History of Music Timeline

By AustinFletcher
  • Period: 500 to 1450

    Medieval Period

  • 1030

    Guido of Arezzo's "Micrologus"

    This created the hexachord system.
  • Period: 1098 to 1179

    Hildegard of Bingen

  • 1323

    Ars Nova Treatise

    This created time signatures and prolation.
  • 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

    According to legend, this piece was written specifically to show the Church that polyphony could keep the voices distinct. Whether or not it was written just for that reason, this piece is created with saving polyphony at the Council of Trent.

  • Victoria "Missa O magnum mysterium"

  • Gabrieli "Sonata pian’e forte"

    This piece was written for St. Mark's Basilica. The importance is twofold; not only is it the first-ever piece with dynamics (as clear through the title alone), but it is also the first-ever piece to specify EXACTLY which instruments should be playing which parts.
  • Period: to

    Baroque Period

  • Monteverdi's L’Orfeo

    Published 1609.
    Revised 1615.

  • First public concerts in England

    Not to be confused with: "first public opera house" (1637).
  • Period: to

    JS Bach

  • Antonio Vivaldi's L’Estro Armonico

    Harmonic inspiration. It was published by Etienne Roger in Amsterdam.

  • Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier (Volume 1)

    The piece consisted of twenty-four preludes and fugues with equal temperament. There was one in every major and minor key, proving in an era where tonality was fledging that all keys were viable.

  • Rameau's Traité de l’harmonie

    The Traité de l’harmonie (Treatise on Harmony) codified the common practices of Rameau's contemporaries - especially Corelli. It is considered the most influential of all theoretical works because of its five innovations the became the basis for teaching functional harmony.
  • Period: to

    Franz Joseph Haydn

  • Handel's Messiah

  • Period: to

    WA Mozart

  • Period: to

    Viennese Classical Period

  • Period: to

    Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges as director of Concerts des Amateurs

    Chevalier de Saint-Georges was one of France’s best composers,
    conductors, violinists, and swordsmen. However, he was black in the 18th century, and this alone held him back. The Concerts des Amateurs was the first disciplined French orchestra since Lully, and he was considered for the Académie royale de musique (Paris Opéra). But the house's leading ladies said they would not work with him, and he withdrew his name to avoid drama.

  • Mozart's Don Giovanni

  • Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor

    Premiere date

  • Schubert Erlkönig

  • Nicolo Paganini 24 Caprices for Violin, op.1

    Complete first publication. Composed 1805.

  • 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

    Same year he died!

  • Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen

    Premiere of the complete cycle

  • Brahms' Symphony No. 4

  • Mahler Symphony No.1

    (Presuming original premiere)

  • 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 Book 1

  • Arnold Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire

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

    This is the one with the riots.
  • Period: to

    Arnold Schönberg's Piano Suite, Op.25

  • Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than That"

    Album with song on it released 25 January 1928.

  • George and Ira Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" (published)

    From "Girl Crazy"

  • Shostakovich's Symphony No.5 (premiere)

  • Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky" (film)

  • Duke Ellington's Cottontail

  • Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour le fine du temps

  • Bela Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra

  • Copland's "Appalachian Spring"

  • John Cage's 4’33’’

  • Edward Varese Poeme Electronique

    Listed as 1957-1958 for composition, but debuted in 1958 at the Brussels World Fair.

  • Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue"

  • George Crumb's Black Angels

  • John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine