Timeline / Before 1800 to 1880 / MUSIC, LITERATURE, DANCE AND FASHION
Date Country Theme
1769 - 1785 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The era of Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) in literature (i.e. the works of Goethe, Schiller, Hölderlin and Herder) is characterised by lyricism, fantasy, freedom, juvenility and idealism, which is felt most keenly in the dramatic writing of the period.
1786 United Kingdom Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Scotland’s most famous poet Robert Burns (b. Alloway, Scotland 1759; d. Dumfries, Scotland 1796) is set to immigrate to the West Indies when a collection of his poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect, is published in the county town of Kilmarnock in 1786. The publication launches Burns’ career.
1786 - 1832 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The Classical era in literature (i.e. the work of Goethe, Schiller, Wieland and Herder) is characterised by a will to preserve beauty, maintain goodness in order to gain harmony, and sees nature as an entity. The centre for this movement in literature is the city of Weimar.
About 1790 - About 1850 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The Romantic movement develops at the beginning of the 19th century under the influence of writers such as François-René de Chateaubriand. The movement, inspired by imagination, individualism, a taste for the outrageous, and exoticism, is marked by the poetry of Alphonse de Lamartine and Victor Hugo and then extends to the theatre with Hugo’s masterpiece Battle of Hernani, and then to literature. Hugo was the uncontested leader of this literary movement. Music and dance were both influenced by Romanticism; in choreography and in costume design (the tutu and points) the feminine was accentuated.
Around 1800 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
"Disire for the orient" arises because of the breakovers around 1800, as the Enlightenment already had changed peoples life to a more rationalistic way of thinking and the scientification of the public. Also the sumless wars, especially the Napoleonic Wars, produced nostalgia and desire for the distance, the unknown, the paradise... Authors and philosophers from the era of romanticism bothered this topics (e.g. Friedrich Schlegel) and they tried to escape into something magical- the orient seemed to be a imaginary world.
1795 - 1848 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The era of Romanticism or Blaue Blume in literature (i.e. the works of Tieck, von Kleist, Hebel, Hoffmann, the Brothers Grimm and von Eichendorff) is characterised by the desire for far-away places, and imbued with irony, passion, nocturnal mystery and mythical creatures.
1809 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Date Country Theme
Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837), philosopher, scholar and one of the greatest Italian poets of all times, writes his first poem.
1810 - 1862 Republic of Macedonia Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion (FYROM)
One of the most prominent Macedonian poets, folklorists and educators, Dimitar Miladinov(1810–62) is born in Struga. He spends most of his life teaching in the Ohrid region. His greatest achievement is the collection of folk songs between 1854 and 1860.
1814 Republic of Macedonia Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion (FYROM)
The first book in Macedonian, History of the Frightening and Second Communion of Jesus, written by Joakim Krchovski (c.1750–1820) is published in Budim. Krchovski was a herald of the Macedonian cultural revival and went on to publish more books on religious matters. In the early 19th century in Macedonia only priests and other Christian dignitaries were educated enough to enlighten Macedonian people through literature in their mother tongue.
1815 - 1848 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The Biedermeier era in literature (i.e. works by Mörike and von Droste-Hülshoff) is characterised by melancholia, a desire to escape to an idyll and to recapture religion and the homeland.
1816 Republic of Macedonia Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion (FYROM)
The book titled Mirror by Kiril Pejchinovic (1771–1845) is published in Budim. This great Macedonian educator was born in Tearce near Tetovo. The first books in Macedonian published in the early 19th century were on religious subjects, which was understandable given that they were written by people of the Church.
1816 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Gioachino Rossini (1795–1868), the young director of the San Carlo Theatre of Naples, the most important opera house at the time, puts on stage in Rome the Barber of Seville. The opera, thanks to its easy and passionate pacing, sets a new benchmark for the light operatic style, namely, the opera buffa (comic opera).
1820s United Kingdom Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
British interest in classical Arabic culture including literature sometimes originates in India where the first printed Arabic version of One Thousand and One Nights is published.
1820 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Les Méditations Poétiques by the Romantic poet Alphonse de Lamartine.
1825 Austria Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Date Country Theme
Johann Strauss creates his Wiener Walzer Kapelle, an orchestra specialising in the Viennese Waltz.
1825 Greece Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The poets Alexandros and Panayotis Soutsos compile their first works, and introduce European Romanticism to a newly liberated Greece.
1825 - 1827 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873) publishes I promessi sposi (The Betrothed), one of the most widely read Italian novels. His use of the Italian language stands out as a model.
