- Timeline of trends in Italian music
Time line for Music of Italy
Dates for musical periods such as Baroque, Classical, Romantic, etc. are somewhat arbitrary.
All dates are CE.
*c.100-c.500 Early Christian era
**c.230 —Alleluia melodies heard inRome .
**313 — The Roman Emperor Constantine issues theEdict of Milan , granting Roman Christians freedom to worship.
**386 —St. Ambrose introduces vigils and popular psalmody inMilan .
**c.425 —Pope Celestine I officially introduces the responsorial singing of aGradual psalm in the Roman Mass.
**c.425 —Cassian, Bishop of Brescia , adapts Egyptian monastic psalmody to Western usage.
**476 — Rome falls to theOstrogoths , which is often used to mark the beginning of theMiddle Ages .
**c.495 —Boethius writes the "De institutione musica", which becomes the standard - if somewhat inaccurate - textbook on the Ancient Greek musical scales.*c.500-c.1400 Italian Medieval Music.
**c.530 — St. Benedict arranges the weekly order of monastic psalmody in his "Rule".
**530-609 —Venantius Fortunatus creates some of Christianity's most enduring hymns, including "Vexilla regis prodeunt"," later the most popular hymn of theCrusades .
**536 — UnderJustinian 's orders,Belisarius recaptures Rome from the Ostrogoths and reestablishes Byzantine rule in Italy. Northern Italy soon falls to theLombards .
**590-604 — Reign ofPope Gregory the Great , who reformed Church bureaucracy and unified the liturgy. Carolingian chant would later, somewhat misleadingly, be calledGregorian chant in his honor.
**c.650 — The Roman "schola cantorum", the trained papal choir, is founded.
**c.700 —Pope Sergius I introduces theAgnus dei into the Roman Mass.
**early 8th c. — The Roman Stational Mass is recorded, in which the Pope presided over Masses in a series of cities.
**785-6 — AtCharlemagne 's request,Pope Hadrian I sends a papalsacramentary with Roman chant, which only includes certain major holy days, to theCarolingian court inFrancia . Charlemagne assigns Alcuin the task of completing an official compendium of Roman chants for the whole year. This led to the introduction of Gallican elements into the Roman chant cycle, creating Carolingian chant, later called Gregorian chant.
**mid-9th c. —Moslem s invade Italy, takingSicily and pressing as far north as Rome.
**998 -Pope Gregory V requests a copy of the Reichenau sacramentary, typifying the collapse of the manuscript tradition in Italy and the power shift to theOttonian Holy Roman Empire.
**11th c. — The first extantAmbrosian chant s are written down. The Milanese chronicler Landulphus relates the tale that Charlemagne placed a Gregorian and an Ambrosian sacramentary side by side on an altar. When they both flew open together, it was a sign that both traditions were valid. Milanese chant is the only non-Gregorian chant tradition to survive in the West.
**1014 — At his imperial coronation Mass, the German Holy Roman Emperor Henry II asks for theCredo to be sung, as was the custom in German Masses. This was the last of the ordinary chants to be added to the Roman Mass.
**c.1020 —Guido d'Arezzo describes themusical staff ,solmization , and theGuidonian hand in his "Micrologus". This early form of do-re-mi created a technical revolution in the speed at which chants could be learned, memorized, and transmitted.
**1058 —Pope Stephen IX outlaws the localBeneventan chant ofBenevento andMontecassino .
**1197-1250 — Frederick II, the last greatHohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily, encourages music at the Sicilian court. Sicily becomes a refuge for troubadours displaced by theAlbigensian Crusade and a melting pot of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim musical styles.
**13th c. — The local chant tradition of Rome, which scholars now callOld Roman chant , gives way to Gregorian chant.
**1209-29 — TheAlbigensian Crusade . Supposedly to attack Cathar heretics, it brought southern France under northern French control and crushed Occitan culture and language. Most troubadours fled, especially to Spain and Italy.
**c.1250-1350 — Italianflagellant s develop the Italian folk hymns known as spiritual laude.
**mid-13th c. —Sordello ofMantua active as a "trovatore", an Italiantroubadour .
**1265-1321 —Dante Alighieri . Dante champions the poetic use of the vernacular tongue. Strongly influenced bytroubadour culture, he analyzed the troubadour verse forms, included troubadours and "trovatori" in the Divine Comedy, and strongly considered writing in Occitan rather than Tuscan.
