Porchheng Lim

Western Music Timeline

Renaissance music
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(1400 A.D. to 1600 A.D.)

The word Renaissance is originated from French and has the
meaning of a rebirth of interests, particularly in the arts of
ancient Greece and Rome.
The Renaissance was mostly a period of exploration.
It is also an age of individualism and curiosity
Musicians in this era worked for the church, courts and towns.

COMPOSERS
Guillaume Dufay (1397 - 1474)
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A Franco-Flemish composer
He was ordained a priest but composed both sacred and
secular music.
One of his most famous compositions is the motet
Nuper rosarum flores (1436), which subsumes both
isorhythmic style and the new contrapuntal style.

Josquin Desprez (1450 - 1521)

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Born in Belgium
He was considered as a master of Renaissance music.
He had an international career which he spent most of
his life in Italy, serving Dukes and Popes. Later he
worked for King Louis XII of France.
His output includes masses, motets and secular vocal
pieces
One of his pieces is Ave Maria, written as a four voiced
motet.

John Dunstable (c. 1390 - 1453)

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An English composer who was famous during his lifetime and

influential throughout Europe.
A composer of polyphonic music of the late medieval ear
and early Renaissance periods.
He also helped to develops the style of the Burgundian
School.
His music bridges the late Medieval and early renaissance
styles.
His works include:
Motet: Speciosa facta es
Mass movements: Agnus Dei
Keyboard arrangements: Sub tuam protectionem

Baroque music
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(1600 A.D. to 1750 A.D.)

Porchheng Lim
Western Music Timeline

There are 3 sub-divisions in Baroque era.

o Early Baroque (1600 - 1660 A.D.)
Invention of opera
Homophonic texture was also favored
o Middle Baroque (1660 - 1710 A.D.)
Major and minor chords supplanted Church modes.
o Late Baroque (1710 - c.1750 A.D.)
Polyphony once again flourishes

COMPOSERS
Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643)

An Italian composer of the Early Baroque, who is one of the

main composers in the transition form Renaissance to
Baroque.
He spent his 21 years in the service of the Gonzagas, the ruling
family of Mantua.
He was then positioned as the director of music at St. Marks in
Vernice
All of his works commonly involve voices, and include operas,
madrigals and church music.
One of his composition is Orfeo, written in 1607 for the Mantuan Court.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741)

An Italian composer born in Venice

He is best known for his 400 concerto gross and solo
concerti.
He particularly utilised the resources of the violin very well.
His instruments used in his solo concertos include: piccolo,
flute, cello, bassoon and mandolin.

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 - 1764)

He was one of the most famous French composers of the

Baroque era.
He is a versatile composer who was not only able to compose
instrumental music, but also a handful of ballets, motets, and
operas.
Some of his famous works include Pices de
clavecin, Pices de clavecin en concerts, and operas
such as Hippolyte et Aricie, Castor et Pollux,
and Zoroastre.

Classical Music
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(1750 A.D. to 1820 A.D.)

This era was an age of enlightenment
People of this period believed in reason and not custom.

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Western Music Timeline
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People of the middle class had rights and were more powerful as
compared to the eras prior to Classical era.
The middle class had the privileges of the high social ranking people
such as having access to music lessons and printed music.
Public concerts were now available for the first time.

COMPOSERS
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)
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He was born in Austria, one of the most versatile of composers in

the entire history of music.
He wrote over 600 compositions in all musical forms
All his music has a singing quality as his instrumental
melodies seem to be produced through human voice.
His music conveys a feeling of ease, grace, balance
and perfect proportion.
One of his works is the Piano Concerto No. 23 in A
major
Apart from composing music, he was also a master of
opera, with most of his operas being comedies.
Some of his well-known operas were: "The Marriage of
Figaro, Do Giovanni, and The Magic flute.

Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

His career is comprised of 3 phases:
First phase (1770 - 1802)
o His music was greatly influenced by Mozart and
Haydn.
o His works include 2 piano concertos,
2 symphonies, string quartets Op. 18 and 10 piano
sonatas, which were all written during this period.
Second phase (1802 - 1815)
o He was going deaf at this stage
o He further improved upon existing forms and
suffused his music with heroic expression.
o His works include the Kreutzer Sonata for violin and piano; his only
violin concerto; 3rd, 4th and 5th piano concertos and some of his
greatest piano sonatas: Les adieux, Waldstein and
Appassionata.
Third phase (1815 - 1827)
o He was wholly deaf
o He departs to a large degree from the existing form and style.
o His works include the 9th symphony, the Missa Solemnis, the last
piano sonatas and the late string quartets.

Romantic Music
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(1820 A.D. to 1900 A.D.)

Romantic era can be characterised by the individuality of style,
where self-expression and individuality are emphasised in
compositional style.

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Western Music Timeline

o The music is substantially very programmatic, where instrumental

music is used to depict a story, idea or poem.
o The programmatic style can also be reflected in the welldescriptive titles.
o E.g. Smetenas The Moldau depicts scenes along the Moldau
River.
o Nationalism becomes important during this era as music were
composed using folksong, history and dances of their homelands.

COMPOSERS
Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)
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A German composer and an influential music critic.

Schumann left the study to pursue a career as a virtuoso
pianist.
His teacher Friedrich Wieck had assured him that he
could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand
injury despaired this dream.
He then moved on to composing music.
HIs famous works include Kinderszenen, Album fur
die jugend, Blumenstuck, the Sonatas and Albumblatter.

Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883)

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A German composer born in Leipzig, theatre director,

polemicist, and conductor who is mainly known for his
opera.
Wagner revolutionised opera through his concept of the
Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) by seeking to
synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts
His famous pieces awe Bridal Chorus and The Ride of the
the Valkyries

Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886)

Was a 19th century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist,
conductor, teacher and Franciscan tertiary.
o He became renown in Europe for virtuosic skill as a pianist
during the early 19th century.
o He was one of the most famous representatives of the
Neudeutsche Schule ("New German School)
o He left behind an extensive and diverse body of work which
influenced his contemporaries and anticipated some 20thcentury ideas and trends.
o Some of his most notable contributions were the invention
of the symphonic poem, developing the concept of thematic
transformation and making radical departures in harmony.
o He also played a crucial role in popularising a wide array of
music by transcribing it for piano.
Modern Music (1900 A.D. to 1960 A.D.)
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Western Music Timeline

o After Romantic era, music experienced a great deal of

experimentation and transformation as many of the old
methods forming the basis of classical music for centuries
were challenged.
o For an example, the complete removal of tonality by many
composers in the 20th century.

COMPOSERS
Scott Joplin (c.1867/1868 - 1917)
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An African-American composer and pianist

He was born into a musical family of laborers in
Northeast Texas, and developed his musical knowledge
with the aid of local teachers.
He achieved fame for his ragtime compositions and
was named as King if Ragtime Writers.
He wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, 1 ragtime ballet, and 2
operas.
His first and most influential hit is Maple Leaf Rag.

Philip Glass (January 31, 1937- present)

An American composer
A minimalist composer
He is a prolific composer, who has written works for his
founded musical group, the Philip Glass Ensemble, as well
as operas, musical theatre works, ten symphonies, eleven
concertos, solo works, chamber music including string
quartets and instrumental sonatas, and film scores.
o 3 of his scores have nominated for Academy Awards
Nominated: Kundun (1997)
Nominated: The Hours (2002)
Nominated: Notes on a Scandal (2006)
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Francis Poulenc (1889 - 1963)

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A member of a group of French composers called Les

Six.
Most of his music is light-hearted and gay.
Poulenc was mainly self-taught.
He is talented at writing melodies and putting words to
music in creative ways.
Although he composed during the early part of the 20th
century, his music is more traditional with
bright colours and strong rhythms.
One of famous works is Mouvements Perpetuels.

Contemporary Music (1945 A.D. to present)

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Porchheng Lim
Western Music Timeline
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Contemporary music is substantially based on originality.

It is divided into various sub-categories like minimalism
This era was formed during the last quarter of the nineteenth
century through a painting movement called Impressionism.
It also introduces new scales (whole-tone, modes) and chord
uses.
There are some other experiments with electronic music, jazz
and more.

Some general characteristics that are commonly found in most

compositions:
1. Fewer lyrical melodies than other periods.
2. Dissonant Harmonies
3. Complex rhythms
4. Percussiveness
5. Greater use of percussion,brass,and woodwind.
6. Uses synthetic and electronic sounds

COMPOSERS
Jennifer Higdon (December 31, 1962- present)
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An American composer of classical music, born in

Brooklyn
A Largely self-taught flautist who played in her high
schools concert band and exposed to classical music
before her college years.
She majored in flute performance at Bowling Green State
University.
She earned Artist's Diploma from the Curtis Institute of
Music and then obtained a master's degree and doctoral
degree in composition from the University of
Pennsylvania
She has received many awards
2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto
2009 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical
Composition for her Percussion Concerto.

Ludovico Einaudi (November 23, 1955- present)

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An Italian pianist and composer

He was trained at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan and under
composer Luciano Berio in the early 1980s.
His career was begun as a classical composer, then
incorporating other styles and genres such as pop, rock,
world music, and folk music.
He composed scores for a number of films and trailers
Some of which are The Intouchables and I'm Still Here, the
TV miniseries Doctor Zhivago, and Acquario in 1996, for
which he won the Grolla d'oro for best soundtrack
He also released solo album of piano and orchestra,
such as Giorni in 2001 and Nightbook in 2009.

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Porchheng Lim
Western Music Timeline

John Coolidge Adams (February 15, 1947-present)

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An American composer specialized in minimalism.

His works include Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986),
On the Transmigration of Souls (2002)
His operas include Nixon in China (1987) and Doctor
Atomic (2005)
He won many awards and a few of them are Pulitzer
Prize in 2003 for the choral piece, On the Transmigration
of Souls and Grammy Award in 1989 for Best
Contemporary Composition for Nixon in China.

Steve Reich (October 3, 1936-present)

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An American composer who pioneered minimal music in

the mid to late 1960s.
He is recognized as Americas greatest living composer.
His innovations include:
Using tape loops to create phasing patterns in his early
compositions like Its Gonna Rain and Come out;
And the use of simple, audible processes to discover
musical concepts, e.g. Pendulum Music and Four
Organs
Some of his awards:
2009 Pulitzer Prize for Music, recognizing Double Sextet
An honorary doctorate from the New England
Conservatory of Music in 2011

March 5, 2015

Porchheng Lim
Western Music Timeline

References
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<http://www.classicsforkids.com/composers/bio.asp?id=38>.
"Franz Liszt." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 05 Mar.
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"John Adams (composer)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation.
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams_(composer)>.
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"Richard Wagner." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 05
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"Richard Wagner (18131883)." Kids Music Corner RSS. Web.
05 Mar. 2015.
<http://kidsmusiccorner.co.uk/composers/classical/wagner/>.
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"Scott Joplin." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 05 Mar.

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Western Music Timeline

2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Joplin>.
"Steve Reich." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 05 Mar.
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<http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Western_Music_History/Romantic_
Music>.

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Porchheng Lim
Western Music Timeline

March 5, 2015

Porchheng Lim
Western Music Timeline

March 5, 2015