1825 - 1848 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
This era, one marked by the politician and statesman Klemens von Metternich, a supporter of restoration politics and conditions prior to the French Revolution, is satirised by the Junges Deutschland, a movement in literature (i.e. the works of Büchner, Heine and Grabbe) that is characterised by a rejection of these beliefs in support of a free press and freedom of expression.
1827 Austria Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Franz Schubert composes his Winterreise.
1828 Greece Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The poem Hymn to Liberty by Dionysios Solomos becomes the Greek National Anthem with music composed by Nikolaos Mantzaros.
1829 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Gioachino Rossini puts on stage in Paris his last opera, Guillaume Tell, featuring the fight of the Swiss people for freedom from Habsburg domination. He wrote 39 operas, characterised by a style aiming at pure musical beauty (bel canto). Great attention is paid to the sound of the voice and to technical virtuosity, with little emphasis on the different dramatic situations and to the personality of the different characters.
1830 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Battle of Hernani, a drama by Victor Hugo.
1831 Turkey Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
11 November: The first newspaper in Ottoman Turkish, Takvim-I Vekayi, published by the state.
1831 - 1835 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Once Rossini has left the stage, his place is taken by Gaetano Donizetti (1797– 1848) and Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835). They introduce the new romantic spirit Date Country Theme into melodrama and establish a tighter link between words and music. Their style is characterised by greater attention to the psychology of the different characters.
1831 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
George Sand (Amantine Aurore Dupin) writes Indiana, a novel about a woman’s emotional journey.
1832 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
La Sylphide is a Romantic ballet by Fillippo Taglioni in which his daughter, Marie, danced en pointe in the title role.
1832 Spain Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Publication of Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra, a collection of essays, verbal sketches and stories that Irving began to write while he was staying in the Alhambra in Granada. The book is influenced by Romanticism and includes Spanish legends and traditions.
1833 Portugal Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The death of Luísa Todi (b. 1753), the most celebrated mezzo-soprano opera singer in Portugal. Luísa began her musical career when she was 14 years old. She performed in major European cities and was invited to perform in the courts of Catherine of Russia and Frederick William of Prussia.
1834 Republic of Macedonia Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion (FYROM)
The birth in Ohrid of Kuzman Shapkarev (1834–1909), eminent Macedonian folklorist, ethnographer, educator and author of textbooks. Owing to his collecting activities a great deal of Macedonian intangible heritage was spared from oblivion. He was a teacher in Ohrid, Bitola, Prilep and Kukush. Later he worked and lived in Sofia. Although his collections of oral folk literature were published as Bulgarian, most of his works originated from Macedonia.
1835 Spain Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The premiere of Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino by the Duke of Rivas marks the beginnings of Spanish Romanticism in the theatre, especially tragedy, further developed in Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla. All the Romantic plays have elements from poetry and novels and some have a historical background.
1835 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Le Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac tells the tragic story of a father’s love for his two daughters.
1840 Turkey Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
3 July: The first newspaper in Ottoman Turkish published by a private individual, Cerîde-I Havâdis (Journal of News), begins to appear in #stanbul as a weekly, published by an English journalist, William Churchill. Date Country Theme
1840 Romania Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Top hats begin to be worn in the United Principalities, where they were called joben, from the name of Jobin, the French merchant who first sold them in Bucharest.
1840s United Kingdom Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Western classical music penetrates the courtly circles of the Ottoman Empire. The imperial Ottoman family includes composers, such as Sultan ‘Abd al-‘Aziz who composes dance music. On a visit to London in 1867, the band of the Grenadier Guards plays one of the Sultan’s own compositions at a reception for him.
1841 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The leading roles in Giselle, a ballet by Adolphe Adam are played by Carlotta Grisi and Lucien Petipa.
1842 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Triumph of Nabuccodonosor by Giuseppe Verdi (1831–1901) at La Scala Theatre (Milan): it marks the appearance of a new operatic style, in which both voice and music show an entirely new heroic passion and strength.
1842 Austria Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The Wiener Philharmoniker is founded. It becomes one of the most famous orchestras in the world.
1846 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Premiere of the opera La damnation de Faust by Hector Berlioz.
1848 Romania Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The premiere at the National Theatre in Ia#i of the first Romanian operetta, Baba Hârca, with a script by poet Matei Millo and music composed by Alexandru Flechtenmacher.
1848 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Donizetti dies and Verdi remains the only heir to the Italian melodrama, which is increasingly identified with the Risorgimento movement, becoming a “sound track” of the Italian fight for independence and unification.
