Ancient
The earliest known notated work of music is the Seikilos Epitaph. It was written two millenia ago somewhere in the Greek world.
Medieval
Gregorian plainchant was common in most of the Christian world for hundreds of years. It was named after Pope Gregory because he made the effort to standardize this kind of music in churches across Europe.
Renaissance
Spanning the 15th and 16th centuries, Renaissance music emphasized rich polyphony, in contrast to the monophony of Gregorian plainchant. There were secular madrigals as well as sacred music. Venice was a major center of Renaissance music, just like Vienna was a major center of Classical music.
Giovanni Gabrieli (1556 – 1612)
Gabrieli led the Venetian School of music. He made use of several choirs and instrumental ensembles spread out to create varied textures in the wide space of the San Marco basilica.
Claudio Monteverdi (1567 – 1643)
Monteverdi is often regarded as the founder of opera. His most famous work is L’Orfeo, first performed in 1607. He also wrote sacred music.
Baroque
The Baroque era started in 1600 and ended in 1750 with the death of one of its foremost composers, Johann Sebastian Bach. Baroque music emphasized counterpoint and rich ornamentation, and aimed to move the affections.
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)
The greatest of the Italian Baroque composers, Vivaldi’s most famous work is The Four Seasons. He was a priest and taught girls to play violin. He wrote excellent music for female choir and orchestra, such as the famous Gloria.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)
Best known for his vocal music – cantatas, oratorios, mass – and his keyboard music, Bach was a devout Lutheran, famous organist, and master of the fugue.
Handel (1685 – 1759)
Author of the famous oratorio Messiah, which has been performed every year since its initial performance in 1742, Handel wrote music in many genres.
Classicism
Classicism in music, most prominently defined by the Viennese composers Mozart and Haydn, spanned the years 1750 — 1800. It emphasized clarity, elegance, and tuneful melodies.
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809)
Haydn wrote 104 symphonies. He regarded his vocal works as his most significant, until he realized how highly regarded his symphonies were.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)
Mozart is best known for his operas, symphonies, concerti, sonatas, and Requiem. Baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, he only lived to 35.
Romanticism
Romanticism in music spanned most of the 19th century. It emphasized strong emotions, the beauty and raw power of nature, and nationalism.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)
A powerful force of innovation, and one of the founders of Romanticism in music, Beethoven wrote his early works in the Classical tradition. He founded the modern symphony, and is particularly known for the “Destiny” symphony (No. 5) and the “Choral” symphony (No. 9). In his 20s he started losing his hearing, and by the end of his life he was almost completely deaf. However, by force of will, he continued his work.
Franz Peter Schubert (1797 – 1828)
Schubert only lived to 31, but he left a vast oeuvre. Along with Beethoven, he marked the transition from Classicism to Romanticism. His most famous works include the String Quintet and the Winterreise song cycle.
Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883)
Wagner was and still is best known for his operas. He wrote the libretto and the music for each of them. Lohengrin, Der Ring des Nibelungen, and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg are a few of his masterworks.
Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907)
Best known for his incidental music to Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, as well as Lyric Pieces, songs, and Piano Concerto, Grieg incorporated melodies and styles from the Norwegian folk music tradition.
Modern era
Modernism in concert music started around 1900. It emphasized innovation at any cost, and often discarded tonality.
This century saw the dawn of many new styles of music, starting with jazz, and then blues, R&B, rock’n’roll, and the increasingly intense forms of music based on drum rythms, electric guitars, and synthesizers. Electronic music became prominent in the 1980s, as synthetized sounds increasingly replaced acoustic instruments in popular music.