Music Chronology – The Hendricks

A Chronology of Music Events

with some non-musical events thrown in for good measure…

c.4000BC	In Egypt, the harp and vertical flute were among the most popular instruments,which were probably played mostly by the upper classes.
c.3000BC	Egyptians knew of the concept of fourths, fifths, octaves and unisons.Sumerian writers mention ecclesiastical music
c.1580BC	Instruments from western Asia introduced into Egypt, includingtrumpets, oboes, lyres and drums.Profession musicians now come from the lower classes.Women now also play instruments.
c.1500BC	An Egyptian wall painting shows conductors beating time by snapping fingers and pounding.
c.800BC	The period of written music begins with the oldest surviving example of musicalnotation – a Sumerian hymn concerning the creation of man.
c.776BC	The first recorded date of the Olympiad (no fanfares survive:).
c.675BC	The first known musical figure, Terpander, a Kithara playerfrom Lesbos, started a musical revolution in Greece. Terpander changed theGreek lyre from 4 to 7 strings, filled in all the “missing” notes in theoctave and created the Mixolydian scale. Terpander was also supposed to have been appointed by Sparta to pacify the city with his music during a period of social turmoil.
c.685BC	The creation of the trombone by Tyrtaeus.
c.606BC	Rome passed a law to prevent the playing of any instrument other thanthe preferred instrument, the pipes.
c.606BC	After reforms of Servien (which presumably allowed the otherinstruments again), the tuba and cornu players of Rome became an officialsection of the lists of Roman citizens.
c.586BC	Music became a part of the Pythian games in Greece and werewon by the piper Sakadas.
c.550BC	The diatonic scale originated in Greece. Vibrations were discovered to be the basis of sound by Lasos of Hermione,a teacher of Pindar.
c.427BC	Plato recommended that the state be based on thefoundation of music, attributing great ethical value to it in his Republic.He felt that any changes in the traditional ways of music might lead to thedownfall of the State.
c.250BC	The hydraulis, an organ with a keyboard and pipes runby water pressure, was invented by Ktesibios.
c.170BC	Greek musicians had problems catching the Romans’interest except when playing at sports events (possibly the start of thehalf-time show).
c.141BC	Emperor Wu of China created the Imperial Office ofMusic to establish and preserve correct musical pitch.
43 (AD)	Britain conquered and brought into the Roman Empireby the Emperor Claudius.
58	Three court orchestras were established in the ChineseHan Dynasty in addition to a large military band. The orchestras were toplay for religious ceremonies, for the archery of the palace, and forbanquets and the harem.
c.200	The organ became a part of Catholic churches in Europe.
c.300	Euclid tried to find mathematical ratios of different notes.At this time, a Schola Cantorum was founded in Rome with the purpose ofimproving singing.
c.350	Monks and Bishops brought antiphonal psalmody into the church.It soon spread to the secular clergy.
c.354	Christmas was first observed in Rome.
c.400	A dualistic interpretation of the incarnation of Christleads to a distinction between “Lord” and “Christ.”The barritus, the barbarian war song, described as a soft hum that builtto a great crescendo until at last it thundered like waves breaking on rocks.
432	Pope Sixtus established a monastery for daily practice of psalmody
c.500	Monasteries were the only remaining centers of culturein Western Europe
576	A Nestorian Synod forbade the use of tambourines and castanetsduring funerals.
590-604	Pope Gregory I (the Great) collected and codified the bestchants being used in the church and called the Gregorian Chant. He discovered thatthe second half of the scale, H to P, was a repetition of the first half, A to H,and abolished the last 8 letters. He then used the first 7 again, indicating the lower ocatve by capitals and the upper octave by lower case letters.
