Time Line of Western Music

????  to about 200 C.E.         We don’t know much about ancient music.  Nothing was written down and few musical instruments have been found in the historical record.  Recently a flute made from the femur bone of a large mammal was discovered in Europe.  The finding is interesting because it was embedded in the archeological evidence of a Neandertal camp.  The flute seems to have belonged to mammals that are generally considered to be “pre-human.”  Even more interesting are the finger holes on the flute.  They are precisely located to produce the diatonic scale. 

In theory, ancient music probably was a tool used in various cultural functions like worship and other ceremonies.  Scholars do not believe there was a “top forty” list of tunes in ancient culture.   The record is clear that the ancient Egyptians used music extensively and probably influenced the growth of music in Greek culture.  Egyptians are credited with the development of the harp and similar zither-like instruments. 

The Greeks are particularly important because they established a scientific basis for the theory of music.  The philosopher-mathematician, Pythagoras successfully described overtones, scales and intervals.  His work had a great influence on the music of the Middle Ages.  Early Greek music developed a notational system and a few samples have been found.  These date to about 130 B.C.E.  The most important and complete two samples are hymns addressed to various gods. 

Plainsong has six characteristics:  1) limited range of tones, 2) is performed without instrumental accompaniment, 3) uses one of the eight modes of church music, 4) never employs harmony, 5) is not metrical – it has a free and fluid rhythm, 6) words are in Latin. 

300 C.E.  Ambrosian Chant – A Christian worship style of music named for the Bishop of Milan.

500 C.E.  Gregorian Chant – Named for Pope Gregory the Great.  This style of singing is still popular today and is, arguably, the most influential version of plainsong.

800 C.E.  Gallican Chant – A Christian worship style of music.

800-1200  Organum.  Plainsong gradually developed harmony using two parts in unison, perfect 4^th or perfect 5ths.  Organum is often heard in chants.

900-1200  The Goliards.  These men were members of ecclesiastic orders or simply vagrants wondering from town to town in Europe.   They sang songs on many subjects and often made fun of serious plainsong.  Their Latin songs covered subjects including love, drinking, sex and seasonal songs.

1000-1200 Troubadours and Trouveres.  Minstral groups that roamed France singing songs set to secular melodies.  They were entertainers but they were persons of social rank.  Troubadours were most prevalent in the south of France in Provence.  About 264 melodies and 260 poems of the troubadours have survived from this time.

1100-1200  Minnesingers.  These singing German aristocrats sprang from the French tradition of Troubadours.  Their songs were similar to their French forebears.  The German minnesinger translates to “singers of chivalrous love.”

1100-1200  Ars Antiqua.  The music of the Gothic period is called ars antiqua.  During this period all intervals were employed in harmony and a separation between rhythm and melody occurred.  The term translates to “antique art.”

1300-1400 Ars Nova.  This term translates to “new art.”  During this period the two-part harmony became three- and four-part polyphony.  Extensive use of the major 3^rd interval was made during the period and for the first time dissonance in music became acceptable.

1420-1600 The Renaissance.  The term means “rebirth.”  It was a time during which music became more secular and less constrained by the church.  The orchestration and composition technique of polyphony took root in both sacred and secular music.  One of the masters of this era was Giovanni da Palestrina.   

1300-1500  Meistersingers.  Another group of signing Germans, but these men were from the middle class of burghers and were typically members of a Renaissance trade guild.  Unlike the Troubadours, Meistersingers are noted for recurrent use of standard melodies and highly restrictive compositional rules.  This style of music is often criticized for its lack of creativity and the crudity of its construction.

1600 – 1750  The Baroque Period

The Baroque period is characterized by overstatement.  Heavy ornamentation and grandiose concepts identify Baroque art, music and literature.  The term Baroque comes from the dominate architectural style of the era, that was, of course, very ornate.  The dominant force on music of the period was the royal class who employed composers to produce program music for various court occasions and pageants.   Opera was born in Florence, Italy during the Baroque era.  Toward the end of the Baroque era, ornamentation in melody and arrangements became excessive.  This period is often called the Rococo Era.

1750 – 1820  The Classical Period

“Classical” refers to the ideals of the Ancient Greek Cult of Apollo.  Classical music generally shows emotional restraint, clarity of form, great attention to structure of the music, and a sense of objectivity.  The music lines up with the “Age of Reason” or “The Enlightenment” and reflects the same ideals.

Almost everyone misuses the term “classical music” to identify “art music” or symphonic music.  The correct use of the term “classical music” can only apply to compositions written roughly during the period 1750-1820.

During the middle of the 18^th century, composers (primarily German composers) began to develop the three-part overtures to operas (properly called sinfonia) into the larger forms of the Symphony.

Composers of note:    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791
                                          Ludwig Von Beethoven  1770-1827.  He was a transitional figure whose early work
                                                          is clearly classical in its character.   However, his later work launched the
                                                           Romantic Period.
                                           Franz Joseph Haydn 1732-1809
                                           Christoph Willibald Gluck 1714-1787

Writers of note:               Immanuel Kant
                                             Rousseau  (cogito ergo sum)
                                             Voltaire
                                             Adam Smith  (The Wealth of Nations)
                                             Henry Fielding

Artists of note:                  Goya
                                              Gainsborough
                                               Reynolds

1820 – 1900  The Romantic Period

Romanticism is characterized by five attributes:  1) subjectivity, 2) individualism, 3) nationalism, 4) it is emotional, 5) subjects that embrace the supernatural, explore mysticism, recall ancient or medieval stories and myths.  The late Romantic period is marked by an increase in compositions designed to express the nationalistic spirit of specific countries.

Composers of note:    Ludwig Von Beethoven  1770-1827  (again!)
                                         Gioacchino Rossini (Italian Opera)
                                         Felix Mendelssohn (German symphony, piano music, choral compositions.  He
                                                         single handedly revived interest in J.S. Bach whose music had been
                                                          forgotten for more than a century.)
                                          Edward Elgar (1857-1934 English orchestral works. He wrote  Pomp and
                                                          Circumstance – the march used during Commencement
                                                           ceremonies.)
                                                Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky (Russian, the great Romantic – Swan Lake Ballet,
                                                            Nutcracker Suite, 1812 Overture)
                                                Rachmaninoff (Russian piano virtuoso with a florid style)
                                                Hector Berlioz (French symphonic works)
                                                Giuseppe Verdi (Italian opera)
                                                Richard Wagner (German opera and dramatic music)
                                                Richard Strauss (Austrian opera, songs and symphonies)
                                                Franz Liszt (Hungarian piano virtuoso but generally considered part of the
                                                               German school of romantic composers.)
                                                Donizetti (Italian opera)
                                                Robert Schumann (German piano and symphonic music very much
                                                                 remembered for his songs.)
                                                 Frederic Chopin (Polish piano virtuoso but considered a member of the French
                                                                 school of composers.  A prolific author.)
                                                Johannes Brahms (German symphonies, organ and piano music, chamber
                                                                  music.  Famous for “Brahams' Lullaby”.)
                                                Schubert (German songs and symphony – highly regarded for his piano
                                                                  music.)
                                                Carl Maria von Weber (German opera and  symphonies)
                                                Borodin (Russian opera and symphonic works)
                                                Mussorgsky (Russian symphonic works and opera His Night on Bald Mountain
                                                                  is a popular favorite.)
                                                Grieg (Norway piano works – noteworthy for extreme, or at least impassioned,
                                                                 nationalism in his music.)
                                                Rimsy-Korsakov (Russian symphonic and operatic music.  Noted for his
                                                                  nationalism and embrace of Asian music.)
                                                Anton Bruckner (Best known for his nine symphonies.)

Writers of note:   Goethe (German Philosopher, writer and government official)
                                                Lord Byron (English poet)
                                                Henry Wordsworth (English poet)
                                                Mark Twain  (American writer - Tom Sawyer)
                                                Nietzsche (German Philosopher)
                                                Hegel (German Philosopher)
                                                Charles Dickens (English writer - A Christmas Carol)
                                                Nathaniel Hawthorn (American writer - The Scarlet  etter)
                                                Herman Melville  (American writer - Moby Dick)
                                                Thomas Hardy  (English writer - Return of The Native)
                                                Victor Hugo (French Author - The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Artists of note:      Renoir
                                                  Rodin
                                                  Whistler
                                                  Degas
                                                  Manet
                                                  Monet

The 20^th Century

The century began with a rejection of Romanticism and a return to the objectivity and expressionism of the Classical period and evolved into a disenchanted alienation after World War I and especially following World War II.   Music composition seems to have been influenced by the materialism of the industrial expansion and the mechanism that entered the lives of ordinary people. 

Various trends mark 20^th century music.  Impressionism of the last few decades of the 19^th century defined the visual arts and appeared in the work of composers like Claude Debussy (Afternoon of a Fawn) and Ravel (Bolero).  Neo-romanticism describes the lingering influence of Wagner’s romantic style of heavy emotionalism.  Neoclassicism appeared during the 1920’s with Hindemith as a notable composer.

American Jazz appeared in the 1920’s.  It evolved dramatically during the century but began as an extension of Ragtime music and ultimately influenced many composers of “serious” music.  George Gershwin is the best example of an art music composer who embraced jazz.  The same influence is true of “The Blues.”  The Blues grew out of African-American music and social experience.  With roots in slavery and development in prisons and economic deprivation, the blues is an emotional wailing.  It is structured on a twelve bar scheme that broke the long-standing song and dance tradition of eight and sixteen bar structure in music.

Composers of note:   
Arnold Schoneberg (Austrian father of “atonal music” - serial and 12-tone music)
Erik Satie (French composer who took a stance against impressionism.  He composed humorous works
                            such as The American Cashbox.)                      
Alexander Scriabin (Russian composer in a romantic style and noted for his “mystic chord” that is
                             constructed as intervals of the perfect 4^th such as C, F#,Bb, E, A, D.   Also noted for his
                             extensive piano compositions.)                                           
Paul Hindemith (A great teacher and composer noted for his neo-Baroque style.) 
Alban Berg (The greatest pupil of Schoneberg.)
Anton Webern (Austrian composer of atonal music with a classical style.)
Gustav Holst (English anti-romantic composer.   Famous for his symphony The Planets.)
Claude Debussy (French composer known for music that seemed to parallel impressionist painting
                              styles.   He made much use of whole tone scales and Asian melodic styles.)
Ernst Toch (Born in Vienna but immigrated to the US in 1934 to get away from the Nazis. Noted for his
                              scholarship and composition.)
Bela Bartok (Hungarian teacher and composer who is noted for collecting and editing folk music.His
                              music spans almost every style of 20 ^th century music.)
Carl Orff (German composer noted mostly for his dramatic works.  His  composition Carmina Burana is a
                              perennial favorite at concerts.)                                             
John Cage (American composer famous for his “prepared piano” compositions and other non-traditional
                               instruments.)
Igor Stravinsky (Russian composer famous for his ballet music – The Rite of Spring and the Firebird Suite                               – exciting rhythms and instrumental colors.)
Sergei Rachmaninoff (Russian piano virtuoso and composer)
Kurt Weil Famous for his Three Penny Opera and the song Mack the Knife.)
Leos Janacek (Czechoslovakian equivalent of Bela Bartok. He made extensive use of folk music in
                               his compositions.)
Giacomo Puccini (Italian opera composer of great reputation.)