| Year |
World Events |
Significant Musical Events |
Composer Births & Deaths |
| 1600 |
· William Adams is first Englishman to visit Japan
· telescope invented in Holland
·
Shakespeare: Hamlet |
· Harp is first used in orchestras
· The recorder gains popularity in England
· John Dowland: Flow, My Tears |
|
| 1601 |
Tycho Brahe, scientist and astronomer, dies from uremic poisoning |
Thomas Morley: Triumphs of Oriana |
|
| 1602 |
· Dutch East India Company becomes first modern public business
· Persia and Turkey engage in war lasting 25 years |
|
Francesco Cavalli born |
| 1603 |
· Queen Elizabeth I dies
· Plague outbreak in England
·
Sir Walter Raleigh tried and imprisoned for his role to dethrone King James I |
Monteverdi publishes fourth book of madrigals |
|
| 1604 |
Oxford and Cambridge Universities granted Parliamentarian representation |
· John Dowland: Lachrimae
·
Posthumous publication of 516 motets by Orlando di Lasso: Magnum Opus Musicum |
Heinrich Albert born |
| 1605 |
· Boris Godunov dies
· Guy Fawkes arrested in plot to kill James I
· Shakespeare: Macbeth
· Cervantes: Don Quixote, Part I
· Biblioteca Anglica becomes first public library in Rome |
· Monteverdi publishes fifth book of madrigals
· Thomas Luis de Victoria: Officium Defunctorum |
Giacomo Carissimi born |
| 1606 |
· Over 120 colonists are sent to Virginia
· Guy Fawkes sentenced to death
· Proportional compass invented by Galileo |
First open-air opera (Rome) |
|
| 1607 |
· Jamestown founded
· Parliament nixes plans for union of England and Scotland into one country |
· William Byrd: Gradualia
· Claudio Monteverdi: Orfeo |
|
| 1608 |
· Netherlands introduces use of checks in commerce
· Paraguay founded as a Jesuit State |
· Monteverdi: Lamnto d'Arianna
· Girolamo Frescobaldi becomes organist at St. Peter's Basilica (Rome) |
|
| 1609 |
· Henry Hudson explores Delaware Bay and Hudson River
· Europe receives first shipment of tea from China |
Orlando Gibbons' Three-Part Fantasies are first example of engraved music in England |
|
| 1610 |
· Thomas West named first Virginia governor
· Henry, son of James I, becomes first Prince of Wales
· Sunspots discovered by Harriott |
Michael Praetorius publishes a collection of more than 1,200 hymns: Musae Sioniae |
|
| 1611 |
· James I dissolves English Parliament
· King James Bible published
· A scientific explanation of the rainbow is published |
William Byrd, John Bull and Orlando Gibbons publish a collection of music for performance on the virginal |
|
| 1612 |
· Practice of burning heretics ends in England
· Tobacco becomes regular Virginia crop
· Manhattan Island becomes commerce center for Dutch trading |
Orlando Gibbons: First Set of Madrigals & Motets |
Giovanni Gabrielli died |
| 1613 |
· Romanov dynasty begins in Russia
· Globe Theatre burns down |
Pietro Cerone writes one of first overviews of music history: El Malopeo y Maestro |
|
| 1614 |
· James I dissolves Parliament (again)
· Sir Walter Raleigh: The History of the World
· Pocahontas marries John Rolf |
· Sir William Leighton: 54 Psalms
· Marco da Gagliano: Masses and Motets
· Girolamo Frescobaldi: Toccata di Cembalo |
|
| 1615 |
· Galileo Galilei makes first appearance before the Inquisition for his scientific statements
· Cervantes: Don Quixote, Part 2 |
The Music Academy of Bologna is founded |
|
| 1616 |
· Death of William Shakespeare
· Sir Walter Raleigh released from prison to lead expedition in search of El Dorado
· Catholic Church forbids Galileo from future scientific work |
Prague's Musicum Collegium founded |
Johann Jakob Froberger born |
| 1618 |
· Sir Walter Raleigh returns to England, his search for El Dorado unsuccessful, and is promptly executed
· Johannes Kepler publishes Third Law of Planetary Motion |
|
Giulio Caccini died |
| 1619 |
· First African slaves arrive in Virginia
· First representative colonial assembly (Virginia)
· William Harvey, a physician at St. Bart's (London), announces discovery of blood circulation |
· Publication of Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, a compilation of early English keyboard music
· Heinrich Schutz: Psalms
· Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck: Cantiones Sacrae |
|
| 1620 |
· Led by Miles Standish, pilgrims land at Plymouth Colony, Massachusetss
· French nobles rebel against Louis XIII |
· Michael Praetorius publishes one of the first musical encyclopedias: Syntagma Musicum
· Monteverdi publishes Seventh Book of Madrigals |
|
| 1621 |
· Francis Bacon tried on corruption charges, imprisoned, pardoned by King
· Paper by Johannes Kepler: The Epitome of the Copernican Astronomer: banned by Catholic Church |