c.600	According to the Venerable Bede (673-735), the harpwas played in Britain and it was customary to hand it from one player toanother at entertainments.
c.700	Tempo and intensity was denoted in Romania with the useof alphabetic letters.
c.720	Beowulf was composed in northern England.
781	English monk Alcuin (ca. 732–804) meets Charlemagne;Alcuin encouraged study of liberal arts, influencing the CarolingianRenaissance. Alcuin was largely responsible for the revision of theChurch Liturgy during the reign of Charlemagne.
800	Charlemagne (742–814) crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
850	Hucbald wrote the earliest manuscript giving rules for writing organum.
853	First printed book in China
c.900	A single horizontal line served as a guide for the position ofthe Neumae, which were written on, above or below the line. In southern Europe, theNeumae were being spaced. They were placed in the modern way at different heightscorresponding to their pitches.
c.900	The bow, the bridge and the fingerboard of the monochord wereapplied to the “Fidicula” or “Crwth,” a forerunner of the violin.
c.900	The Wofenbuttel manuscript was a collection of folk songscontaining many of the old German secular songs.
c.910	Hucbaldus was the first to write a group of parts togetherin what could be considered a score. Hucbaldus invented a staff consisting of anindefinate number of lines. The syllables that he intended to be sung werewritten between the lines.
c.1000	Gryffull ab Aynam, king of North Wales, reformed the orderof Welsh bards, separating the professions of bard and minstrel.
c.1000	Two-, three- and four-lines staves were being used forGregorian Chants.
c.1010	Guido d’Arezzo used 6 syllables Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, So and La,suggested by syllables of the hymn “Ut queant laxis.”
1025	Guido invented accidentals as a result of diving the scalesinto Hexachords.
c.1030	Parallel fourths become considered more pleasant to theear than parallel fifths.
c.1045	Moveable type printing invented in China
1061	In the Hungarian anti-Christian Rebellion of 1061, paganshamans used old songs to arouse the people to murder the bishops and priestsof the new, official religion.
1066	The Norman Conquest of England. 1066 William of Normandyconquered England.
c.1090	In Southern France, the new verse writingaristocrat/ musician Troubadours travelled from court to court, spreading theirpoems and songs of courtly love and knightly ideology. Their songs and poemswere also spread by the jongleurs, the itinerant professionals of the time. The Troubadours left 2600 poems and 275 melodies.
c.1095	Chanson de Roland, the oldest and most important songof deeds was composed.
c.1095	First crusade was proclaimed by Pope Urban II. Manysongs of Troubadours and Trouveres dealt with the Crusades. William, Dukeof Guienne, one of the earliest Troubadours, joined the first Crusade.
c.1100	First universities in Europe; Salerno (medicine),Bologna (law), Paris (theology and philosophy)
c.1100	The songs of the troubadours received strong impetusas a result of the new desire for intellectual pursuits. The earliest knownwritten music for guitars (popular in Europe at this time) was written bythe Troubadours, who flourished until c.1300.
c.1100	Bagpipes become known (and probably abhored by many:)in England.
c.1100	Popular music is performed almost exclusively by nomadic musicians.
c.1100	The French Rondeau in its oldest form was a song sungwhile performing a round dance. Hence, its name.
c.1150	The Dies irae was written by Thomas of Celanoand sung in the Requiem Mass.
c.1182-1226	The lauda (Italian hymns of praise) originated.
1199	King Richard the Lion-hearted of England, a leading trouvere, died.
c.1200	Trumpets used in battles as a signal to attack.
c.1200	Dance music and motets were the most popular forms of music.
c.1200	Wandering musicians settled down in communities andlater acquired official recognition as town pipers who performed at variousmunicipal ceremonies. They formed corporations for their mutual protectionin England, France and Germany to prevent being classed with wandering vagabonds.