**1304-74 — The Italian poetPetrarch , whose poems were frequently set to music.
**1317-c.1319 — Marchettus of Padua writes major treatises onplainchant andpolyphony , expounding a theory of rhythmic notation that paved the way fortrecento (Italian "ars nova ") music.
**c.1335 — The "Rossi Codex ", the earliest extant collection of Italian secular polyphony, and a major source of early trecento music, including examples of early "madrigals", "cacce", and "ballate".
**c.1360 — Death ofJacopo da Bologna , the first famous trecento composer.
**c.1360 — The "Ivrea Codex", a major source of late trecento music.
**c.1397 — Death ofLandini , the famous blind trecento composer, known for his characteristic "Landini cadence ."
**c.1411 — Death ofJohannes Ciconia , the first northern European of stature to compose music in the Italian style. He synthesized the French and Italian styles, presaging the "international" music typical of the Renaissance.
**1410-1415 — Compilation of the "Squarcialupi Codex ", the largest source of trecento music.*c.1400-c.1600 Italian Renaissance Music.
**c.1420-c.1490 — Composition of polyphonic music enters a slow period. More great Italian performers than composers are known from this time. Rise of the influentiald'Este andMedici political dynasties.
**1446 — Death of Leonardo Giustinian, noble performer and anthologist.
**1454-5 — ThePeace of Lodi shifts the balance of power among the powerful families of northern Italy.
**1470s — Franco-Flemish composers such asJosquin andCompère are hired as professional musicians in the courts of Milan.
**c.1480-c.1520 — The light, courtly music known as the "frottola " flourishes in theMantua n court ofIsabella d'Este , composed by such composers asMarchetto Cara andBartolomeo Tromboncino .
**c.1500 — The witty, earthy songs of theFlorentine carnival, the "canti carnascialeschi", are in vogue.
**1501 —Ottaviano dei Petrucci publishes the "Odhecaton", the first substantial collection of printed polyphonic music.
**1516 — Andrea Antico publishes the earliest printed Italian music for keyboard.
**1525 —Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina born (d. 1594).
**1527-1562 —Adrian Willaert 's tenure at St. Mark's inVenice , where he developed the Venetian tradition of music for double chorus.
**1528 — Castiglione's "The Book of the Courtier " recommends proficiency at music as a courtly virtue.
**1537 — "Santa Maria di Loreto", the first music conservatory, is opened inNaples .
**1543 — Death of Francesco Canova da Milano, famous lutenist, and the first native Italian musician to achieve an international reputation.
**mid-16th c. — Italy is the premier center of harpsichord construction.
**mid-16th c. — The classic Italian madrigal thrives, though largely composed by non-Italians, frequently usingPetrarchan sonnet s and text painting. Lighter music is represented by the "villanella ", which originated in the popular song inNaples and spread throughout Italy.
**1550s — Composers such asOrlando di Lasso andCipriano de Rore experiment withchromaticism .
**1558 —Gioseffo Zarlino publishes the "Istitutioni harmoniche", the leading source of practical musical theory of the Renaissance, and the first music theory to seriously address invertiblecounterpoint .
**1559 — Antonio Gardano publishes "Musica nova", whose politically pro-republican partisan songs please the northern Italian republics and rile the Church.
**1562-3 — TheCouncil of Trent bans most paralitugical music, including all but four Sequences. A ban on all liturgical polyphony is debated, and music is required to have clear words and a pure, uplifting style.
**1564 — Violin production starts inCremona in the workshop of Andrea Amati.
**1567 — Birth ofClaudio Monteverdi
**1579 — Pietro Vinci, founder of the Sicilian polyphonic school, publishes his second book of madrigals.
**1580 —Vincenzo Galilei publishes "Dialogo della Musica".
**1580-97 — TheConcerto delle donne sing virtuosic women's choral music in the court ofFerrara under the direction ofLuzzasco Luzzaschi .
**1585 — Founding in Rome of the musical confraternity that would become theAccademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia .
**1590 — Monteverdi's first book of madrigals published, including "Ecco mormorar l'onde."
**1597 —Jacopo Peri 's "La Dafne", the "first opera", is staged at Palazzo Corsi inFlorence .*c.1600-c.1725 Italian Baroque Music.
