From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- c. 4000 BC
- c. 3500 BC
- c. 3000 BC
- The bamboo pipe is invented in China
- c. 2500 BC
- c. 2000 BC
- c. 1500 BC
- c. 1000 BC
- Music accompanies religious ceremonies in Israel
- Entrance Hymn for the Emperor, Chinese, earliest notated music in the world (dating disputed; some scholars believe it may be much later)
- c. 800 BC
- c. 700 BC
- c. 685 BC
- c. 675 BC
- c. 600 BC
- Modes appear in music
- The vina is invented in India
- c. 586 BC
- c. 550 BC
- c. 500 BC
- 400 BC
- Trumpet competitions are popular in Greece
- 340 BC
- 320 BC
- 300 BC
- c. 250 BC
- c. 200 BC
- 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. 138 BC
- Delphic Hymns composed in Greece; notated versions survive in fragments
- 100 BC (very approximate) The Seikilos epitaph is composed and engraved in Asia Minor, the earliest complete notated musical composition to survive to the present day
- c. 50 BC
- 38 BC
- The Chinese octave is divided into 60 notes
- c. 130
- Mesomedes of Crete composes Hymn to the Sun; a long fragment survives in a notated version
- c. 350
- 386
- c. 450
- Alternating singing between precentors and parishioners is introduced in Christian churches
- 453
- c. 500
- 521
- Boethius introduces Greek music theory to the West, notoriously mixing up the modes (e.g. ancient Phrygian become modern Dorian)
- c. 600
- 600
- c. 600
- The first flowering of Arab music occurs in what is now Syria during the rule of the Umayyad dynasty
- 609
- 619
- The Chinese begin using large orchestras
- c. 625
- Isidore of Seville writes a treatise on music theory; famously mentions that it is not possible to notate musical sounds, indicating that ancient art of music notation has been lost
- 650
- Neumes, a system of notation, are introduced in Europe (earliest examples survive from around 800)
- c. 700
- 710
- c. 750
- Chant is the principal liturgical religious music throughout Europe, though with significant regional variations
- c. 800
- Earliest notated music to reappear after the loss of the art of notation in the 5th century; neumatic manuscripts from Regensburg
- Approximate date of the unification of the various Christian liturgies (Gallican, Ambrosian, Roman) into one; Gregorian chant becomes unified throughout Europe; possibly occurs under guidance of Charlemagne
- Byzantine wind organs begin to replace water organs
- 810
- A relic of Saint James is said to have been found in Galicia, causing a wave of pilgrims to the area; the result is northern Spain's evolution into a musical mixing pot with influences from across Europe
- c. 820
- Vocals in church music begins moving in parallel; this is the beginning of polyphony (see organum)
- 830
- 895
- 980
- c. 1000
- c. 1015
- 1050
- c. 1050
- The harp is introduced to Europe
- 1050
- c. 1030
- Guido of Arezzo develops a method to learn music by ear, solfège
- c. 1095
- c. 1100
- 1116
- 1121
- The earliest performance of roi nuoc, or water puppetry, is recorded in Vietnam
- c. 1125
- c. 1150
- French troubadours become more organized
- 1176
- c. 1180
- c. 1182
- c. 1190
- c. 1200
- Pérotin composes his works, considered to be the pinnacle of Notre Dame style, and the culmination of the first half of the ars antiqua
- Hat tuong, which evolved from Chinese opera, appears in Vietnam
- 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
- 1208-1218
- Albigensian Crusade effectively exterminates the troubador tradition; surviving musicians and poets leave Provence, moving into adjacent areas, such as northern Italy
- 1220
- 1225
- 1240
- c. 1250
- 1253
- Composition of Franconian motets, multi-lingual, layered compositions based on the ideas of Franco of Cologne, widespread in France
- Kublai Khan arrives in Yunnan, supposedly bringing with him baisha xiyue
- 1262
- c. 1290
- Approximate date of activity of Petrus de Cruce, early composer of motets in the style known as the Petronian motet
- c. 1300
- 1317-1319
- c.1322
- Philippe de Vitry publishes the Ars nova, from which the era derives its name, describing the new (mainly French) musical style as already being practiced
- 1324-1325
- c. 1325
- Organ pedals are invented
- "Tournai Mass", the first polyphonic Mass, is written
- c. 1330
- c. 1350
- 1352
- 1360
- 1377
- 1385
- c. 1390 Peak of activity of the ars subtilior style at Avignon, an avant-garde, rhythmically complex type secular song intended for a small group of connoisseurs
- 1392
- c. 1400
- The dulcimer is invented
- Secular songs with French lyrics, chansons, are popular
- 1400
- c. 1420
- c. 1426
- 1428
- The Le dynasty comes to power in Vietnam; it will go on to restrict music like cheo, which is perceived as anti-establishment
- 1430
- The Renaissance begins, leading to the increasing popularity of secular music as well as the diversification of musical styles across Europe
- Aak music in Korea is reconstructed from surviving 12th century compositions
- 1433
- 1465
- First printed music appears in Europe
- c. 1490
- c. 1500
- 1505
- c.1506
- 1508
- 1520
- 190 copies of a broadside ballad are sold by one merchant in England -- this is a phenomenal amount considering the rarity of literacy at the time, and can be considered the beginning of a British popular music tradition
- 1522
- The Spanish begin mass importation of African slaves to Cuba and other Caribbean islands
- 1544
- Bartol Gyurgieuvits publishes De Turvarum ritu et caermoniis in Amsterdam. It is one of the first European books to describe music in Islamic society.
- 1556
- 1557
- Printers registered with the Stationer's Company are required to pay four pence for each ballad they produce
- 1562
- 1564
- 1565
- Women are banned from singing in Christian churches; the desire for adult female voices leads to the practice of castration
- c.1570
- 1573
- 1574
- 1578
- Jean De Léry publishes the first account of Brazilian music, Viagem à Terra do Brasil
- 1587
- Gabriel Soares de Sousa publishes the first account of native Brazilian musical forms, Tratado Descritivo do Brasil
- 1588
- 1590
- Approximate peak year of the late Italian madrigal style, followed by decline
- c. 1590
- 1598
- c. 1600
- The European Renaissance ends and the Baroque period begins; polyphonic style gives way to monody, with increased emphasis on harmony and instrumentation
- The harp is added to European orchestras
- Slaves brought to Morocco from Mali lead to the development of gnawa
- 1600
- Artusi publishes his famous attack on modern music, resulting in Monteverdi's defense, and description of the evolving new styles
- 1602
- 1606
- The first open-air operas appear in Rome
- 1607
- 1609
- 1610
- Airs de cour enter their peak of respectability in upper-class French households
- 1627
- 1631
- The first professional female singers in Europe for several centuries appear in England for a production of Chloridia
- 1635
- 1639
- 1648
- c. 1650
- 1652
- c. 1660
- The seis arises in southern Spain
- 1664
- 1675
- 1685
- 1688
- Fearing that slaves would use them to organize revolts, colonial officials in Barbados ban slave dances and the use of drums and horns
- c. 1690
- 1696
- c. 1700
- 1705
- 1709
- The Stationer's Company stops requiring printers to pay four pence for the production of ballads
- 1711
- The clarinet is added to European orchestras
- 1719
- 1720
- The ländler, a German and Austrian dance, becomes popular
- 1722
- Rameau publishes Traité de l'harmonie réduite à ses principes naturels
- 1725
- c. 1740
- Neil Gow's short bow sawstroke technique is the basis for Appalachian fiddling in the United States
- The term quadrille comes to be applied to a popular dance
- 1742
- 1750
- Bach dies; this is often considered the end of the Baroque period and the beginning of the relatively simple Classical period
- 1751
- c. 1760
- 1762
- 1767
- The Burmese sack Ayuthaya and bring Thai musicians to their homeland, thus leading to a mixture of Burmese, Thai and Cambodian musics in Burma and elsewhere in southeast Asia
- 1769
- 1770
- William Billings publishes The New England Psalm Singer, an influential collection of songs
- 1772
- 1773
- 1774
- 1780
- 1783
- Spain adopts a policy of encouraging Roman Catholics to move to its colonies, leading to a French majority on the island of Trinidad; the French immigrants bring Carnival and the roots of calypso
- 1786
- 1787
- c. 1790
- 1791
- 1794
- "Tammany, or The Indian Chief" by James Hewitt is one of the first American operas
- 1796
- Mungo Park, a Scottish explorer, sees a kora being played in one of the Mande courts; this is the first verifiable sighting of the instrument, now the dominant instrument in Malian music
