Music History Overview

Music History

Prehistory

• Humans used vocal sounds and percussion in rituals, celebrations, and daily life from the time of their first appearance to around 3000 BC.
• Instruments were simple, including body percussion, carved bones, and rudimentary flutes.

Period of Antiquity

• This period spanned from 3000 BC to 476 AD, covering the emergence of Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
• Music was closely tied to religion and daily life during this time.
• The Greeks and Romans developed music notation systems and theories, contributing to the development of music in Europe.

Middle Ages

• This period lasted from 476 AD to the 15th century, marking the fall of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance.
• Medieval music was dominated by plainchant (Gregorian chant), used in Christian liturgy.
• Polyphonic forms emerged, including organum and motet.
• Trovadores and jugglers played a significant part in secular music.

Renaissance

• This period occurred in the 15th and 16th centuries, marked by a revival of interest in classical art and culture.
• Renaissance music is characterized by rich polyphony and the use of consonant intervals.
• Notable composers include Josquin des Prez, Palestrina, and Orlando di Lasso.
• The invention of printing allowed for wider dissemination of written music.

Baroque

• This period spanned the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, characterized by great ornamentation and emotional expression in the arts.
• Baroque music is marked by dynamic contrast, extensive ornamentation, and tonal structure.
• Notable composers include Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, and George Frideric Handel.

Classical

• This period occurred in the late 18th century and early 19th century, coinciding with the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.
• Classical music is characterized by balance, clarity, and proportion.
• Classical forms, such as sonata and symphony, were favored.
• Key composers include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, and Ludwig van Beethoven (in his early period).
• Music was primarily composed for courts, the church, and the general public.

Romantic

• This period took place in the 19th century, a time of radical political and social changes.
• Romantic music emphasizes individual expression and emotion, characterized by expressive melody, chromatic harmony, and freer forms.
• Notable composers include Beethoven (late period), Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, Johannes Brahms, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Impressionism

• This period spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries, focusing on capturing impressions and sensations rather than precise representation.
• Impressionist music features ambiguous harmonies, subtle timbres, and fluid forms.
• Key figures include Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, who explored new techniques and sonorities.

Modern Music

• This period spans from the early 20th century to present day, characterized by wide-ranging experimentation in styles, techniques, and media of musical expression.
• It includes diverse movements, such as early modernism, serialism, neoclassicism, minimalism, electronic music, and experimental contemporary music.
• Key composers include Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, John Cage, Philip Glass, and many others.