Music History 2 Timeline

  • Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor

    Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor
    This symphony premiered on December 22, 1808, in Vienna. The venue conditions were awful for the audience members.
  • Franz Schubert's Erlkönig

    Franz Schubert's Erlkönig
    The poem Erlkönig, originally made by JW Goethe, was given a musical context by Schubert in 1815.
  • Nicolo Paganini's 24 Caprices for Violin, Op. 1

    Nicolo Paganini's 24 Caprices for Violin, Op. 1
    This set of caprices was composed in 1805, but they were fully published in 1820.
  • Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique

    Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique
    Hector Berlioz composed his Symphonie fantastique in 1830.
  • Chopin's Mazurka Op. 7

    Chopin's Mazurka Op. 7
    The Mazurka in B-flat Major Op. 7 No. 1 was composed between 1830 and 1831.
  • Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel's Das Jahr

    Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel's Das Jahr
    Fanny Hensel completed her piece Das Jahr in 1841 after an extended trip to Italy.
  • Gottschalk's Souvenir de Porto Rico

    Gottschalk's Souvenir de Porto Rico
    Louis Moreau Gottschalk composed Souvenir de Porto Rico between 1857 and 1858.
  • Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition

    Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition
    The original piano version of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition premiered in 1874. It was later orchestrated for full orchestra.
  • Bizet's Carmen

    Bizet's Carmen
    Georges Bizet's Carmen premiered in 1875, which is the same year he died.
  • Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen

    Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen
    Richard Wagner's Der Ringen des Nibelungen, a cycle of 4 music dramas, premiered in its entirety in 1876.
  • Brahms Symphony No. 4

    Brahms Symphony No. 4
    Johannes Brahms Symphony No.4 in E Minor, Op. 98 premiered in 1885.
  • Mahler's First Symphony

    Mahler's First Symphony
    Mahler's Symphony No. 1 premiered in 1889, but it had a terrible reception after the performance and was revised many times by Mahler.
  • Dvorak's Ninth Symphony

    Dvorak's Ninth Symphony
    Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" by Antonin Dvorak premiered in 1893.
  • Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag

    Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag
    Maple Leaf Rag was published 1899.
  • Jean Sibelius' Finlandia

    Jean Sibelius' Finlandia
    Jean Sibelius' Finlandia premiered in 1900.
  • Claude Debussy's "Voiles" from Preludes Book 1

    Claude Debussy's "Voiles" from Preludes Book 1
    Debussy wrote the piece "Voiles" in his Preludes Book 1 in 1909.
  • Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire

    Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire
    Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire was composed in 1912.
  • Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps

    Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps
    Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" premiered in 1913 and the crowd started a riot in their reaction.
  • Arnold Schoenberg's Piano Suite, Op. 25

    Arnold Schoenberg's Piano Suite, Op. 25
    Arnold's Schoenberg's Piano Suite, Op. 25 (Minuet) was composed sometime between 1921 and 1923.
  • Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than That"

    Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than That"
    Louis Armstrong's "Hotter Than That" was composed and premiered in 1927.
  • George and Ira Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm"

    George and Ira Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm"
    "I Got Rhythm" from Crazy Girl by George and Ira Gershwin was published in 1930.
  • Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5

    Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5
    Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 was composed and premiered in 1937. A famous quote about it was: "A Soviet artist's reply to just criticism."
  • Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky

    Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky
    The film Alexander Nevsky came out in 1938 and it was about a Russian leader who fought against the Swedes and Germans and won.
  • Duke Ellington's Cottontail

    Duke Ellington's Cottontail
    Duke Ellington composed Cottontail after playing at the Cotton Club in Harlem in 1940.
  • Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time

    Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time
    Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour le fine du temps was composed during his time in a prisoner of war camp in the year 1940. It is composed for piano, violin, cello, and clarinet.
  • Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra

    Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra
    Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra was composed and published in 1943.
  • Copland's Appalachian Spring

    Copland's Appalachian Spring
    Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, originally titled "Ballet for Martha" was composed in 1944 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945.
  • John Cage's 4'33"

    John Cage's 4'33"
    Cage's 4'33" was composed in 1952 and it deals with the concept of indeterminacy, where the sound is up to the performers and audience.
  • Varese's Poeme Electronique

    Varese's Poeme Electronique
    Edgard Varese's Poeme Electronique was composed sometime between 1957-1958 for the 1958 Brussels Exposition (World's Fair).
  • Miles Davis Kind of Blue

    Miles Davis Kind of Blue
    Miles Davis' best-selling jazz album of all time, Kind of Blue, was produced in 1959.
  • George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children

    George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children
    Crumb's piece, Ancient Voices of Children, was composed in 1970 and it is scored for soprano (boy), harmonica, harp, toy piano, and percussion.
  • John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine

    John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine
    Adams' piece, Short Ride in a Fast Machine, was composed in 1986. The piece itself symbolizes the rapid advancement of technological innovation that was occurring at the time.