Western Classical Music History

(Almost everything you need to know on one page)

Medieval (to 1450)

Perotin Leonin Polyphony/Organum,

counterpoint

Guillaume de Machaut John Dunstable Gregorian Chant,

notation, Greek modes

Hildegard von Bingen Guillaume Dufay Isorhythm,

motet, mass,

troubadours

Renaissance (1450-1600)

Josquin des Prez Orlando di Lasso Modal, imitative-

counterpoint,

chorale

Johannes Ockeghem William Byrd Cantus firmus,

printed music,

Jacob Obrecht Heinrich Isaac Consort, polychoral,

antiphonal

Giovanni da Palestrina Giovanni Gabrieli Mass, madrigal,

vocal style, lute

John Dowland Tomas Luis de Victoria Tone painting,

homorhythmic

Baroque (1600-1750)

Claudio Monteverdi Henry Purcell Major/minor,

homophony, triads,

equal tuning

Francois Couperin Heinrich Schutz Continuo/

Figured bass,

fugue, organ,

violin

Arcangelo Corelli Antonio Vivaldi Opera, oratorio,

cantata, aria,

harpsichord

Girolamo Frescobaldi Domenico Scarlatti Concerto, overture,

dance suite, trumpet

Johann Sebastian Bach George Frederic Handel Instrumental style,

virtuosity, castrati,

commerce

Classic / Romantic (1750-1900)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Franz Joseph Haydn Symphony,

sonata, art song,

rondo

String quartet,

minuet & trio,

piano, nature

Ludwig van Beethoven Franz Schubert Symphonic

poem,

etude, prelude,

singspiel

Franz Liszt Frederic Chopin Fantasia, waltz,

cyclical

symphony

Robert Schumann Johannes Brahms Nationalism,

popularism,

Boehm system

Hector Berlioz Gioacchino Rossini Chromaticism,

NHT-

dominance,

free lancer

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Giacomo Puccini Sonata-allegro

form,

clarinet, ballet,

Felix Mendelssohn Gustav Mahler Miniature/

monumental,

saxophone

Richard Strauss Alexander Scriabin Exoticism,

mysticism,

verismo,

women in

music

Giuseppe Verdi Richard Wagner Leitmotiv,

continuous

music

Modern (1900-2050)

Claude Debussy Maurice Ravel New and old

scales,

ametricality

Igor Stravinsky Arnold Schoenberg Nonfunctional

harmony,

polytonality

Alban Berg Anton von Webern Atonality,

primitivism,

mixed meter

Bela Bartok Gyorgy Ligeti Electronic

instruments,

Theremin

Charles Ives John Cage Chance theory,

Concrete music

Aaron Copland George Gershwin Jazz,

syncopation,

polymeter

Bruno Maderna Luciano Berio Pan-nationalism,

Experimentalism

Dmitri Shostakovitch Sergei Prokofiev Neoclassicism,

improvisation

Benjamin Britten Gustav Holst Vertical

sonorities

Arvo Part Steve Reich Minimalism

George Crumb Elliot Carter Serialization,

12-tone system

Karlheinz Stockhausen Pierre Boulez Multi-media,

Computer,

Synthesizer

Edgar Varese Ruth Crawford Post-

romanticism

John Corigliano David Del Tredici Fusion

Harry Partch Olivier Messiaen

Jean Sibelius Leonard Bernstein

Morton Feldman Earl Kim

Toru Takemitsu Witold Lutoslawski

John Adams Leon Kirchner