**1605 —Claudio Monteverdi 's fifth book of madrigals opens with a defense of the "seconda pratica" ofCipriano de Rore ,Luca Marenzio ,Giaches de Wert , and his own music, in which the music evokes stronger emotion through increasing use of dissonance and a stronger harmonic progression based on a more independent bass line, presaging the musical developments of the Baroque.
**1607 — Monteverdi's first opera, "Orfeo ".
**1611 —Carlo Gesualdo publishes his sixth book of madrigals, including the highlymannerist "Moro, lasso."
**1614 — The "Editio medicea" of Gregorian chant is published, rewriting the old modal chant according to the contemporary aesthetic style.
**1623 —Salomone Rossi publishes arrangements of "The Song of Solomon" using Hebrew texts and Italian polyphonic style.
**1637 — Europe's first opera house, the "Teatro Tron", opens in Venice.
**1644 — Violin maker,Antonio Stradivari born (d. 1737).
**1660 — Birth ofAlessandro Scarlatti (d. 1725).
**1709 — First "fortepiano" (modern piano) built byBartolommeo Cristofori inFlorence .
**1718 — Alessandro Scarlatti's "The Triumph of Honour" paves the way for Italiancomic opera .
**1725 — Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" published.*c.1725-c.1825 Italian Classical Music and Comic Opera
**1737 — The "Teatro San Carlo " opens inNaples .
**1753 — Pergolesi's"La Serva Padrona " ("The Servant Mistress"), plays inParis and starts a continental rage for Italiancomic opera .
**1760 — "La Cecchina" by Niccolò Piccinni, later praised by Verdi as the first true Italian comic opera.
**1778 — The "Teatro alla Scala"—La Scala —opens inMilan .
**1792 — Birth of G. Rossini (d. 1868).
**1797 — Birth ofGaetano Donizetti (d. 1848).
**1801 — Birth ofVincenzo Bellini (d. 1835).
**1813 — Birth ofGiuseppe Verdi (d. 1901).
**1816 — Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" performed for the first time.*c.1825-1900 Italian Romantic Music.
**1828 — Debut of violinist Paganini inVienna .
**1829 — Rossini's last opera, "William_Tell_(opera)".
**1831 — "Norma", opera by Bellini.
**1832 — "Elisir d'amore", opera by Donizetti.
**1835 — First festival of theCanzone Napoletana , the Neapolitan song.
**1842 — "Nabucco ", Verdi's first successful opera.
**1847 — "MacBeth", opera by G. Verdi.
**1858 — Birth ofGiacomo Puccini (d. 1924).
**1886 — "Otello ", opera by G. Verdi.
**1890 — "Cavalleria Rusticana ", important realist opera byPietro Mascagni .
**1896 — "La Bohème ", opera by Puccini.*c.1900-present Modern Italian Music.
**1900 — "Tosca", opera by Puccini
**1902 — TenorEnrico Caruso , stung by criticism, leaves Italy for America.
**1907 —Ferruccio Busoni publishes "Sketches for a New Musical Aesthetic.
**1914 — "The Fountains of Rome", prominent orchestral piece byOttorino Respighi .
**1922 — Death ofAlessandro Moreschi , last Vaticancastrato singer.
**1924 —Arturo Toscanini conducts Puccini's last opera "Turandot" at "La Scala" in Milan.
**1925 — Italian radio starts to broadcast music programs.
**1951 — FirstSan Remo Festival of Italian popular music.
**1953 — First edition of theRavello Festival .
**1954 — "Tarantella Napoletana", first Italian film musical.
**1958 — First edition of "Canzonissima", popular TV song festival; first edition of the "Festival dei Due Mondi " in Spoleto.
**1994 — The National Symphony Orchestra of the RAI (Italian Radio & Television) is formed, uniting the earlier orchestras of Torino, Milan, Rome and Naples. Based in Torino.
**1996 — Founding of CEMAT (Federation of Italian Electroacoustic Music Centers), with the purpose of promoting the activity of Italian computer music research and production centers.
**2002 — "Parco della Musica", a vast multi-auditorium musical venue, one of the largest in the world, opens in Rome.
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