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The Fall of Rome in 476 is generally agreed upon as the beginning of the Medieval Music time period. It lasted until around 1450 when the Renaissance period began.
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The Renaissance period in music began around 1450 and is also called the "Age of Enlightenment" because common people started to learn to read and with the invention of the printing press, ideas and information became more easily spread and shared.
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Thist time period begins in 1600 and was marked by great ornamentation in music. This was highly guided and encouraged by the Catholic Church. This period included the famous composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and ended with his death in 1750.
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This period began with the death of Bach and included such famous composers as Mozart, Handel, and Haydn. Its music is marked by clarity and simplicity, in stark contrast to the music of the previous time period. Beethoveen acted as a bridge between the Classical and Romantic periods.
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The Romantic time period included many innovations in music and involved the beginning of the extreme experimentation that marks the next period. Beethoveen was a bridge between this time period and the previous one. This time period included such composers as Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler.
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We are currently in the modern time period. Composers are pushing the limits of our music notation system and breaking traditions established in earlier periods. With so much documented history to draw upon, modern composers often switch between many different techniques to create their music.