1203	The parson of Ossemer was killed by a stroke of lightningas he was fiddling for his parishioners to dance on the Wednesday of Whitsun-week.
1215	Magna Carta (England).
c.1225	Note values with associated length values begin withthe longa, the stemmed square, derived from the breve, the stemless square.
c.1225	The earliest known song in harmony was the song”Sumer is icumen in”, written by John of Fornsete, a monk of Reading Abbey.
c.1225	Guilds and fraternities came into existence.
c.1226	A vocal composition, scored by an English Ecclesiastic(probably John of Fornsete) used notes exactly like those now in use in Englishchurches and readable by modern musicians.
1240	Spectacles invented in Italy.
c.1250	The sharp or diesis came into use. Also the diamond-shapedsemi-breve and equivalent rest were introduced.
1252	King Alphonso of Castile and Leon assembled theCantigas de Santa Maria,writing down over 400 melodies.
1252	Gold currencies introduced in Florence and Genoa.
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1257	Chinese silk became available in Europe.
ca.1263-1269	Marco Polo (ca. 1254–1324) accompanies father,Nicolo Polo, and uncle, Maffeo Polo, to Court of Kublai Khan. The threereturned to China, 1271–1295.
ca.1270	Anonymous IV, De mensuris et discantu.
1291-1515	expansion of the Swiss Confederation.
1297-1309	Swiss Confederation recognized by the enemies of the Hapsburgs.
1314	Gervais du Bus, Roman de Fauvel (satirical poem of over3000 verses, attacking Church & State); enlarged in 1316 by Chaillou dePestain, with additional poetry and music.
ca.1316-ca.1400	Ars nova [musical period].
ca.1320	Philippe de Vitry, Ars nova.
c.1320	Cultural revival in Italy; Dante (1265-1361),Giotto (1276-1337), Petrarch (1304-71)
1327-1377	Edward III (England).
1334-1336	Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), Caccia di Diana(“Diana’s Hunt”), first Italian hunting poem in terza rima.
1337–1453	Hundred Years’ War, a series of wars between Franceand England. In the end, England was expelled from all of France, exceptCalais. (Begins with war between Philip VI of Valois and Edward III.)
1340	Battle of Sluys (French navy defeated).
1341	Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374) crowned with Laurel, Rome.
c.1341	Black Death starts in Asia
1346	Battle of Crécy.
1347	English capture Calais.
1347–1361	the Black Death (resulting in possibly 24 million ormore deaths—about 25%–50% of Europe’s population). [See Robert S. Gottfried,The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe (New YorkThe Free Press, 1983).]
1348	University of Prague founded.
ca.1350	Machaut, the Missa de Nostre Dame.
ca.1350-ca.1450	European population continued to decline in numbers.
ca.1351-1353	Boccaccio, Decameron.
1356	Battle of Poitiers.
1360	lull in Hundred Years’ War after Treaty of Brétigny
1363-1404	Philip the Bold (Burgundy).
1364-1380	Charles V (France).
ca.1370	Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
1373–1394 (and after)	Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1343–1400), Canterbury Tales,written initially as unrelated fragments, later assembled together.
1377–1399	Richard II (England).
1377	Death of Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377), who sought torecover the world of the Troubadours in monophonic and polyphonic song bycombining the trouvere forms with the polyphonic techniques developedduring the Gothic period.
1380	Wyclif, first English translation of the Bible.
1391–1399	First Ottoman Siege of Constantinople.
1397	Turkish Invasion of Greece.
1399–1413	Henry IV (England).
1400	Death of Chaucer, first great English poet
1415	Battle of Agincourt: Henry V of England resumes attack on France
ca.1415	Tres Riches Heures, completed by the Limbourg brothers forthe Duc de Berry.
1419	Alliance between Burgundy and England.
1419–1467	Philip the Good (Burgundy).
1420	English occupy Paris.
1420–1436	Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) completes dome of FlorenceCathedral.
1422–1461	Charles VII (France).
