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Timeline of trends in music to 1899
See also:
list of musical events
,
Timeline of trends in music (1900-1950)
,
Timeline of trends in music (1951-1979)
,
Timeline of trends in music (1980-present)
c.
4000 BC
Harps
and
vertical flutes[?]
are played in
Egypt
c.
3500 BC
Double clarinets[?]
and
lyres
are played in
Egypt
c.
3000 BC
The
bamboo pipe[?]
is invented in
China
c.
2500 BC
The five tone system dominates the
Chinese music
c.
2000 BC
The
trumpet
is played in
Denmark
Percussion
instruments are added to Egyptian
orchestras
c.
1500 BC
Hittites
use
guitars
, lyres, trumpets,
tambourines
Harps are used to accompany dances in
Egypt
c.
1000 BC
Music accompanies religious ceremonies in
Israel
c.
800 BC
Five and seven tone scales are used in
Babylon
A
cuneiform
hymn
from
Sumeria
is the earliest known written music
Rhapsodes[?]
, traveling musicians, appear in
Greece
c.
700 BC
Arion
, a Greek composer, invents the
strophe
and
antistrophe
c.
685 BC
Tyrtaeus
invents the
trombone
c.
675 BC[?]
Terpander[?]
invents a new seven-stringed lyre and the
Mixolydian scale[?]
c.
600 BC
Modes appear in music
The
vina[?]
is invented in
India
c.
586 BC
Music becomes a part of the
Pythian Games
c.
550 BC
The
diatonic scale
is invented in Greece
Lasos of Hermione[?]
discovers that
vibrations
are the source of all sound
c.
500 BC
Pindar
begins writing
odes
Greek choral music[?]
reaches its peak
aulos[?]
,
citharas[?]
,
lyres[?]
are played in
Greece
Pythagoras of Samos[?]
makes great strides in
musical theory
400 BC
Trumpet competitions are popular in
Greece
340 BC
Aristotle
lays the foundation for modern
musical theory
320 BC
Aristophanes
defines rhythm as tripartite
c.
250 BC
Ktesibios[?]
invents the
hydraulis[?]
146 BC
The Romans conquer Greece and begin exporting its musical knowledge elsewhere in Europe
140 BC
Emperor
Han Wudi[?]
takes over China and establishes an Imperial Office of Music
c.
50 BC
The
oboe
appears in
Rome
38 BC
The Chinese octave is divided into 60 notes
c.
350
Antiphonal psalmody[?]
appears in Christian churches
386
Ambrose of Milan[?]
introduces
hymn
-singing in the Christian church
c.
450
Alternating singing between precentors and parishioners is introduced in Christian churches
c.
500
Flutes
,
tubas
and
drums
are used in
Peru
521
Boethius
introduces
Greek notation[?]
to the West
600
Pope
Gregory the Great
codifies
Roman Catholic
chanting[?]
; it comes to be called
Gregorian chanting
in his honor
c.
600
The first flowering of
Arab
music occurs in what is now
Syria
during the rule of the
Umayyad
dynasty
609
The Celtic
crwth
appears
619
The Chinese begin using large orchestras
650
Neumes[?]
, a system of notation, are introduced in Europe
c.
700
In
Romania
, letters are used to signify
tempo
and
intensity
710
Beginning of the
Nara
period in
Japan
, and the introduction of
komagaku[?]
and
togaku[?]
music
c.
750
Gregorian chanting is popular throughout
Europe
Byzantine
wind organs[?]
begin to replace
water organs[?]
850
Hucbald[?]
writes rules for composing the
organum[?]
c.
850
Vocals in church music begins moving in parallel; this is the beginning of
polyphony
(see
organum[?]
)
980
Antiphonarium Codex Montpellier[?]
is written
c.
1000
Gryffull ab Aynam[?]
separates the positions of
bard
and
minstrel[?]
in
Wales
c.
1015
Sight singing[?]
is introduced at
Pomposa Monastery[?]
near
Ravenna
1026
Guide of Arezza[?]
develops
solmization[?]
1050
"sys willekommen heirre kerst" is the oldest surviving
German
Christmas carol
c. 1050
The harp is introduced to
Europe
c.
