Early music

Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical music.

For other uses, see Early music (disambiguation).
Renaissance-era lute and viol, depicted in a detail from a painting by Francesco Francia
History of
Western classical music
Early music
Medieval c. 500 – c. 1400
 • Ars antiqua c. 1170 – c. 1310
 • Ars nova c. 1310 – c. 1377
 • Ars subtilior c. 1360 – c. 1420
Renaissance c. 1400 – c. 1600
 • Transition to Baroque
Common practice period
Baroque c. 1580 – c. 1750
 • Galant music c. 1720 – c. 1770
 • Empfindsamkeit c. 1740 – c. 1780
Classical c. 1750 – c. 1820
 • Mannheim school c. 1740 – c. 1780
 • Sturm und Drang c. 1770
 • Transition to Romantic
Romantic c. 1800 – c. 1910
Late 19th-, 20th- and 21st-centuries
Modernism c. 1890 – c. 1975
 • Impressionism c. 1890 – c. 1930
 • Expressionism c. 1900 – c. 1930
 • Neoclassicism c. 1920 – c. 1950
 • Serialism c. 1920 – c. 1975
Contemporary from c. 1950
 • Minimalism from c. 1960
 • Postmodernism from c. 1960s
 • Postminimalism from c. 1980
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