Stylistic Timeline of Music History
05/07/2006 10:50 PM
Stylistic Timeline of Music History
See the Classical Music Timeline Poster
The timeline below may be of assistance in focusing on the study of music history. For an excellent and
brief essay on the history of music, see Western Music - A Short History by James L. Zychowicz
published online at the Classical Music Pages. You might also be interested in this lovely poster showing
the history of classical music .
Music of Ancient Times (before 500)
Iconography documents the existence of music in prehistoric times.
Monophonic music was a vital part of the cultures of the ancient Chinese, Hebrews, and Greeks.
Christian chant, based on Jewish cantorial traditions and Greek music theory, developed during the
decline of Rome.
MEDIEVAL (500-1450)
The Monophonic Phase
Gregorian Chant was first codified during the reign of Pope Gregory (590-604).
Guido d'Arezzo, (c. 0995 - c. 1050), France/Italy
Hildegard von Bingen, (1098 - 1179), Germany
The First Polyphonic Phase (1100-1450)
Organum
St. Martial Organum (c. 1100)
Notre Dame Organum (1150-1250)
Leonin, (c. 1135 - c. 1201), France began to use the rhythmic modes in 2-part works
Pérotin, (c. 1160 - c. 1205), France modal rhythm well established in 3-part works
13th c. Motet (1200-1300)
Franco of Cologne, (c. 1240 - c. 1280), Germany
Petrus de Cruce, (c. 1270 - c. 1300), France
Sumer is icumen in (1240) - important early example of a round (6 parts)
Ars Nova - treatise by Vitry, Philippe de (1291 - 1361), France, Bishop of Meaux
Isorhythmic Motet, hocket, musica ficta (1300-1400)
Machaut, Guillaume de (c. 1300 - 1377), France
Landini, Francesco (c. 1325 - 1397), Italy
English Fauxbourdon (1420-1450) - use of 6ths and 3rds as consonances
Dunstable, John (c. 1390 - 1453), England
The Burgundian School (1420-1470) - the bridge to the Renaissance
Binchois, Gilles (c. 1400 - 1460), Belgium
Dufay, Guillaume (1397 - 1474), Belgium/France
RENAISSANCE (1450-1600)
The Second Polyphonic Phase (1450-1600) - equality of voices
Netherlands School (1450-1550) - cantus firmus and parody mass
Ockeghem, Johannes (c. 1410 - 1497), Netherlands
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Stylistic Timeline of Music History
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Obrecht, Jacob (1450 - c. 1505), Netherlands
Josquin des Prez, (c. 1450 - 1521), Belgium
Protestant Reformation (1517)
Catholic Counter-Reformation (1550)
French Chanson (1500-1550)
Janequin, Clément (c. 1485 - 1558), France
Sermisy, Claudin de (c. 1490 - 1562), France
Italian Madrigal (1500-1620)
First period 1500-1540
Willaert, Adrian (c. 1490 - 1562), Belgium
Arcadelt, Jacob (c. 1505 - 1568), France
Second period 1540-1570
Willaert, Adrian (c. 1490 - 1562), Belgium
Lassus, Orlandus (1532 - 1594), Belgium
Third period 1570-1610
Marenzio, Luca (c. 1553 - 1599), Italy
Gesualdo, Carlo (c. 1560 - 1613), Italy
Monteverdi, Claudio (1567 - 1643), Italy
Musica Transalpina (1588) Italian madrigals trans. to English by Yonge
Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da (c. 1525 - 1594), Italy (the pinnacle of Renaissance
polyphony)
Victoria, Tomas Luis de (1548 - 1611), Spain
Gabrieli, Giovanni (c. 1554 - 1612), Italy - Antiphonal choral works at St. Mark's in Venice
Caccini, Giulio (1551 - 1618), Italy - transitional figure to the Baroque period
Byrd, William (1543 - 1623), England
Dowland, John (c. 1563 - 1626), England - lute ayres
Monteverdi, Claudio (1567 - 1643), Italy - transitional figure to the Baroque period
BAROQUE (1600-1750)
The First Age of Monody (1600-1700) - firm bass, florid treble, figured bass.
Florentine Camerata (1590) - Peri, Jacopo (1561 - 1633), Italy and Monteverdi, Claudio
(1567 - 1643), Italy
Le Nuove Musiche (1602) - Caccini's book of songs; ex. of early monody
Early Opera (1597-1650)
Eurydice (1600) - two settings one by Peri, Jacopo (1561 - 1633), Italy, the other by
Caccini, Giulio (1551 - 1618), Italy
Orpheus (Mantua, 1607) - Monteverdi, Claudio (1567 - 1643), Italy
Coronation of Poppea (Venice, 1642) - Monteverdi, Claudio (1567 - 1643), Italy
The Age of Instrumental music (1650-1750) Suite, Sonata, Concerto Grosso
The Third Polyphonic Phase (1700-1750) - High Baroque, canons, fugues etc.
Essential Composers of the Baroque
Frescobaldi, Girolamo (1583 - 1643), Italy - keyboard works, variation form
Schütz, Heinrich (1585 - 1672), Germany - choral works
Lully, Jean-Baptiste (1632 - 1687), Italy/France - operas, early standardization of the
orchestra
Torelli, Giuseppe (1658 - 1709), Italy - violin works, concerto grosso form
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Corelli, Arcangelo (1653 - 1713), Italy - violin works, concerto grosso form
Couperin, François (le grand) (1668 - 1733), France - L'Art de toucher le clavecin (1716)
Vivaldi, Antonio (1678 - 1741), Italy - violin works, concerto grosso form
Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685 - 1750), Germany - all major forms except opera, summative
figure of the Baroque
Handel, George Frideric (1685 - 1759), Germany/England - summative figure of the Baroque
Rameau, Jean-Philippe (1683 - 1764), France - composer and theoretician
CLASSIC (1750-1820)
Pre-Classic music (1720-1770)
Sammartini, Giovanni Battista (1701 - 1775), Italy - early symphonic form
Stamitz, Johann (1717 - 1757), Bohemia - Mannheim school founder, early symphony,
dynamic range in orchestral music
Bach, Johann Christian (1735 - 1782), Germany/England - early symphonic form, early
sonata form
Gluck, Christoph Willibald von (1714 - 1787), Austria
Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714 - 1788), Germany - "Essay on the True Art of Playing
Keyboard Instruments" (1753-1762)
Classic Music 1750-1820
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756 - 1791), Austria
Idomeneo (1781)
Le Nozze di Figaro (1786)
Don Giovanni (1787)
Cosi fan Tutti (1790)
Haydn, Franz Joseph (1732 - 1809), Austria
London Symphonies (1791-1795)
The Creation (1798)
Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770 - 1827), Germany/Austria - bridge to the Romantic period
Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Opus 21 (1799)
Heiligenstadt Testament (1802) - Beethoven's letter of grief
Fidelio (1803) - Beethoven's only opera
ROMANTIC (1820-1910)
Weber, Carl Maria von (1786 - 1826), Germany
Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770 - 1827), Germany/Austria
Symphony No. 6, Op. 68, in F Major, 1808 (Pastoral)
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Opus 125 (1824) (Chorale)
Schubert, Franz (1797 - 1828), Austria - German Lieder
Die Schöne Müllerin (The Miller's Daughter, 1823)
Winterreisse (Winter Journey, 1827)
Schwanengesang (Swan Songs, 1828)
Bellini, Vincenzo (1801 - 1835), Italy - bel canto arias in opera
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix (1809 - 1847), Germany - revived interest in the music of J.S. Bach
Chopin, Frederic (1810 - 1849), Poland/France - influential piano music
Schumann, Robert (1810 - 1856), Germany - German Lieder
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Dichterliebe (Poet's Love, poems by Heine, Op. 48, 1840)
Frauenliebe und Lieben (Woman's Life and Love, Chamisso, Op. 42, 1840)
Liederkreis (Song Circle, Eichendorff, Op. 24, 1840)
Glinka, Mikhail Ivanovich (1804 - 1857), Russia
Meyerbeer, Giacomo (1791 - 1864), Germany/France
Rossini, Gioacchino (1792 - 1868), Italy - opera
Berlioz, Hector (1803 - 1869), France - advanced use of the orchestra
Symphony Fantastique (1830)
The Damnation of Faust (1846)
Mussorgsky, Modest Petrovich (1839 - 1881), Russia
Wagner, Richard (1813 - 1883), Germany - music dramas, influential harmonic language
Liszt, Franz (1811 - 1886), Hungary - virtuosic piano music, Hungarian influence
Faust Symphony (1854)
Borodin, Alexander Porfirievich (1833 - 1887), Russia
Dr. Franz Xavier Witt (1834-88) - Cecilian Movement in Catholic church music, restoration of
Gregorian chant and 16th century a cappella singing.
Brahms, Johannes (1833 - 1897), Germany
Franck, César (1822 - 1890), Belgium/France - organ works
Bruckner, Anton (1824 - 1896), Austria
Symphony No. 7 in E Major (1883)
Verismo (1880 - 1900) - strong realism in opera of the late 19th c.
Cavalleria Rusticana (1891) by Mascagni, Pietro (1863 - 1945), Italy
I Pagliacci (1892) by Leoncavallo, Ruggero (1857 - 1919), Italy
Verdi, Giuseppe (1813 - 1901), Italy
Rigoletto (1851) is from Verdi's early period.
Otello (Othello, 1887) is from Verdi's last period.
Wolf, Hugo (1860 - 1903), Austria
Mörike Songs (53 in all, 1897)
Eichendorff (20, 1889)
Goethe (51, 1890)
Spanisches Liederbuch (44, 1891)
Italienisches Lied (in 2 parts)
Dvorák, Antonin (1841 - 1904), Bohemia
Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay Andreyevich (1844 - 1908), Russia
Macdowell, Edward (1860 - 1908), United States
Mahler, Gustav (1860 - 1911), Bohemia/Austria
Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth, 1909)
Scriabin, Alexander (1872 - 1915), Russia
Elgar, Edward (1857 - 1934), England
Sibelius, Jean (1865 - 1957), Finland - Modern in time, Romantic in style.
Debussy, Claude (1862 - 1918), France - impressionism in music
Prelude to 'The Afternoon of a Faun' (1894)
Nocturnes (1899)
La Mer (1905)
Fauré, Gabriel (1845 - 1924), France
Pelléas et Mélisande
Pénélope
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Requiem
Satie, Erik (1866 - 1925), France - neoclassicism, pandiatonicism
3 Gymnopodies - for piano
Parade - ballet
Relache - ballet
Socrate - symphonic drama
Early 20th CENTURY (1910-1950)
Schoenberg, Arnold (1874 - 1951), Austria
TRANSFIGURED NIGHT Op. 4 (1899)
DIE GURRELIEDER (1901-1911)
PIERROT LUNAIRE, (1912)
TWELVE NOTE SYSTEM OF COMPOSITION (1921)
FIVE PIANO PIECES Op. 23 (1923) - first tone rows
STRING QUARTET NO. 3, (1926)
VARIATIONS FOR ORCHESTRA, (1928)
MOSES AND AARON (1931-1932)
VIOLIN CONCERTO, (1934)
STRING QUARTET NO. 4, (1937)
Ives, Charles (1874 - 1954), United States
The Concord Sonata
Watchman
Are you washed by the Blood of the Lamb
Ravel, Maurice (1875 - 1937), France
Daphnis et Chloë
La Valse
Bolero
Bartók, Béla (1881 - 1945), Hungary
Allegro Barbaro for piano 1911
Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (1936)
Concerto for Orchestra (1943) - tonal opulence and warmth
Third Piano Concerto (1945)
Stravinsky, Igor (1882 - 1971), Russia
Early period 1882-1923
THE FIREBIRD (1910)
PETROUCHKA (1911)
LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS (1913)
L'HISTOIRE DU SOLDAT (1918)
PULCINELLA (1919)
LES NOCES (1917-1923)
Neo-Classicism 1923-1951
OCTET FOR WIND INSTRUMENTS (1923)
OEDIPUS REX (1927)
SYMPHONY OF PSALMS (1930)
THE RAKES PROGRESS (1951)
Serialism and other influences 1951-1971
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SEPTET
AGON
THRENI
Webern, Anton von (1883 - 1945), Austria
Period 1
2 tonal works,14 atonal works - pointillism
Five Orchestral Piece
Period 2 - serial period
String Trio (Op. 20, 1927)
Symphony (Op. 21, 1930)
Concerto for 9 Instruments (Op. 24, 1934)
Variations (Op. 30, 1940)
Berg, Alban (1885 - 1935), Austria
Lyric Suite for String Quartet (1926)
Violin Concerto (1935)
Wozzeck (1925)
Lulu (1935) - some ideas taken from the Lyric Suite
Varèse, Edgar (1883 - 1965), France/United States
Ionization (1931)
Hindemith, Paul (1895 - 1963), Germany
Mathis der Maler (Matthias the Painter, 1938)
Cowell, Henry (1897 - 1965), United States
Poulenc, Francis (1899 - 1963), France
Mass in G
Stabat Mater
Gloria
Les Mamelles de Tiresias
Dialogues des Carmélites
Sessions, Roger (1896 - 1985), United States
Copland, Aaron (1900 - 1990), United States
Carter, Elliot (1908 - Living), United States
Messiaen, Olivier (1908 - 1992), France
Quartet for the End of Time for violin, clarinet, cello, and piano.
Three Short Liturgies of the Divine Presence
Tarangalila (a symphony)
Technique de mon language musical (1944)
Schuman, William (1910 - 1992), United States
Barber, Samuel (1910 - 1981), United States
Cage, John (1912 - 1992), United States
IMAGINARY LANDSCAPES #4 (for 12 radios and 24 players)
HPSCHD
CONSTRUCTION IN METAL (for percussion ensemble)
SILENCE (a book explaining some of his ideas)
Babbitt, Milton (1916 - Living), United States - Essay: Who cares if you listen?
Foss, Lukas (1922 - Living), Germany
Schuller, Gunther (1925 - Living), United States
Stockhausen, Karlheinz (1928 - Living), Germany
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Kontra-Punkte (1953) for chamber orchestra, 1st try at total serialism
Zeitmas (1956) for 5 woodwinds, a very succesful work
Songs of the Youths (1956) combines traditional and electronic elements.
Late 20th to 21st CENTURY
Wuorinen, Charles (1938 - Living), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for Time's
Encomium in 1970.
Martino, Donald (1931 - Living), United States - 1974 Pulitzer Prize in music for his chamber work
Notturno.
Wernick, Richard (1934 - Living), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for Visions of
Terror and Wonder in 1977.
Colgrass, Michael (1932 - Living), Ireland - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for Deja Vu for
Percussion and Orchestra in 1978.
Schwantner, Joseph (1943 - Living), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for
Aftertones of Infinity in 1979.
Del Tredici, David (1937 - Living), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for In
Memory of a Summer Day in 1980.
Zwilich, Ellen Taafe (1939 - Living), United States - Zwilich's Symphony No. 1 won the Pulitzer
Prize for music composition in 1983.
Rands, Bernard (1934 - Living), England - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for Canti del Sole in
1984.
Albert, Stephen (1941 - 1992), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his
Symphony, RiverRun, in 1985.
Harbison, John (1938 - Living), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for The Flight
Into Egypt in 1987.
Bolcom, William (1938 - Living), United States - Bolcom won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for music
composition for 12 New Etudes for Piano.
Reynolds, Roger (1934 - Living), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for Whispers
Out of Time in 1989.
Shulamit, Ran (1949 - Living), Israel - Shulamit Ran won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for Symphony
in 1991.
Rouse, Christopher (1949 - Living), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for
Trombone Concerto in 1993.
Marsalis, Wynton (1961 - Living), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his
oratorio on slavery, Blood on the Fields, in 1997. As a trumpet performer he is the winner of eight
grammy awards for jazz and classical performances.
Kernis, Aaron Jay (1960 - Living), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for String
Quartet No. 2, "musica instrumentalis" in 1998.
Wagner, Melinda (c. 1965 - Living), United States - She won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for
Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion in 1999.
Spratlan, Lewis (1940 - Living), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his opera
Life is a Dream in 2000.
Corigliano, John (1938 - Living), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his
Symphony No. 2 for String Orchestra in 2001.
Brant, Henry (1913 - Living), Canada/United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his Ice
Field in 2002.
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Adams, John (1947 - Alive), United States - He won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his On the
Transmigration of Souls in 2003.
21st Century
It is an impossible task to try to predict which composers of today are most likely to leave a lasting mark.
The links below will take you to pages listing winners of some of the major composition awards given in
recent decades.
The Pulitzer Prize for Music
The Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize
Buy the Classical Music Timeline Poster
Home
Copyright © 2000, Steven G. Estrella, All Rights Reserved
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Stylistic Timeline of Music History
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Dr. Estrella's Incredibly Abridged Dictionary of Composers
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