1850 Romania Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
January: the birth of Mihai Eminescu, who is considered to be the most important Romanian poet of the 19th century.
1850 - 1870 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Date Country Theme
Surveillance, spying and so on, creates fear and leads to political persecution of musicians (e.g. both Richard Wagner and Gottfried Semper are forced into exile). Music of this era falls under the label “late Romanticism” (i.e. when emotional expression and freedom of style are enhanced), and new genres are born; i.e. symphonic poetry (Franz List) and musical drama (Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, 1865).
1850s United Kingdom Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The Crimean War brings thousands of British soldiers to Constantinople. After the war, certain innovations can be traced back to it – such as beards! There is a craze for things all things Turkish; the Turkish commander even becomes something of a folk hero in Britain.
1850s - 1870s France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The crinoline underskirt increases the volume of women’s skirts.
1851 - 1853 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Verdi composes the so-called popular trilogy (Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata), consolidating his fame and reaching full musical and dramatical maturity.
1853 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Publication of Victor Hugo’s Les Châtiments.
1855 Turkey Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Ahmed Cevdet Pa#a, historian, jurist and conservative Tanzimat reformer, completes the first volumes of Târih-I Cevdet (History of Cevdet), which deals with Ottoman history, 1774–1826.
1857 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Publication of Gustave Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary.
1859 Turkey Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
#brahim #inasi completes his stage comedy #âir Evlenmesi (Marriage of a Poet), the first theatre play written by an Ottoman Turkish author.
1860 Republic of Macedonia Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion (FYROM)
Grigor Prlichev's epic poem "The Serdar", written in Greek, wins first prize at the annual poetry competition held in Athens. Prlichev (1830–93) was born in Ohrid. This prolific Macedonian poet and translator was a dedicated advocate of introducing the native spoken language in Macedonian schools. He was referred to as a second Homer, having translated the "Iliad" into the Macedonian language.
1860 Turkey Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Date Country Theme
October: Journalists #brahim #inasi and Agah Efendi publish the first private Muslim newspaper Tercümân-# Ahvâl (Interpreter of Events).
1860 - 1874 Greece Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Konstantinos Paparrigopoulos writes a five-volume History of the Greek Nation, a highly influential historiographical work about the continuity of Greek history since antiquity.
1860 - 1870 Republic of Macedonia Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion (FYROM)
Marko K. Cepenkov (1829–1920) was born in Prilep. Among the greatest collectors of Macedonian oral folk literature, during the 1860s he was prolific in recording folklore creations. The importance of his collecting activities lies not only in the volume but also in the diversity of folklore traditions recorded, including proverbs, sayings, tales, songs, riddles, charms, beliefs, dreams and interpretation, and children's games.
1860 Republic of Macedonia Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion (FYROM)
The birth in Prilep of the first Macedonian composer Atanas Badev (d. 1908). He studied music in Russia and was conductor of several school choirs and of the first city choir in Prilep.
1861 Republic of Macedonia Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion (FYROM)
Collection of Macedonian poems compiled by the Miladinov brothers is published in Zagreb. Konstantin Miladinov (1830–62), a prominent Macedonian poet, folklorist and educator is a major contributor. Despite a reference to Bulgarian songs in the title, the folk literature recorded by the Miladinovs originated mostly from the areas of Struga, Ohrid, Prilep, Kukush and Bitola.
1863 Romania Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The literary society Junimea, which had an important role in promoting Romanian literature, is founded in Ia#i. In 1867 it begins publishing a periodical in which the works of Romanian writers appear and also translations from worldwide literature.
1863 Austria Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Bedrich Smetana's (1824–1884) opera Verkaufte Braut (The Bartered Bride) had its first performance in Prague.
1863 Portugal Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Publication of the novel Amor de Perdição (Fatal Love) by Camilo Castelo-Branco (1825–90). Written very quickly, this romance has everything to be a major work of passion: tragic intensity, speed of action, balance of characters and simplicity of style. Date Country Theme
1865 Portugal Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Bom-senso e Bom-gosto (Good Sense and Good Taste) by Antero de Quental (1842–91) is an open letter published as pamphlet, replying to and ridiculing the poetry of António Feliciano de Castilho (1800–75) and urging young writers to take a revolutionary position instead. This controversy became known as the "Questão Coimbrã” (the Coimbra Question).
1866 Greece Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Emmanuel Roidis, one of Greece’s most influential authors, publishes his novel Pope Joan, which is translated into a number of languages.