1428	Joan of Arc: beginning of French revival
1431	Jeanne d’Arc executed.
1432	Jan van Eyck (Burgundian–Flemish painter, 1386–1440), theGhent Altar-piece.
1435	Alfonso V of Aragon (king 1416–1458) captures Naples.
1436	French recapture Paris.
1440	Platonic Academy, Florence established.
ca.1445	Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400–1467/8) invented printingwith movable metallic type, prints first book in Europe.
ca.1445-1521	Josquin des Prez, Flemish composer
ca.1445-1527	Heinrich Finck, German composer
ca.1450-1517	Heinrich Isaac, Flemish composer
c.1456-1506	Alexander Agricola, French composer.
1447–1455	Pope Nicholas V established Vatican Library.
1450	Battle of Formigny.
c.1450	The popularity of the French basse danse and theItalian bassadanza created a new style of ensemble improvisation, andthe instrumental dance band was established, replacing the predominantlysolo performance of dance music of the 13th and 14th centuries.
1453	England loses Continental possessions (except Calais)
1453	Battle of Castillon—English driven from France; Turkscapture Constantinople.
ca.1455	Gutenberg, first printed Bible
1455–1487	Wars of the Roses (England).
ca.1460-1522	Jean Mouton , French composer
ca.1460-1518	Nicholas Gombert, Flemish composer
1467–1477	Charles the Bold (Burgundy).
1470	Printing presses set up at the Sorbonne, Paris, and at Utrecht.
1471–1528	Albrecht Durer.
ca.1473-1476	Johannes Tinctoris, Proportionale musices.
1473	Printing press set up at Buda, Hungary.
1474	Printing press set up at the Valencia, Spain.
1474	Death of Du Fay; Josquin des Prez and Compère in serviceof Duke of Milan.
1477	Death in Battle of Nancy of Charles the Bold, last Duke ofBurgundy. Maria (of Burgundy) marries Maximilian (later Maximilian I), sonof Frederick III (Emperor of Austria). Burgundy becomes part of Austrian Empire.
1477	First book printed in England, William Caxton’s Dicets andSayings of the Philosophers.
ca.1477	Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano dei Filipepi)(1444–1510), Primavera.
ca.1477-1576	Titian (painter).
1477	Johannes Tinctoris, Liber de arte contrapuncti.
1478	Ferdinand and Isabella, with authorization of Pope SixtusIV, establish Inquisition.
1479	Marriage of Ferdinand V of Aragon and Isabella of Castile.
1480-1547	Jean Richafort, French composer
ca.1485-1560	Clement Janequin, French composer
1485	Battle of Bosworth, death of Richard III, ends Wars of theRoses, Henry Tudor crowned King of England (Henry VII).
1485-ca.1493	Heinrich Isaac in service of Medici in Florence.
ca.1485	Johannes Tinctoris, De inventione et usu musicae.
ca.1485	Botticelli, The Birth of Venus.
1486	Josquin des Prez in papal choir.
1487	Bartholomew Diaz sails around the southern tip of Africa(then called the Cape of Storms; renamed Cape of Good Hope by John II of Portugal.
1490-1562	Adrian Willaert, Italian composer
1490–1502	Eton Choirbook compiled.
ca.1490-1562	Claudin de Sermisy, French composer
ca.1490-1545	Phillipe Verdelot, Italian composer
1491–1492	Siege of Granada, Moorish troops finally expelledfrom Spain. 200,000 Jews expelled from Granada.
1492	Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) arrives in new world(Bahamas). Second journey to Caribbean, 1493.
ca.1492-1555	Ludwig Senfl, German composer
1493	Maximilian I becomes Austrian Emperor.
1494	Ludovico Sforza becomes Duke of Milan.
1494	Albrecht Dürer travels to Italy; then returns to Nuremberg.
1494-1545	John Taverner, English composer
1495	Expulsion of Jews from Portugal.
1495–1498	Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) paints his LastSupper in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
ca.1495-1545	Constanza Festa, Italian composer
1496	Franchino Gafori, Practica musicae.
1497	Heinrich Isaac becomes court composer to Maximilian I.
1497–1498	Vasco da Gamba finds sea route to India.
1497–1553	Hans Holbein the younger.
1498–1450	Columbus’ third voyage—to Trinidad and coast of South America.
1499	Swiss independence recognized by the Empire (Peace ofBasle). French expell Ludovico Sforza from Milan. Amerigo Vespucci andAlonso Hojeda sail to the mouth of the Amazon River.