1030
Guido of Arezzo develops a method to learn music by ear,
solfège
c.
1095
Le Chanson de Roland[?]
composed
c.
1100
Bagpipes
appear in
England
The
rondeau
appears
c.
1125
Trouveres
and
troubadours
appear in
France
c.
1150
French troubadours become more organized
1151
Leoninus[?]
, a
French
composer, develops the
ars antigua[?]
style
c.
1180
Minnesingers
appear in
Germany
c.
1182
Lauda[?]
appear in
Italy
c.
1200
The
faux bourdon[?]
style begins in
England
Cymbals
are invented
In England, France and Germany, wandering musicians form collectives to help each other
Trumpets
are used as signals in battle in Europe
1225
"Summer is icumen in" is the first
English
round
c.
1250
Perotinus[?]
moves the ars antigua school of music to its peak
1262
Adam de la Halle[?]
writes the first
operetta
, "LeJeu de la Feuillee"
c.
1265
Franco of Cologne[?]
and
Pierre de la Croix[?]
develop the
motet
c.
1300
Jongleurs[?]
appear in
France
1309
Marchettus of Padua[?]
tries to introduce the
counterpoint
1322
The Pope expressly forbids the counterpoint
c.
1325
Organ pedals[?]
are invented
"Tournai Mass", the first polyphonic Mass, is written
c.
1330
The
ars nova[?]
style is invented
1332
The first
mastersingers[?]
appear in
France
c.
1350
Mastersingers appear in
Germany
1360
Original forms of the
clavichord
and
cembalo[?]
appear
1377
Musicians at the papal chapel in
Avignon
move to
Rome
, making it the capital of music in Europe
1385
The marriage of
Charles the VI[?]
and
Isabella of Bavaria[?]
is the first French
court ball[?]
c.
1400
The
dulcimer
is invented
Secular songs with French lyrics,
chansons[?]
, are popular
c.
1420
The
Burgundian School[?]
begins
c.
1426
Holland
becomes the musical capital of
Europe
1430
The
Renaissance
begins, leading to the increasing popularity of secular music as well as the diversification of musical styles across Europe
1465
First printed music appears in
Europe
c.
1490
Ballet
appears
c.
1500
Broadside ballads[?]
begin their period of popularity in
England
Italian madrigals[?]
appear
1508
The Spanish begin their domination of
Puerto Rico
1553
Ancestral forms of the
violin
are invented
1562
Pius IV[?]
's
Counter-Reformation
eliminates all instrumentation except the
organ
, as well as all secular elements,
harmony
and folk
melodies
1565
Women are banned from singing in Christian churches; the desire for adult female voices leads to the practice of
castration
1574
Castration is common in
Europe
1578
Jean De Léry[?]
publishes the first account of
Brazilian music
,
Viagem à Terra do Brasil[?]
1587
Gabriel Soares de Sousa[?]
publishes the forst account of native Brazilian musical forms,
Tratado Descritivo do Brasil[?]
1588
Thomas Morley[?]
's
English Madrigal School[?]
is firmly established
1590
Count Giovanni de Bardi[?]
gathers a group of artists, leading to the invention of
opera
c. 1590
Son[?]
is known in
Cuba
1594
Jacopo Peri
's
Dafne[?]
is the first
Italian opera[?]
c.
1600
The European Renaissance ends and the
Baroque
period begins; this is marked by increasing rigidity and codification in music
The harp is added to European orchestras
Slaves brought to
Morocco
from
Mali
lead to the development of
gnawa[?]
1601
Caccini[?]
invents a vocal style called
nuove musiche[?]
1606
The first open-air operas appear in
Rome
1607
Claudio Monteverdi
writes
Orfeo, Favola in Musica[?]
, an influential early Baroque opera
1631
The first professional female singers in Europe for several centuries appear in England for a production of
Chloridia[?]
1639
Virgilio Mazzocchi[?]
and
Marco Marazzoli[?]
write the first
comic opera[?]
,
Chi Soffre Speri[?]
1648
The
aria
and the
recitative[?]
became separate parts of opera
c.
1650
Beginning of modern harmony
The
overture
emerges
1652
The
minuet
becomes popular in
French
courts
c.
1660
The
seis[?]
arises in southern
Spain
1664
The
French horn
is added to European orchestras
1675
Matthew Locke[?]
's
Psyche[?]
is the oldest surviving
English opera[?]
1680
Johann Sebastian Bach
and
George Frederick Handel[?]
are born; they will be the two most influential Baroque composers
First ballets arrive in
Germany
c.
1690
Andalusian
ballads
arrive in
Puerto Rico
, vastly influencing future forms of music including the
decima
1692
Christopher Columbus
arrives in the
Americas
, leading to European, African and American musical forms mixing, especially in the Caribbean
1696
The
sonata
is introduced
1705
French horns
appear in an opera for the first time --
Octavia
by
Reinhard Keiser[?]
1709
The
pianoforte
is invented
1711
The
clarinet
is added to European orchestras
1719
Dimitrie Cantemir[?]
writes the first book on
Turkish music
1725
Vivaldi
writes
The Four Seasons
1742
Handel's
Messiah
premieres in
Dublin
1750
Bach dies; this is often considered the end of the Baroque period and the beginning of the relatively simple
Classical[?]
period
1751
The
minuet
becomes the most popular dance in
Europe
1762
Christoph Willibald von Glück[?]
writes
Orfeo ed Euridice[?]
with the express purpose ofreturning opera to its roots
1772
The
barrel organ[?]
is invented
1773
Waltz
is popular in
Vienna
1774
Earliest
flamenco
appears in
Spain
1780
Sebastiano Carezo[?]
invents the
bolero[?]
in
Spain
1786
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's
The Marriage of Figaro
premiers
1787
Mozart's
Don Giovanni
premiers
c.
1790
Bumba-meu-boi[?]
, a form of comedic dance, is popular in Brazil
1791
The
waltz
is popular in
England
The
Haitian Revolution[?]
sends refugees to
Cuba
, bringing with them native musical forms (see:
charanga[?]
)
1794
"Tammany, or The Indian Cheif" by
James Hewitt[?]
is one of the first American operas
1803
Ludwig van Beethoven
's
Eröica[?]
marks the beginning of the
Romantic
period
1807
Beethoven's
Symphony No. 5[?]
is written; this is perhaps the most popular classical symphony ever
1814
The
metronome
is invented
1821
Der Freischutz
by
Carl Maria von Weber
debuts, marking the beginning of his primacy in
German opera[?]
c.
1830
"
Jump Jim Crow
" by
Thomas Rice[?]
becomes popular in the
United States
The growth of
Carnival
in
Trinidad
begins, leading to the development of
calypso music
c.
1835
Lundu[?]
is developed in
Brazil
Tamburitza[?]
is developed into increasingly complex forms in
Croatia
1840
Harmonium[?]
invented
c.
1840
The
danza[?]
is invented in
Puerto Rico
1841
Adolphe Sax
invents the
saxophone
c.
1850
UPA
moves from
Cuba
and
Puerto Rico
to other Caribbean islands, most importantly
Hispaniola
1852
Fredrik Pacius
publishes the first
Finnish opera[?]
The earliest known appearance of
mariachi[?]
music in
Mexico
1853
Richard Wagner
's
The Ring Cycle
debuts
1854
Franz Liszt
invents the
symphonic poem
1868
The
Meiji Restoration
revolutionizes and democratizes
Japanese music
1869
The golden age of
flamenco
is usually said to begin
c.
1870
Choro[?]
is invented in
Rio de Janeiro
Tin Pan Alley
begins to dominate popular music in the US
1874
Society for Culture and Education[?]
is founded in Finland
1875
Earliest origins of
plena[?]
in
Puerto Rico
1877
Thomas Edison
invents the first machine to record sound
1880
John Paine[?]
's
In Spring[?]
is the first symphony published in the US
Gilbert and Sullivan
's
The Mikado
premiers
1886
Celesta
invented
c.
1890
Jean Sibelius
'
Kullervo
inspires a rise in Finnish
nationalism
, greatly influencing music in his native land
1896
Ragtime
and
cakewalk
are popularized in the
United States
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