Music History Timeline

By rebeccasmith.08
  • Period: 500 to 1450

    Medieval Period

  • 1030

    Guido of Arezzo's Micrologus

    The innovation in this document consists of the hexachord system, 4-line staff, relative pitch, sight-singing syllables, Round B flat, and the square b natural.
  • Period: 1098 to 1179

    Hildegard of Bingen

  • 1323

    Ars Nova Treatise

    The important innovation in the Ars Nova Treatise was a new note shape (minim), divided unit into triple and duple, and laid the groundwork for modern notation.
  • Period: 1450 to

    Renaissance Period

  • 1485

    Josquin’s Ave Maria ... virgo serena Motet

  • 1529

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

  • 1538

    Arcadelt Madrigal Il bianco e dolce cigno

  • 1567

    Palestrina Pope Marcellus Mass

    Pope Marcellus Mass became a model for present-day textbooks on counterpoint and defines the Palestrina's style.

  • Victoria Missa O magnum mysterium

  • Gabrieli Sonata pian’e forte

    The pian'e forte is one of the first pieces in music to specify what particular instruments played what parts, also the first piece to designate loud and soft 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

    Antonio Vivaldi's L’estro Armonico was published by the most prestigious publisher in Europe. L'estro Armonico was also the more influential publication in the early 18th century and launched the popularity of the Italian concerto throughout Europe.

  • Rameau's Traité de l’harmonie

    Rameau's Traité de l’harmonie is the most influential of all theoretical works and it has become the basis for teaching functional harmony.

  • Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier volume 1

    Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier volume 1 contains 24 preludes and fugues in each major and minor key which demonstrates the possibilities for playing in all keys.
  • 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 Amateur

    Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges was the music director of Concerts des Amateurs which was referred to as one of the finest orchestras in Europe. Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges was more known for his swordsmanship than his music.

  • Mozart's Don Giovanni

  • Haydn's Symphony No. 94 "Surprise"

  • Period: to

    Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor

  • Schubert Erlkönig

  • Nicolo Paganini 24 Caprices for Violin, op.1

  • Berlioz Symphonie fantastique

  • Period: to

    Frederic Chopin Mazurkas Op.7

  • Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel Das Jahr

  • Period: to

    Louis Moreau Gottschalk Souvenir de Porto Rico

  • Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

  • Bizet Carmen

  • Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen

  • Brahms' Symphony No.4

  • Mahler Symphony No.1

  • 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 from Book 1

  • Arnold Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire

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

  • Arnold Schönberg's Piano Suite, Op.25

  • Duke Ellington's Cottontail

  • Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than That"

  • 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