c.1500	Italian Renaissance: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1520),Botticelli (1444-1510), Machiavelli (1468-1527)
1500	Peter Henlein invented the pocket watch (Nuremburg).
ca.1500-ca.1561	Luis de Milan, Italian composer
ca.1500-1573	Christopher Tye, English composer
1501	Ottaviano Petrucci (1466–1539), in Venice, publishesfirst printed book of music, Harmonice musices Odhecaton A; followed bytwo more books of secular works, Canti B (1502) and Canti C (1503).
1501–1502	Amerigo Vespucci sails along coast of South America.
1501–1504	Michelangelo sculpts the statue David.
ca.1502	Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) paints Mona Lisa.
1502–1504	Columbus’ fourth (and last) voyage—to Honduras and Panama.
1504	Josquin des Prez appointed at Notre Dame, Condé-sur-l’Escaut.Obrecht appointed maestro di cappella at Ferrara.
ca.1504-ca.1567	Jacques Arcadelt, Italian composer
ca.1505-1585	Thomas Tallis, English composer
1505	Obrecht dies of plague.
1506	Brumel appointed maestro di cappella at Ferrara.
1506	Pope Julius II commissioned St. Peter’s, Rome—architects& artists included Bramante (1444–1514), Raphael, Peruzzi, and Michelangelo (1575–1564).
1507	Escobar appointed maestro di cappella of Seville Cathedral.
1507	Margaret of Austria appointed Regent of the Netherlands.
1508	Raphael enters service of Pope Julius II.
1508–1512	Michelangelo paints the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
1509	Henry VIII becomes King of England.
ca.1510-1557	Jacobus non Papa Clemente, Flemish composer
ca.1510-1586	Andrea Gabrieli, Italian composer
ca.1510-1564	Pierre de Manchicourt , French composer
1511	Sebastian Virdung, Musica getutscht.
1512	Dürer become court painter to Maximilian I.
1513	Portugese reach Canton (China).
1515	Charles V (1500–1556) becomes Duke of Burgundy.
1515	Adrian Willaert in Italy, in service of Cardinal Ippolito d’Este.
1515	Battle of Marignano; François I defeats Swiss and Venetiansand enters Milan.
1516-1565	Cipriano de Rore, Italian composer
1516	Charles V (1500–1556) becomes Emperor of Austria and Spain(greatest empire in the world). Thomas More (1478–1535), Utopia.
1517	Martin Luther (1483–1546) posts the 95 theses, castle church,Wittenberg.
ca.1517	Constanzo Festa enters Papal Choir.
1519	Charles V, ruler of Spain and Netherlands, elected emperor
1521	Martin Luther outlawed: beginning of Protestant Reformation
1523	Pietro Aron, Thoscanello de la musica (later editions asToscanello in musica).
1525	Attaingnant’s earliest surviving book (Paris).
1525–1594	Palestrina.
c.1525	Introduction of potato from South America to Europe
1526	Hans Holbein (1497–1543) arrives in England (from Basel).
1527	Willaert becomes maestro di cappella at S. Marco, Venice.
1528-1596	Thomas Wythorne, English composer
ca.1528-1600	Claude Le Jeune, French composer
1529	Turkish seige of Vienna.
1530	Madrigali novi, Rome—first publication to use the term madrigal.
1532	Martin Agricola, Musica instrumentalis Deudsch.
1532	Pizarro begins conquest of Inca Empire for Spain
1532–1594	Orlando di Lasso.
1532-1594	Roland de Lassus (Orlando Lasso), French composer
1533-1604	Claudio Merulo, Italian composer
1533	Pierre Attaingnant, Vingt et Sept Chansons Musicales aQuatre Partes…; Verdelot, Madrigali.
1534	Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556) founds the Societas Jesu.Jaques Cartier explores the Gulf of the St. Lawrence River.
1534	Henry VIII of England breaks with Rome
1534–1539	Henry VIII dissolves the monasteries, sellstheir lands to the gentry—the largest shift in ownership of propertyin modern history.
1535	Cristóbal de Morales joins the Papal Choir.
1535–1536	Jaques Cartier returns to North America, sailsup the St. Lawrence River as far as present-day Quebec and Montreal.
1535–1541	Michelangelo paints the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel.
ca.1535-1582	Giorgio Mainerio, Italian composer
1536	Luis de Milán (ca. 1500–ca. 1562), El Maestro, Valencia.
1536	Sir Thomas More executed. John Calvin (1509–1564),Institutio Religionis Christianae.
1538-1574	Robert White, English composer
fl.1540-1550	Vincenzo Fontana, Italian composer
ca.1540-1580	Florentio Maschera, Italian composer
1541	John Calvin founds reformed church at Geneva
1542	Geneva Psalter published (1st edition).
1542–1543	Silvestro di Ganassi, Regola Rubertina.
1542–1543	Portugese become first Europeans to visit Japan.
1543	Susato establishes printing press in Antwerp.
1543	Thomas Tallis joins the Chapel Royal.
1543	Nicholas Copernicus (1473–1543) publishes On theRevolutions of the Celestial Orbs.
1543	Copernicus publishes Of the Revolution of Celestial Bodies
1543-1623	William Byrd, English composer
1544–1595	Torquato Tasso, poet.
1545	Cristóbal de Morales appointed maestro di cappella atToledo Cathedral (until 1547).
1545-1609	Eustache Du Caurroy, French composer
1545–1551	First Council of Trent.
1545	Council of Trent: beginning of Counter-Reformation
1546	Alonso Mudarra (1508/ca. 1520-1580), Tres libros de mvsica…
1547	Claude Gervaise, Second liure contenant trios gaillardes,trois pavanes, vingt trois branles, tant gays, simples, que doubles, douzebasses dances, & neuf tourdions, en somme cinquante… .
1547	Cipriano de Rore appointed maestro di cappella at Ferrara.
1547	Heinrich Glareanus, Dodecachordon.
1547	Michelangelo appointed architect of St. Peter’s(begun by Bramante, 1506).
1549	Francis Xavier establishes a Jesuit mission in Japan.English Book of Common Prayer.
1550-1605	Orazi Vecchi , Italian composer
1550	Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), Le vite de’ piueccellenti architetti, pittori e scultori italiani (Lives of theMost Eminent Painters and Sculptors; revised 1568).
1551	Palestrina appointed maestro di cappela of Cappella Giulia.
1553–1558	Mary Tudor Queen of England.
1553-1599	Luca Marenzio, Italian composer
1554	Mary Tudor marries Philip of Spain.
1554	first Masses by Palestrina published.
1555	Peace of Augsburg.
1555	Juan Bermudo, Declaración de instrumentos musicales… .
1555	Palestrina appointed maestro di cappela ofSt. Johan Lateran, Rome; also becomes member of the Sistine Chapel.
1556-1622	Giovanni Gastoldi, Italian composer
1556	Lassus receives position at Chapel of Duke Albrecht V, Munich.
1556	Herman Finck, Practica musica.
1557-1603	Thomas Morley, English composer
1558	Gioseffo Zarlino, Le istitutioni harmoniche.
1558–1603	Elizabeth I Queen of England.
1559	Tobacco first introduced into Europe
1559	Sarum rite abolished.
1560-1630	William Brade, German composer
1560-1628	Peter Phillips, English composer
1560-1613	Carlo Gesualdo, Italian composer
1561	Palestrina appointed maestro di cappela of S. Maria Maggiore, Rome.
1562	Council of Trent begins discussions of Music.
1562–1598	Huguenot Wars.
1562-98	Wars of religion in France
1562-1621	Jan Sweelinck, Flemish composer
1562/3-1628	John Bull, English composer
1563-1626	John Dowland, English composer
1563-1640	Giles Farnaby, English composer
1563	formal establishment of the Church of England.
1563	William Byrd organist and Master of Choristers at Lincoln Cathedral.
1563	Cipriano de Rore appointed maestro di cappela of St. Mark’s, Venice.
1564-1612	Hans Leo Hassler, German composer
1565	Philip II (Emperor of Austria and Spain 1556–1598)orders intensification of the Inquisition in the Netherlands.
1565	Zarlino appointed maestro di cappela of St. Mark’s,Venice (on death of C. de Rore).
1565	Giaches de Wert appointed maestro di cappela of S. Barbara(Ducal Chapel), Mantua.
1566	Andrea Gabrieli appointed organist at St. Mark’s, Venice.
1567	military dictatorship established in the Netherlands, underthe Spanish Duke of Alba; multiple executions of rebels.
1567-1620	Thomas Campion, English composer
1567-1643	Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer
1568-1634	Adriano Banchieri, Italian composer
1568–1648	Dutch Wars of Independence.
1569-1645	Tobias Hume, English composer
c.1570-1626	John Coprario (Cooper), English composer
1570	William Byrd joins the Chapel Royal.
1571	London Stock Exchange established.
1571-1621	Michael Praetorius, German composer
1571-1656	Thomas Tompkins, English composer
1571-1683	John Ward, English composer
1574-1638	John Wilbye, English composer
1575-1623	Thomas Weelkes (Wilkes), English composer
1575	Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, Cantiones…Sacrae… .
1575	Giovanni Gabrieli employed at court of Duke Albrecht V, Munich.
1576	Martin Frobisher in Frobisher Bay, Canada.
1577–1580	Francis Drake sails around the world.
ca.1577-1614	John Maynard, English composer
1578-1628	Alfonso Ferrabasco II, English composer
fl.1579-1594	John Johnson, English composer
ca.1579-1639	Melchior Franck, German composer
1579	Union of Utrecht—establishment of Dutch Republic.
1580	Portugal & Spain united under Philip II of Spain.
1580	Luca Marenzio, first book of madrigals.
1580-1630	Richard Dering (Deering), English composer
1580-1648	Michael East, English composer
1581	Dutch Proclamation of Independence. Torquado Tasso,Gerusalemme liberata.
1581	Vincenzo Galilei, Dialogo…della musica antica e della moderna.
1582	Gregory XIII’s reform of the calendar—accepted byPapal States, Spain, Portugal, France, Spanish Netherlands, Denmark, Norway.
1582	First publication of music by Monteverdi.
1582-1630	Thomas Simpson, English composer
1583-1643	Giralamo Frescobaldi , Italian composer
1583-1625	Orlando Gibbons, English composer
fl 1584-1602	Anthony Holborne, English composer
1584	Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) established firstEnglish colony in Virginia.
1584	Palestrina, Motettorum liber Quartus.
ca.1585	William Shakespeare (1564–1616) begins careeras actor and playwright.
1588	Spanish Armada.
1588	Spanish Armada defeated by English
1588	Nicholas Yonge, Musica transalpina.
1589	performance of the intermedi of La Pellegrina, Florence.
1590	Monteverdi employed at court of Duke Vincenzo I, Mantua.
1590	Spenser, The Faerie Queene, books I–III.; Sir Philip Sidney, Arcadia.
1591	Thomas Morley appointed organist of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.
fl.1591-1601	John Farmer, English composer
1592	Thomas Morley appointed member of the Chapel Royal, London.
1593 & 1609	Girolamo Diruta, Il Transilvano.
1594	Gregorian Calendar accepted in Catholic German States,and Switzerland.
1594	Hercole Bottrigari, Il Desiderio overo de’ Concerti divarij strumenti musicali.
1594	William Shakespeare joins the Lord Chamberlain’s company [of actors].
1595	Luca Marenzio, Il Settimo libro de madrigali a cinqve voci, Venice.
1597	John Dowland, The First Booke of Songes or Ayres…, London .
1597	Thomas Morley, A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke.
1597	Giovanni Gabrieli, Sacrae symphoniae, Venice.
1598	Edict of Nantes—Huguenots given freedom of worship and equal rights.
1598	Peri, Dafne performed in Florence.
1598	Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humour performed in London.
1599	Lord Chamberlain’s company builds the Globe Theatre.
1600	East India Company established. Rubens appointed atcourt of Duke Vincenzo I, Mantua.
1600	Peri, Euridice performed in Florence.
1600–1601	Shakespeare, Hamlet.
1601	Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) appointed maestro dicappela, Mantua.
1601	Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Madrigali…, Roma.
1601	Monteverdi appointed maestro di cappela, Mantua.
1602	Giulio Caccini, Le nuove musiche, Florence [dated 1601].
1602	Giulio Caccini, Le nuove musiche.
1603	Samuel de Champlain (ca. 1567-1635) begins explorationof the Gulf of St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence River.
1604	John Dowland, Lachrimæ, London.
1605	Miguel de Cervantes Saavendra, El Ingenioso HidalgoDon Quixote de la Mancha published.
1605–1607	William Byrd, Gradualia.
1607	Jamestown, Virginia established—first permanent Englishcolony in North America.
1607	Monteverdi’s La Favola d’Orfeo establishes opera as anart form, performed in Mantua
1608	Francesco Rasi, Vaghezze di musica, Venice.
1608	The Dutchman, Johann Lippershey (ca. 1570-1619) inventsthe telescope.
