CHRONOLOGY OF ARTISTIC CURRENTS IN EUROPEAN CLASSICAL MUSIC

The chronology presented is approximate because periods do not begin and end abruptly, there are transitional areas. Some currents began at different times in some areas compared to the rest of Europe. There are cases when two styles coexisted in the same geographical region.
This map proposes a chronological structure, but the listener will discover that Art does not have clearly defined boundaries: some artists did not fit into a single pattern and made the transition from one layer to another, and certain works are located at the confluence of currents, preserving the old rigor, but exploring the new emotion.
The project stops at Romanticism because copyright laws are more restrictive in music, they do not only target the composition (score), but also the execution (interpretation and audio recording). All sound files of the works included in the map about European Classical Music (selection) are in the public domain or the license allows reproduction in the public domain for educational and non-commercial purposes, with appropriate mention of the sources, without payment of royalties or copyright.

Musical current	Approximate range	Landmarks and context
Medieval	c. 500 – 1400	Dominated by Gregorian chant (monodic) and the early emergence of polyphony.
Renaissance	c. 1400 – 1600	The golden age of vocal polyphony. Clarity, balance and complex sound textures.
Baroque	c. 1600 – 1750	The birth of opera and concerto. Rich ornamentation and mathematical rigor.
Classicism	c. 1730 – 1820	Emphasis on form, order and clarity (Sonata). Period of the great Viennese symphonists.
Romanticism	c. 1815 – 1910	Expression of intense emotion, individualism and orchestral expansion.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CLASSIFYING MUSICAL WORKS INTO CURRENTS, STYLES, GENRES

The Artistic Current (Trend) frames the work in a certain period, expresses the spirit of the era and indicates what was considered beautiful, valuable.
The Style reflects the harmony, melody, rhythm, in a specific imprint. The style can be collective (differentiates national schools) or individual (traces the personal evolution of a composer).
The Genre expresses the function and structure of the work (e.g. Symphony = genre intended for large orchestra, with a certain sequence of parts; Mass = religious genre with fixed text; Opera = dramatic genre, for stage).