Music History Timeline Project

  • Period: 500 to 1450

    Medieval Period

  • 1030

    Guido of Arezzo's Micrologus

    This document innovated the hexachord system, the four line staff, sharps and naturals, and sight singing syllables.
  • Period: 1098 to 1179

    Hildegard of Bingen

  • 1323

    Ars Nova Treatise

    The important innovations from this are a new note shape, the emergence of dividing meter into triple and duple, and it 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

    This piece set the foundation for the rules of counterpoint, and it is the model and ideal that is used in present-day textbooks.
  • Victoria Missa O magnum mysterium

  • Gabrieli Sonata pian'e forte

    It was one of the first pieces to designate what instrument plays what part. It was 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

    Antonio Vivaldi's L'estro Armonico was published by one of the most prestigious publishers in Europe. It was also one of the more influential publications and increased the popularity of the Italian concerto all through Europe.
  • Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier Volume 1

    It contains 24 preludes and fugues in each major and minor key that demonstrate and show the possibilities of playing in all keys.
  • Rameau's Traité de I'harmonie

    Rameau's Traité de l'harmonie is one of the most influential pieces of theoretical work and it has become the basis for showing functional harmony.
  • 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 director of Concerts des Amateurs, which was one of the best orchestras in Europe. He was more known for his ability with a sword than his music.
  • Mozart's Don Giovanni

  • Haydn's Symphony No. 94 "Surprise"

  • 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

  • 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

  • Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag

  • Jean Sibelius' Finlandia

  • Claude Debussy's Voiles From Préludes Book 1

  • Arnold Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire

  • Igor Stravinsky's Le sacre du Printemps

  • Arnold Schönberg's Piano Suite, Op.25

  • Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than That"

  • George and Ira Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm"

  • Shostakovich Symphony No.5 premiere

  • Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky (film)

  • Duke Ellington's Cottontail

  • Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour le fine du temps

  • Bela Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra

  • Copland Appalachian Spring

  • John Cage's 4’33’’

  • Edward Varese Poeme Electronique

  • Miles Davis Kind of Blue

  • George Crumb's Black Angels

  • John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine