionally unresolved along with the use of non-western scales, polyrhythms, and polytonality. Vague tempo, meter, and harmony are common in this period as well.
  • Invention of the Air Conditioner

    Invention of the Air Conditioner
    Willis Carrier
  • Invention of the Airplane

    Invention of the Airplane
    Orville and Wilbur Wright
  • Period: to

    Expressionism

    German-speaking areas
    Led by Schoenberg, expressionism focused on freeing music from tonality (atonality) and chord progression rules.
  • The Rite of Spring

    The Rite of Spring
    Ballet composed by Igor Stravinsky
  • Period: to

    World War I

    The war between the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey) and the Allies (France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States)
  • Le Tombeau de Couperin

    Le Tombeau de Couperin
    Maurice Ravel
  • 12-Tone Method

    12-Tone Method
    The 12-Tone Method was developed by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg.