Timeline

Series produced by Vermont Public

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Image by: Vermont Public Radio 

Take a journey into the events, characters and concepts that shaped our Western musical tradition.

Timeline from VPR Classical is an exploration into the development of Western music. Take a journey into the events, characters and concepts that shaped our Western musical tradition. We'll start from the very beginning and trace the steps of music through history. This music, and its history, is ours.


40 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
020 - Henry Purcell
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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The British Isles were in turmoil in the mid-17th century, raked by civil war, plague and a fire that devastated most of London. By the late 1660’...

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  • Added: Aug 12, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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019 - The Development of the Concerto
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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The concerto is a popular genre of instrumental music that was developed during the Baroque. It is characterized by one or more instruments (the c...

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  • Added: Aug 12, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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018 - Origin of the Sonata - Giovanni Gabrieli
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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The Latin word Cantata means “to sing”, the word Sonata means “to play”. That last title is vague enough to cover a multitude of instrumental genr...

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  • Added: Aug 12, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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017 - The Birth of Opera
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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The word opera literally translates as the word “work”; it’s the plural of the noun opus. The dramatic form of opera has its roots deep within the...

  • Added: Aug 12, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
014 - Maddalena Casulana
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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The Renaissance was a time of re-birth as science and the arts changed the face of culture. However, some old ideas persisted in the midst of this...

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  • Added: Aug 12, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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013 - Madrigals
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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The madrigal offered composers a means to break the strict rules of counterpoint and harmony in order to serve a dramatic end; an important concept...

  • Added: Aug 12, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
015 - Claudio Monteverdi
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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There are individuals in music history that stand as pillars, whose life and work help us delineate the various eras of musical practice. One such...

  • Added: Aug 12, 2020
  • Length: 02:59
016 - The Doctrine of the Affections and the Baroque
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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The aesthetic basis of baroque music, from Monteverdi to J S Bach, was greatly influenced by a concept called the doctrine of affections. In 4th C...

  • Added: Aug 12, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
012 - Reformation and Counter-Reformation
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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Explore the influence the Reformation and Counter-Reformation had on the world of music including the work of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.

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  • Added: Apr 22, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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011 - Canon and Imitation
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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Explore the development of imitation, or canon, as a tool of harmony and musical in the works of Josquin Deprez and Johannes Ockeghem.

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  • Added: Apr 22, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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010 - Petrucci and the Art of Music Publishing
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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Learn how Ottaviano Petrucci basically invented the art of music publishing.

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  • Added: Apr 22, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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009 - Guillame Du Fay
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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Discover the music of the 15th Century French composer Guillame Du Fay and how the lines that defined secular and sacred music began to blur in the...

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  • Added: Apr 22, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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008 - Ars Antiqua vs. Ars Nova
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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Discover the writings of French theorist, poet, philosopher and composer Philippe de Vitry.

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  • Added: Apr 22, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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007 - Troubadours - Bernart de Ventadorn
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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Troubadors, or trouveres, were French composers and performers of secular lyrical poetry and song beginning in the late 11th Century.

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  • Added: Apr 22, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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006 - Hildegard of Bingen
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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Hildegard of Bingen was a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, abbess, polymath, and a literal visionary of the 12th Century.

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  • Added: Apr 22, 2020
  • Length: 02:59
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005 - Leonin and Perotin
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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Learn about anonymity and authorship in the Middle Ages.

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  • Added: Apr 22, 2020
  • Length: 02:58
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004 - Guido de Arezzo
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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Learn about one of the first music theorists in our Western musical tradition.

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  • Added: Apr 22, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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003 - The Birth of Musical Notation
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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Discover how the practice of writing down music began.

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  • Added: Apr 22, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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002 - Pythagoras - Music and Math
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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Discover the connection between mathematics and music that has been there since the beginning.

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  • Added: Apr 21, 2020
  • Length: 03:00
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001 - Ancient Musical Notation
From: Vermont Public
Series: Timeline
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Explore the earliest examples of written music in history.

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  • Added: Apr 21, 2020
  • Length: 02:58
  • Purchases: 1