The history of music through 40 masterpieces
A journey through the history of music and its evolution along centuries. This list of 40 songs is subjective, questionable and obviously incomplete. It does not pretend to cover all aspects of music history but rather give a brief chronological overview of some of the main styles of music through 40 milestones.
1. Hurrian Hymn To Nikkal
1400 BCE – Syria
The Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal is more than 3,400 years old .These ancient clay tablets are the oldest surviving work of notated music in the world. Discovered in Ugarit, Syria, in the early 1950’s, specialists took decades to decipher the melody from the tablets. The cuneiform music notation shows heptatonic diatonic scales and the melody was played on a nine-stringed lyre, using a tuning method described on other Akkadian tablets and inherited from the old Babylonian period.
2. Prelude in C Major
1722 – Johann Sebastian Bach
The Prelude in C Major (or BWV 846) is the first composition in the Well-Tempered Clavier. It is a 35 bars long piece with harmonic variations on broken chords, a simple but beautiful piece that prefigures modern music.
3. Summer (part 3), from The Four Seasons
1725 – Vivaldi
The Four Seasons (Italian: Le quattro stagioni) is a group of four violin concerti by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. They were published in 1725 in Amsterdam and where a revolution in musical conception in the way the orchestra was expressing the sounds of nature.
1888 – Erik Satie
The Gymnopedies are a series of 3 piano solo compositions by French pianist Erik Satie, from the avant garde movement. Gymnopedie #1 (Lent et douloureux) is a slow and melancholic piece written in 3/4 time that became a success yet at the end of the 19th century and has been interpreted since them by numerous pianists and musicians around the world.
7. The Entertainer
1902 – Scott Joplin
The Entertainer is a famous Ragtime, a musical genre created by afro descendants during the 19th century, that introduced syncopated rhythms to the playing of popular music in America. The ragtime had a tremendous influence on the creation of jazz and was the first afro American music to have such an impact on the evolution of music.
8. El Manisero
1930 – Moisés Simons
El Manisero or Peanut Vendor is one of the first cuban tunes to become widely popular in New York city and has been since them covered thousands if not millions of times
9. Cambalache
1934 – Enrique Santos Discépolo
Cambalache is an argentine tango song from 1934 explicitly critical of 20th-century corruption. The song was banned by a succession of dictatorial governments before censorship was relaxed under General Juan Perón.
10. Cross Road Blues
1937 – Robert Johnson
Cross Road Blues is a song from 1936 composed and performed on acoustic guitar and vocals by Robert Johnson. This song is a great exponent of the Delta Blues and was later popularized by Eric Clapton and Cream during the 1960’s. During these recording sessions from November 1936 in Texas, San Antonio, Johnson recorded 32 songs over 3 days, including the now legendaries Sweet Home Chicago and I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom.
12. Tutti Frutti
1955 – Little Richard
Written by Little Richard and Dorothy LaBostrie, Tutti Frutti is one of the most influential Rock and Roll songs of all time. “A Wop bop a loo mop a lop bamboom!”
13. My Baby Just Cares For Me
1958 – Nina Simone
Written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Gus Kahn, Nina Simone recorded the song in late 1957 for her debut album, Little Girl Blue, released the following year. The track remained relatively obscure until 1987, when it was used in a UK television commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume.
Take Five is a jazz standard composed by saxophonist Paul Desmond and originally recorded in 1959 by the Dave Brubeck Quartet for their album Time Out.The tune became a surprise hit and the biggest-selling jazz single ever. The song features a very peculiar 4/5 rhythm pattern and a legendary drum solo by Joe Morello.
Qongqothwane is a traditional song of the Xhosa people of South Africa. Usually sung at weddings to bring good fortune, it became a universal hit in the early sixties through the interpretation of Miriam Makeeba. The Click Song, a nickname given to the song by European colonials who could not pronounce its Xhosa title, which has many click consonants in it.
Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag was released in 1965 and is considered one of the founding tracks of funk music. the song gave Brown his first Grammy Award, for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording. The taped recording of Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag was edited and sped up for its single release, increasing the tempo and raising the pitch by a half step.
Co-written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the song reached #1 in both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart after its release in 1966. The song features a sitar and became the first song featuring this instrument to be at the top of the charts in the USA and UK.
Castles Made of Sand is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience for their 1967 second album, Axis: Bold as Love. Recorded at the Olympic studios in London, UK, the song features Mitch Mitchell on drums, Noel Redding on bass Jimi Hendrix on guitars and vocals.
A Day in A life is the final track on the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, written by John Lennon and Paul Mc Cartney. This song is widely regarded as one of the finest and most important works in popular music history. The song features a 40-piece orchestra and is also well known for its majestic final chord.
Originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967, Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company covered the song a year later and made a huge success.
![Janis Joplin - Piece of my heart [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Z8ezU30CdwE/sddefault.jpg)
Life on Mars? is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was first released on his 1971 album Hunky Dory and later released in 1973 as a single. The song reached no. 3 in the UK and stayed on the chart for thirteen weeks.
A song by the British rock band Queen, written by Freddie Mercury for the band’s 1975 album A Night at the Opera. It is a six-minute suite, consisting of several sections without a chorus: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part and a coda. The song the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks and eventually became the UK’s third best-selling single of all time.
Message in a Bottle is a song by English rock band The Police written by the band’s lead singer and bassist Sting. The song was released as the lead single from their second studio album, Reggatta de Blanc (1979). Message in a Bottle was the first of their five UK number one singles. Rolling Stone ranked it number 65 on its list of the “100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time”.
Thriller is a single by American singer Michael Jackson, released as a single by Epic Records on January 23, 1984 as the seventh and final single from Jackson’s sixth studio album of the same name. The song was produced by Quincy Jones and was written by Rod Temperton. It is one of the best-selling singles of all time, and the album Thriller is the number once best selling-album of all times.
Smells Like Teen Spirit is the opening track and lead single from the band’s second album, Nevermind. The album reached the top of several albums charts in the USA, Europe and Latin America. The grunge was starting to enter the mainstream.
Take the Power Back is the track #3 on Rage Against the Machine’s debut album, from 1992. Playing mainly a fusion of metal and rap, the band was formed in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello, and drummer Brad Wilk. As of 2010, they have sold over 16 million records worldwide.
36. Creep
1993 – Radiohead
Creep is the debut single by English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 21 September 1992. It appeared on their debut studio album, Pablo Honey (1993).
37. Nas Is Like
1999 – Nas
Nas Is Like is the first single from Nas’ third album I Am.… The song is the sixth collaboration between Nas and producer DJ Premier.
38. Back to Black
2006 – Amy Winehouse
Back to Black is a song by English singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse from her second and final studio album of the same name . It was released by Island Records on 30 April 2007 as the album’s third single. The song was written by Winehouse and Mark Ronson. Back to Black was inspired by Winehouse’s relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, who had left her for an ex-girlfriend.
39. Rubi
2010 – Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté
First track on the album Ali and Toumani by Malian musicians Ali Farka Touré on the guitar and vocals and Toumani Diabaté on the kora. Rubi also features upright bass player from Buena Vista Social Club, Orlando “Cachaito” López.
40. Despacito
2017 – Luis Fonsi
Despacito is a song by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi featuring Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee from Fonsi’s 2019 studio album Vida. Despacito is a mix of reggaeton and latin pop and the song has toped charts of over 43 countries and its video is currently the most viewed Youtube video of all times, with over 7 Billion views!
