Basically, western music history can be divided into six periods. Musicologists have named these periods based on the different style and genre of music being composed during that time of period. These six periods are:
The Medieval (900-1400)
The Renaissance (1400-1600)
Baroque Period (1600-1750)
Classical Period (1750-1820)
Romantic Period (1820-1900)
20th Century and Contemporary (1900-now)
The Medieval (475-1400)During the Medieval, Roman Catholic Church had a great power on the European society. As a result, music was mainly played to serve religious functions. All the official chants of the Roman Catholic Church were combined and organized under a big title, which is the Gregorian chant. Pope Gregory I is the first person who put these music together. Composers of these chant remained unknown. These chants are mostly vocal music, without strict tempo and strong rhythmic sense. Of course, people of that time still play music other than sacred music (religious music). Music which does not serve the religious functions is called secular music. One of the famous composers who composed secular music is
Guillaume de Machaut.
The Renaissance (1400-1600)Similar to the Medieval, vocal music was still the most popular genre in Renaissance. Some composers wrote vocal music with instrumental accompaniment; some composers composed a capella vocal music (vocal music without instrumental accompaniment). During this period, composers started to compose motet and mass. Josquin Des Prez is regarded as one of the best composers during Renaissance Period. One of his last and best compositions is the
Missa Pange lingua. This Mass is set in five parts, which are
Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and
Agnus Dei. This mass is composed based on the melody of the hymn
Pange lingua gloriosi.
Baroque Period (1600-1750)The power of Roman Catholic Church during Baroque Period was not so strong. Musicians mostly worked for the royal courts. As a result, music was mainly dedicated to the court. Besides that, composers started to compose opera. The earliest opera score that survives until today is Claudio Monteverdi's
L'Orfeo. It was composed for the court of Mantua in 1607.
Composers like Bach and Handel composed in the polyphonic texture. They also followed strict theoretically rules in composing. For instance, Bach composed 48 preludes and fugues for piano. Fugue in Baroque Period has the strictest form compared to other forms of compositions. Contrapuntal style and imitations were mainly used in Bach and Handel’s works.
Classical Period (1750-1820)Composers in this period got bored of writing complicated music. They started to compose music which is please to ears but not complicated. Famous composers like Mozart and Haydn mostly composed in homophonic texture (melody and accompaniment). Besides that, symphony, sonata and concerto for individual instrument became the mainstream of compositions.
Majority of the composers during Classical Period worked for the royal court. Mozart was the first man who tried to work away from the court. His ambition to work as a freelance musician was successful but he suffered in poverty. On the other hand, Beethoven succeeded Mozart and worked as a freelance composer for his whole life.
Romantic Period (1820-1900)During the Romantic Period, generally composers no longer focused on the form of music. They composed music based on what they wanted to express. For instance, Schumann composed his 1st Symphony to express his love towards his wife, Clara Schumann. Furthermore, programmatic music was being introduced. Work like Berlioz’s
Symphonie Fantastique was composed based on a storyline.
Due to the World War II, some composers did not able to return to their home country. Therefore, they expressed themselves by composing music using the elements of their countries’ folk tunes. This style of music is called Nationalism. For instance, Chopin who did not have a chance to return to Poland composed many Mazurkas (Poland’s traditional dance).
20th Century and Contemporary (1900-now)As composers are exposed to many different style of music, they are not limited to write in only one genre of music. For example, Schoenberg is famous of his atonal music and twelve-tone series music but he also composed tonal music. There are still some significant genres of music being developed during this period such as Impressionism music, pop music and also electronic music. Due to the development of technology, electronic music and pop music have gained fame and remain as the most common genre now.
