Curated atlas · Culture

History of Western Music

Three centuries of musical evolution — the rise of the orchestra, Romantic virtuosos, blues and jazz, rock and roll, electronic music, and hip-hop.

300 years

300 blocks

38 events

7 stages

1 block = 1 year · 1 row = 25 years300y · 300 blocks

1700

1750

1800

1850

1900

1950

Stages

Timeline ledger

Chronicle

38 events · 7 stages

Baroque era

50y

1700 → 1750

Bach completes The Well-Tempered Clavier

1722

Vivaldi composes The Four Seasons

1725

Handel premieres Messiah

1742

Classical era

70y

1750 → 1820

Mozart born

1756

Haydn's Op. 33 string quartets

1781

Mozart premieres Don Giovanni

1787

Beethoven premieres Symphony No. 5

1808

Schubert composes Erlkönig

1815

Romantic era

90y

1820 → 1910

Beethoven premieres Symphony No. 9

1824

Chopin arrives in Paris

1831

Liszt's virtuoso concert tours

1839

Verdi premieres Aida

1871

Wagner premieres the Ring cycle

1876

Tchaikovsky premieres The Nutcracker

1892

Jazz age & early recording

51y

1894 → 1945

First commercial recordings

1894

Debussy — Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

1894

Scott Joplin publishes Maple Leaf Rag

1899

Stravinsky premieres The Rite of Spring

1913

First jazz recording

1917

Robert Johnson records

1936

Billie Holiday records Strange Fruit

1939

Bebop emerges

1944

Rock and roll revolution

24y

1955 → 1979

Rock Around the Clock

1955

Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show

1956

The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show

1964

Bob Dylan goes electric at Newport

1965

Woodstock festival

1969

Hip-hop born — DJ Kool Herc's party

1973

Kraftwerk releases Autobahn

1974

Sex Pistols release Never Mind the Bollocks

1977

Pop, hip-hop, and electronic music

19y

1980 → 1999

MTV launches

1981

Michael Jackson releases Thriller

1982

Public Enemy — It Takes a Nation of Millions

1988

Nirvana releases Nevermind

1991

Radiohead releases OK Computer

1997

Streaming & digital era

1999 → 2000

Napster disrupts the music industry

1999

iPod and iTunes Store

2003

Spotify launches — streaming takes over

2008

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