Timeline of classic music

Timeline of classic music


Though classical music is considered to have spanned the period in Europe between Medieval to present, classical music actually began and had its roots in the era of the Ancient Greeks. The mathematician Pythagorus created a tuning system and helped to codify music. Ancient Greek instruments such as the aulos and lyre eventually led to the modern day instruments of a classical orchestra.

The major time divisions of classical music are the early period (which includes Medieval (476 – 1400) and Renaissance (1400 – 1600)); the Common practice period (which includes Baroque (1600 – 1760), Classical (1730 – 1820), and Romantic periods (1815 – 1910)); and the modern and contemporary period which includes 20th century classical (1900 – 2000) and contemporary classical (1975 – current).

The antecedent to the early period was the era of ancient music from before the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD), very little of which survived. The music that survived from this period is mostly from ancient Greece. The Medieval period includes music from after the fall of Rome to about 1450. Monophonic chant, also called plainsong or Gregorian Chant, was the dominant form until about 1100. Polyphonic (multi-voiced) music developed from monophonic chant throughout the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. The Renaissance music was from 1450 – 1600. It was characterized by greater use of instrumentation, multiple interweaving melodic lines and by the use of the first bass instruments.

The common practice era began with the Baroque period in about 1600 and extended until 1750. Baroque music is characterized by the use of complex tonal counterpoint and the use of a basso continuo, a continuous bass line. During this period keyboard music played on the harpsichord and pipe organ became increasingly popular. The classical period, from about 1750 – 1820, established many of the norms of composition, presentation and style, and the piano became the predominant keyboard instrument.

The Romantic era, from 1820 – 1910, codified practice, expanded the role of music in cultural life and created institutions for the teaching, performance and preservation of music. It is characterized by increased attention to melody and rhythm, as well as expressive and emotional elements, paralleling romanticism in other art forms.

The modern era began with Impressionist music from 1910-1920, which was dominated by French composers who went against the traditional German ways of art and music. Impressionist music by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel was arrhythmic, and it used the pentatonic scale, long, flowing phrases and brass instruments rather than stringed instruments. Modern, 1905-1985, was a period which represented a crisis in the values of classical music and the extension of theory and technique. 20th century classical music, a wide variety of post-Romantic styles composed through the year 1999, includes late Romantic, Modern and Postmodern styles of composition. The term contemporary music is sometimes used to describe music composed in the late 20th century through present day.

The prefix neo is used to describe a 20th century or contemporary composition written in the style of an earlier period, such as classical, romantic, or modern. Stravinsky's Pulcinella, for example, is a neoclassical composition.

The dates are generalizations, since the periods overlapped and the categories are somewhat arbitrary. The use of counterpoint and fugue, which is considered characteristic of the Baroque era, was continued by Mozart, who is generally classified as typical of the classical period, by Beethoven who is often described as a founder of the romantic period, and Brahms, who is classified as romantic.