1866 Greece Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The poet Kostis Palamas publishes his first collection of verse entitled the Songs of My Fatherland. A major figure on the Greek literary scene, Palamas writes the Olympic Anthem and is nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1867 Portugal Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Birth of the poet António Nobre (1867–1900). Só, written during his exile in Paris (1892), is the only work published in his lifetime. The nostalgia of this work, a landmark of the symbolist movement, is tempered by a certain self- irony, alternating a symbolist refined vocabulary with a more colloquial one. He influenced the work of the main Portuguese modernists.
1867 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Premiere of the opera Roméo et Juliet by Charles-François Gounod.
1868 Romania Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
29 April: the Romanian Philharmonic Society is founded by conductor Eduard Wachmann with the aim of organising a permanent symphony orchestra. The inaugural concert takes place in the same year on 15 December.
1868 Portugal Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The birth of José Viana da Motta (d. 1948). Pianist, composer, conductor and pedagogue, he studied piano and composition in Berlin and performed in concerts around the world. He was professor of Piano at the Conservatory of Geneva and Director of the Conservatório Nacional de Lisboa, maintaining his concert career alongside teaching.
1868 Spain Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The “Generation of ‘68” writers begin to publish after the 1868 revolution; the group is named by one of its members, Leopoldo Alas, known as Clarín. Their characteristics are middle-class consciousness and a realist style. Authors in this group include Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, José María Pereda, Benito Pérez Galdós and Emilia Pardo Bazán. Date Country Theme
1868 Turkey Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
29 June: Nam#k Kemal and Ziya Pa#a publish oppositional weekly newspaper in London, where they had fled to.
1870 Turkey Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Ahmed Mithat Efendi (1844–1912), who introduced the novel from the Ottoman community begins to publish Letaif-I Rivayat (Finest Stories), which includes long stories and novellas.
1871 Greece Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Nikolaos Politis publishes the first volume of his pioneering work on Greek folklore, Study of the Life of Modern Greeks: Modern Greek Mythology.
1871 Egypt Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Giuseppe Verdi’s Egyptian-themed Aida premiers in Cairo on 24 December.
1871 Italy Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
24 December: first world performance of the new opera by Verdi, Aida, set in ancient Egypt, at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo.
1872 United Kingdom Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The Italian composer Verdi is commissioned by the Egyptian Khedive to compose the opera Aida for celebrations to mark the opening of the Suez Canal. Later Verdi is also commissioned to compose the Egyptian National Anthem.
1873 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Levi Strauss, a German citizen in exile in America, requests the patent for blue Jeans.
1874 Republic of Macedonia Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion (FYROM)
Beginnings of the Macedonian amateur theatre in Veles initiated by educator and playwright Jordan Hadzi Konstantinov-Dzinot (1821–82). Professional theatres open in the late 19th century. Vojadan Chernodrinski (1875–1951) is considered one of the founders of the Macedonian theatre. The premiere for his best-known play, the tragedy Macedonian Bloody Wedding was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 7 November 1900.
1874 United Arab Emirates (Sharjah) Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The first Emirati historian Abdullah Saleh al-Mutawa’ is born in Sharjah.
1874 Austria Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Date Country Theme
Joseph Strauss composes the opera Die Fledermaus.
1875 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Opening of the Palais Garnier.
1875 Turkey Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Publication of the novel Taa##uk-u Talat ve Fitnat (The Romance of Talat and Fitnat) by #emseddin Sami (1850–1904). This book is considered to be the starting point of the Ottoman novel.
1877 Portugal Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Birth of Teixeira de Pascoaes (d. 1952). This poet was the main representative of the aesthetic and doctrinal movement called “saudosismo”, a form of existentialism, and a leader of the movement Renascença Portuguesa. In 1910 he launched in Porto the magazine A Águia, the main resource of the “saudosismo” movement .
1877 Egypt Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Yaqub Sanu‘ founds the satirical magazine Abu Naddara early in this year. It has immediate and wide appeal to both the literate and the illiterate, who find someone to read it to them.
1879 Romania Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
18–20 January: the National Theatre of Bucharest premieres the comedy A Stormy Night by Ion Luca Caragiale, the greatest Romanian playwright. It is Caragiale’s first staged play and is a great public success.
1880 France Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The Soirées de Médan, a collection of short stories by Guy de Maupassant, Émile Zola, etc., is considered to be the Naturalist manifesto.
1880 Portugal Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Publication of the novella O Mandarim (The Mandarin) by Eça de Queirós (Queiroz) (1845–1900).