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Period: 476 to Jan 1, 1500
Middle Ages
Life sucked. Bubonic Plague. Peasants and Lords. Music was monophonic (occasional minstrels). Monks. God was a big deal. -
Dec 25, 800
Charlemagne Crowned Holy Roman Emperor
First Holy Roman Emperor Ever -
Period: Jan 1, 992 to Jan 1, 1033
Guido D'Arezzo
One of the earliest known music theorists. -
Jan 1, 999
Leif Erikson Discovers Greenland
Leif Erikson and the Norse become the first people to discover the North American continent. -
Period: Jan 1, 1098 to Sep 17, 1179
Hildegaard
German. Wrote Alleluia. -
Period: Jan 1, 1135 to Jan 1, 1201
Leonin
French. One of the great medieval composers. The other is Perotin -
Period: Jan 1, 1150 to Jan 1, 1230
Perotin
French. Great medieval composer. Other is Leonin -
Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta Signed
One of the first major documents of human rights signed. Great time to be alive (if you had money/were a king) -
Apr 1, 1298
Battle of Falkirk
William Wallace and the Scots lose to the British at the Battle of Falkirk. -
Period: Jan 1, 1300 to
Renaissance
Music got more complicated. Pretty polyphonic singing and stuff. More minstrels. Madrigals and motets! Humanism FTW! Instruments were still pretty trash -
Period: Jan 1, 1300 to Apr 13, 1377
Machaut
First well-known composer of the Middle Ages. Wrote first major mass. -
Jan 1, 1439
Gutenberg Invents Printing Press
Gutenberg becomes most important dude ever and invents the printing press. -
Period: Feb 1, 1450 to Aug 27, 1521
Josquin de Prez
French. Ave Maria writer. Big time church music writer -
Jan 1, 1453
End of the War of the Roses
End of a long conflict for the rights of the throne of England -
Jan 1, 1488
Bartolomeu Dias Sails to Cape of Good Hope
Portugese dude finds Cape of Good Hope in Africa. Yay finding other continents. -
Oct 12, 1492
Columbus Discovers "America"
Columbus stumbles on a couple of islands. Calls it America anyway. -
Period: Jan 1, 1507 to Oct 14, 1568
Arcadelt
French. Major Renaissance madrigal guy. -
May 2, 1519
DaVinci's Death
DaVinci, the smartest guy ever (for his time), dies. Many sad. -
Period: Jan 1, 1525 to
Palestrina
Italian. The master of Renaissance polyphony. Lots of Madrigals and Motets, Masses -
Jan 28, 1547
Henry VIII Dies
Henry VIII dies for being too fat. -
Period: May 15, 1567 to
Monteverdi
Italian. Wrote Orfeo. Beast of an opera master. Showed what it could do. Made opera relevant to opera -
Period: to
Baroque
Prog metal bands would cry in shame at how complicated the music was in this time. Lots of polyrhythmic, simultaneous harmony stuff. Strings were really dominant (other instruments were meh). Opera was also king here (think Monty's Orfeo). Think Bach, Monteverdi, Florentine Camarada, Handel, Scarlatti, Sonatas, Cantatas, -
Period: to
Purcell
English. Wrote Dido's Lament and all that. Great/only hope for English music -
Period: to
Vivaldi
Italian. Also known as the Champ of the Baroque era who wrote the Four Seasons. -
Period: to
Handel
German. Wrote Messiah. Master of the Oratorio -
Period: to
Bach
German. Critical Baroque composer. Master of the Fugue. -
Period: to
Hadyn
German. Papa Hadyn. Wrote The Creation -
Period: to
Classical
They toned down the complication here for balance. The classics were obsessed with it. Development of Sonata Allegro Form (not to be confused with Sonatas from Baroque). Think Beethoven, Mozart, Hadyn, Schubert. Symphonies. Instruments all became passable. Strings still dominant, but other instruments added to texture and feel of music. Development of concertos, chamber music, string quartet, etc. -
Period: to
Mozart
Austrian. Man, myth, legend. Nachtmuzik, Don Giovanni, etc. -
Period: to
Ludwig Van Beethoven
German. The maverick of the classical era. He pushed the boundaries, and tried to not obey the then classic Sonata Allegro Form. -
American Declaration of Independence
'Murica declares independence from those guys over the pond. -
Invention of Steam Engine
James Watt invents the steam engine. Revolutionizes many industries. -
Storming of the Bastille
Peasants tell Marie Antoinette to "eat this"; storm Bastille and own the royal people. -
1798 Rebellion
Irish got together and organized United Irishmen to fight the British. Inevitably failed. This failure caused absorption into England for next 200 years. -
Napoleon Gets Owned at Waterloo
Wellington tops Napoleon at Waterloo, ending Napoleon's military badassery. -
Start of the First Opium
Brits sell opium to Chinese. Chinese fight back. Chinese get wrecked. Brits (in typical British fashion) take over and make a colony out of them. -
JFK Assassination
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Apple Formed
Nerd Jesus and his gang form the most overrated software/hardware company out there. -
Dream Theater Releases Images and Words
Dream Theater releases ground-breaking progressive rock record "Images and Words". Many faces are melted. -
Packers Win Third SuperBowl
Aaron Rodgers, the second coming of Christ, wins his first SuperBowl with the Best Sports Team Ever