1609	Dutch traders first visit Japan.
1609	Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) discovers moons of Jupiter.
1609	Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), Astronomia Nova.
1609	English Baptist Church established in Amsterdam.
1609	Rubens appointed court painter to Archduke Albert andArchduchess Isabella, Antwerp.
1610	Monteverdi, Vespero della Beata Vergine, Venice; Gio.Paolo Cima, Concerti ecclesiastici, Milan.
1610	Robert Dowland (compiler), A Musicall Banqvet, London;Robert Dowland (compiler), Varietie of Lvte-Lessons, London.
1611	The Authorized Version of the Bible published [the King James Bible].
1612	Orlando Gibbons, The First Set of Madrigals and Mottetsof 5. Parts…, London.
1613	Carlo Gesualdo, …Sei libri de’madrigali a cinqve voci…, Genoa.
1613	Monteverdi appointed maestro di cappela, St. Mark’s, Venice
1615	Michael Praetorius, Syntagma musicum, Vol. I (Vol. II1618, Vol. III 1619).
1615	Sigismondo d’India, Le musiche a due voci, Venice;(Le musiche…Libro terzo, Venice, 1618; …Libro quarto, Venice, 1621;…Libro quinto, Venice, 1623).
1616	Inigo Jones (1573-1652), builds Queen’s House,Greenwich—introduction of Italian style of Palladian architecture.
1616	Death of William Shakespeare (born 1564)
1618–1648	Thirty-Years War; began with revolt in Bohemia.
1619	First black slaves arrive in Virginia.
1620	Francis Bacon (1561-1626), Novum Organum, andThe New Atlantis, 1627, prepares foundations for rational scientific experimentation.
1620	Pilgrims land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
1622	Biagio Marini, Scherzi, e canzonette a vna, e due voci…, Parma.
1623	Claudio Monteverdi, Lamento d’Ariana…et con duelettere amorose in genere rapresentativo. Venice.
1625	French establish trading settlements in theCaribbean—export sugar and tobacco.
1628	William Harvey (1578-1657) discovers circulation of the blood.
1630	Dutch establish trading settlements in Brazil—export sugar and silver.
1630	Girolamo Frescobaldi, Primo libro d’arie mvsicali& Secondo libro d’arie mvsicali, Florence.
1630	Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, invades HolyRoman Empire to protect protestant states.
1630	more than 1000 Puritans settle in Massachusetts.
1631	Catholic army under General Tilly sacks Magdelburg.
1632	Galileo, Dialogues Concerning Two World Systems,presents evidence for heliocentric solar system.
1632	Oughtred (1575-1660) invents slide rule.
1633	Inquisition forces Galileo to retract his views.
1636	Marin Mersenne, Harmonie universelle.
1637	René Descartes (1596-1650), Le Discours de la Méthode,establishes modern scientific method; Descartes also invented coordinate geometry.
1638	Galileo, Two New Sciences.
1639	France enters Thirty-Years War.
1641	Giovanni Batista Fontana, Sonate a 1 2. 3. per il Violino,o Cornetto, Fagotto, Chitarone, Violoncino o simile altro Istromento, Venice.
1642-1646	English Civil War.
1642	Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), “The Night Watch”.
1643	Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647) invents barometer.
1644	Barbara Strozzi, Il primo de’ madrigali…, Venice.
1647-1659	French-Spanish war.
1648-1653	French civil war.
1648	Peace of Westphalia ends Thirty-Years War.
1649	Charles I executed.
1649-60	English Republic under Oliver Cromwell banned elaboratechurch music, thereby stimulating secular music composition.
1651	John Playford publishes The English Dancing Master, thefirst book to give the melody and dance instructions for English Country Dancing,which had been around since at least the mid-sixteenth century. Country dances,enjoyed by all levels of society, were danced by groups of four or more, whereas dances such as the Almain, Bouree, and Courante were intended for couples.

Sources:

The Times Atlas of World History, Revised Edition,

edited by Geoffrey Barraclough,

by Times Books Limited, 16 Golden Square, London W1.

The World Chronology of Music, v.1

ML 161

E4 Music

Gordon J. Callon

Director

School of Music

Acadia University

Notes to Cds:

Chanterai – Music of Medieval France,