|
· Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck died
· Michael Praetorius died |
| 1623 |
|
|
William Byrd died |
| 1624 |
· First English settlement in India
· England and Spain go to war
· Cardinal Richelieu made France's First Minister |
· Monteverdi: Il Combattimento di Trancredi
· Marco da Gagliano: La Regina Sant' Orsola |
|
| 1625 |
|
Heinrich Schutz: Cantiones Sacrae |
Orlando Gibbons died |
| 1626 |
· Peter Minuit buys Manhattan Island for merchandise worth 60 guilders ($24)
· Rubens: Assumption of the Virgin
· Francis Bacon dies
· Cardinal Richelieu achieves supreme political power in France |
Oxford University creates position of Music Professor |
Giovanni Legrenzi born |
| 1627 |
· Johannes Kepler's Rudolphine Tables gives position of more than 1,000 fixed stars
· Rembrandt: The Money-Changer |
Dafne, by Heinrich Schutz, becomes first German opera. |
|
| 1628 |
· Taj Mahal built
· Patriarch of Constantinople presents Charles I with Alexandrian Codex |
· Marco da Gagliano: Flora
· Heinrich Schutz studies under Monteverdi |
John Bull died |
| 1629 |
· Massachusetts colony founded
· Charles I dissolves Parliament (and it won't meet again for the next 11 years)
· Thucydides Peloponnesian War is translated into English by Thomas Hobbes |
Heinrich Schutz: Sinfoniae Sacrae |
|
| 1630 |
· Death of Johannes Kepler
· Puritan leader John Winthrop founds Boston and becomes first governor of Massachusetts |
Girolamo Frescobaldi: Arie Musicale |
Johann Hermann Schein died |
| 1632 |
Charles I charters Maryland Colony (to be controlled by Lord Baltimore) |
|
Jean Baptiste Lully born |
| 1635 |
· Connecticut colonization begins
· Tobacco in France can only be purchased by doctor's prescription
· Rembrandt van Rijn: Self-Portrait |
Fiori Musicali di Toccate by Girolamo Frescobaldi is published. It will be a major influence on J.S. Bach. |
|
| 1636 |
· Roger Williams banned from Connecticut, founds Providence (Rhode Island)
· Harvard founded in Cambridge (Mass.) |
Marin Mersenne publishes Harmonie Universelle |
|
| 1637 |
· Japan returns to isolationism: outlaws Christianity, foreign books &
· European influences
· Dutch tulip trade collapses |
The first public opera house opens in Venice |
Dietrich Buxtehude born |
| 1638 |
· Galileo publishes Mathematical Discourses and Demonstrations
· Rubens: The Three Graces
· France & Sweden sign 3-year peace treaty |
· Monteverdi publishes his Eighth Book of Madrigals
· Gregorio Allegri: Miserere |
|
| 1639 |
· Cambridge, Mass. is site of first printing press in North America
· First Bishops' War (Scotland)
· Rubens: Judgment of Paris |
Chi Soffre, Speri by Marazzoli and Mazzochi becomes first comic opera |
|
| 1640 |
· Venice is site of first outdoor cafe
· France occupies Alsace
· Portugal gains independence |
|
John Bull died |
| 1641 |
· Catholic rebellion in Ireland: Ulster Protestant massacre
· Rene Descartes: Meditations Metaphysiques |
Monteverdi: Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria |
|
| 1642 |
· Death of Galileo
· Civil war erupts in England
· Death of Cardinal Richelieu
· Puritans force closing of all theatres in England |
Monteverdi: L'Incoronazione di Poppea |
|
| 1643 |
· Louis XIV (age 5) ascends to French throne
· English Civil War continues
· Barometer invented by Torricelli |
|
· Claudio Monteverdi died
· Girolamo Frescobaldi died |
| 1644 |
· English Civil War continues
· China's Ming dynasty ends
· Rene Descartes: Principia Philosophicae |
|
· Antonio Stradivari born
· Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber born |
| 1645 |
· English Civil War continues
· Rembrandt van Rijn: The Rabbi |
· Jean Baptiste Lully gains royal employment in the French Court
· La Finta Pazza by Francesco Sacrati is first opera to be performed in Paris. |
|
| 1646 |
· English Civil War ends
· Bahama Islands occupied by English
· Rembrandt van Rijn: Adoration of the Shepherds |
|
· Johann Theile born
· Johann Stobaeus died |
| 1647 |
· Treaty of Ulm
· Oxford dismisses all Anglican professors
· First newspaper ad (England) |
|
Pelham Humphrey born |
| 1648 |
· Parliament chronicles Charles I's 'misdeeds' and call for his trial
· Thirty Years War ends
· Rembrandt van Rijn: The Pilgrims at Emmaus |
· Aria and recitative are recognized as distinctly different elements in opera
· Heinrich Schuts: Musicalia ad Chorum Sacrum |
· John Blow born
· Johann Stadlmayr died |
| 1649 |
· Charles I tried, found guilty and beheaded
· England declares that all legal documents must be in English rather than Latin |
|
Giuseppe Torelli born |
