Of all the European countries, France has one of the longest and best-documented traditions of classical music. French classical music began with the music of the Church, with written records predating the reign of Charlemagne, and has continued in uninterrupted evolution to the present day, including all of the major genres of sacred and secular, instrumental and vocal music. With occasional exceptions, French classical styles have always had an identifiably national character, ranging from the clarity and precision of the music of the late Renaissance to the Impressionistic styles of the early 20th century, and usually paralleling similar trends in the other arts. Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Catholicism. ... Charlemagne (742 or 747 – 28 January 814) (also Charles the Great[1]; from Latin, Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 814. ... Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... Impressionism was a 19th century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists who began publicly exhibiting their art in the 1860s. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...