Preceden

Music

Composers

Hildegard of Bingen

1098 - 1179

Guillaume de Machaut

1300 - 1377

Josquin des Prez

1450 - 1521

Jacques Arcadelt

1507 - 1568

Tielman Susato

1515 - 1571

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

1525 - 1594

John Farmer

1570 - 1603

Chiara Margarita Cozzolani

1602 - 1676

Henry Purcell

1659 - 1695

Antonio Vivaldi

1678 - 1741

George Frideric Handel

1685 - 1759

Johann Sebastian Bach

1685 - 1750

Joseph Haydn

1732 - 1809

William Billings

1746 - 1800

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

1756 - 1791

Ludwig van Beethoven

1770 - 1827

Franz Schubert

1797 - 1828

Hector Berlioz

1803 - 1869

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel

1805 - 1847

Frédéric Chopin

1810 - 1849

Robert Schumann

1810 - 1856

Giuseppi Verdi

1813 - 1901

Richard Wagner

1813 - 1883

Stephen Foster

1826 - 1864

Louis Moreau Gottschalk

1829 - 1869

Johannes Brahms

1833 - 1897

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

1840 - 1893

Edvard Grieg

1843 - 1907

Songs

Alleluia, O virga mediatrix (Alleluia, O mediating branch)

1150

Texture: Monophonic
Genre: Plainchant

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ol_QffDhE

Gaude Maria virgo (Rejoice, Virgin Mary)

1225

Texture: Monophonic and three-part polyphony
Genre: Organum for three voices

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evBEmGdbsTk

Ma fin est mon commencement (My end is my beginning)

1350

Texture: Polyphonic
Genre: Polyphonic Chanson

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHGA8SNWJrc

Ave Maria . . . virgo serena (Hail Mary . . . gentle Virgin)

1480

Texture: 4-voice polyphony and homophony
Genre: Latin motet

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UStX-kdE-tM

Il bianco e dolce cigno (The White and Sweet Swan)

1538

Texture: Mostly homophonic
Genre: Italian madrigal

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3I_nMcyljc

Three Dances

1551

Texture: Mostly homophonic
Genre: Ronde (round dance), an instrumental dance characterized by a fast tempo and lively rhythms

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvx7n4Bk02k

Gloria, from Pope Marcellus Mass

1567

Texture: Mixed (homorhythmic and imitative polyphony)
Genre: Sacred choral work, movement from the Ordinary of the Mass

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIvs7C2nW88

Fair Phyllis

1599

Texture: Varied (polyphonic, homorhythmic, monophonic)
Genre: English madrigal

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE_7aqtgquo

Magnificat

1650

Texture: Shifts between homophonic ensemble sections and two-voiced duets; some imitation

Genre: Music for Vespers

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I55QeFSEdNM

Dido and Aeneas, Act III, Lament

1689

Tempo: Andante
Genre: English Opera

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlKInTJKuZM

Dido and Aeneas, Act III, Opening

1689

Instrumentation: String quartet
Genre: English opera

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYk6WQJb5Ik

Alla hornpipe

1717

Tempo: Fast tempo
Meter: Triple

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8Wahxcg8ro

Spring, from The Four Seasons (La primavera, from Le quattro stagioni),

1725

Texture: Homophonic
Genre: Programmatic concerto for solo violin

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa0_SabqfC0

Cantata No. 140, Wachet auf (Sleepers, Awake), No. 1

1731

Texture: Polyphonic and imitative
Genre: Chorale fantasia

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY6O3MSBY3Y

Contrapunctus 1, from The Art of Fugue

1740

Texture: Polyphonic

Genre: The first piece in a cycle of contrapuntal works exploring the compositional possibilities of a single theme. Other works by Bach of this type include the Goldberg Variations and The Musical Offering.

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HohFSu9H49A

Messiah, No. 18

1742

Meter: 12/8

Genre: Oratorio, in 3 parts. Part 1 is the Christmas section; part 2 is the Easter section, and part 3 tells of the redemption of the world through faith

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvNn-o35xo8&list=RDPvNn-o35xo8

Messiah, No. 44

1742

Texture: Mixed (homophony, monophony, and polyphony)
Genre: Oratorio, in 3 parts. Part 1 is the Christmas section; part 2 is the Easter section, and part 3 tells of the redemption of the world through faith.

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usfiAsWR4qU

David’s Lamentation

1778

Texture: Homorhythmic, four-part chorus, with solos and duets.
Genre: Anthem

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zstoz5dyBQg

Piano Concerto in G Major, K. 453, I

1784

Instrumentation: Solo Piano
Genre: Piano concerto

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFxlZ68CnSY
Link to song:

Don Giovanni (Act I, Scene 2)

1787

Texture:
Genre: Opera buffa

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFKXnMDFFAU

Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music), First Movement

1787

Texture: Homophonic
Genre: Serenade

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSL5-wxgvFY

Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music), Third Movement

1787

Texture: Homophonic
Genre: Serenade

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aI2Jbprp2w

Dies irae, from Requiem

1791

Genre: Requiem Mass
Texture: Homophonic

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MQf-86ikvM

Symphony No. 100 in G Major (Military), II

1794

Meter: Duple
Texture: Homophonic

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeuLhSGv80g

String Quartet, Op. 76, No. 3 (Emperor), II

1797

Texture: homophonic, moving toward polyphonic
Genre: String quartet

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxJrCR1Yn6c

Piano Sonata in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (Moonlight), I

1801

Texture: Homophonic and polyphonic
Genre: Piano sonata

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoZsMA9lsc0

Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67, I

1807

Texture: Mixed (homophony and polyphony)
Genre: Symphony

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2qW6fOtAMY

Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67, III & IV

1808

Texture: Mixed (mostly homophonic)
Genre: Symphony

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kctzvUY5txM

Elfking (Erlkönig)

1815

Texture:
Genre: Lied, or solo song

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS91p-vmSf0

Symphonie fantastique, IV March to the Scaffold

1830

Genre: program symphony
Texture: Homophonic

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwCuFaq2L3U

Mazurka in B-flat Minor, Op. 24, No. 4

1833

Meter: Triple
Genre: Piano solo

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNeC-6SuLS4

In the Lovely Month of May, from A Poet’s Love (Dichterliebe)

1840

Texture: Homophonic
Genre: Lied from song cycle

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPCmuKGYek0

September: At the River, from The Year (Das Jahr)

1841

Texture: Polyphonic
Genre: Character piece from programmatic cycle

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_zZw0p5Tv8

Rigoletto, Act III, excerpts

1851

Meter: Triple
Genre: Italian Opera

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWRw5wjDn50

Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair

1854

Texture: Mostly homophonic
Genre: Ballad

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-SbWVE2umU

The Banjo (Le banjo: Fantasie grotesque)

1855

Genre: Piano fantasy
Tempo: Fast

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Qgc-q-Ic0

Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Act III, Finale

1870

Texture: Polyphonic texture
Genre: German music drama, second in cycle of 4 (The Ring of the Nibelung)

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0kgZLuJJQ4

Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Act III, Opening

1870

Genre: German music drama, second in cycle of 4 (The Ring of the Nibelung)

Texture: Polyphonic texture

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05eVjgMEuWs

Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1 (Op. 46), Morning Mood

1874

Genre: Incidental music to a play by Henrik Ibsen
Texture: Homophonic

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzTQ9fjforY

Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1 (Op. 46), In the Hall of the Mountain King

1875

Texture: Homophonic
Genre: Incidental music to a play by Henrik Ibsen

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAiEPUu0iO4

Symphony No. 3 in F Major, III

1883

Genre: Symphony
Texture: Homophonic

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YibZxPFEv8g

The Nutcracker, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

1892

Meter: Duple meter
Genre: Ballet music from which an orchestral suite was made.

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rapf3g_XvCc

The Nutcracker, Trepak

1892

Genre: Ballet music from which an orchestral suite was made

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2ISRMSIyX8