Events

January 9 – The elderly Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach reviews Johann Nikolaus Forkel's book Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik in the Hamburgischer unpartheyischer Correspondent.^[1]
January 22 – Composer Ignaz Pleyel marries Franziska Gabrielle Ignatia Lefebvre, daughter of a tapestry maker.^[1]
January 26 – Australia Day: HMS Sirius (1786) leads the First Fleet into landing at Sydney Cove (which will become Sydney) to begin the settlement of Australia; it carries Surgeon George Worgan's London-made square piano which will remain in the country and be donated to the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts collection in 2016.
February 6 – The Kärntnertortheater in Vienna closes, after the German Opera Company disbands.^[1]
February 12 – Antonio Salieri is appointed Imperial Royal Kapellmeister by Emperor Joseph II of Austria, in succession to Giuseppe Bonno, who is forcibly retired.^[1]
March 6 – Domenico Cimarosa, recently invited to St Petersburg by the Empress Catherine II of Russia, premières his La felicità inaspetata, which fails to impress his new patron.^[1]
June 25 – Publication of three string quintets (K.406, 515, 516) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is postponed for a year because of a lack of take-up of subscriptions.^[1]
July 17 – Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf is officially dismissed from his post as Amtshauptmann of Freiwaldau, but actually continues in the position for another seven years.^[1]
November 25 – Three weeks before his death, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach writes his last known letter, to Johann Jacob Heinrich Westphal.^[1]

Opera

Giuseppe Cambini – Le bon pére
Thomas Carter – The Constant Maid, or Poll of Plympton
Luigi Cherubini – Ifigenia in Aulide^[1]
Domenico Cimarosa
- La felicità inaspettata
- La vergine del sole
Franz Danzi – Die Mitternachtsstunde
Giovanni Paisiello
- L'Amor Contrastato
- Fedra, premiered Jan. 1 in Naples
Antonio Sacchini – Arvire et Évélina (posthumous "tragédie lyrique", finished by Jean-Baptiste Rey), premiered April 29.^[1]
Antonio Salieri
- Axur, Re d'Ormus (libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte after Beaumarchais)
- Il Talismano (libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte after Goldoni)
Joseph Weigl – Il pazzo per forza

Classical music

William Billings – The Singing Master’s Assistant (including "Vermont" and "Washington")
Henry Bishop – Six New Minuets and Twelve Country Dances (including "Knoll Park")
Domenico Cimarosa – Atene edificata (cantata)
Muzio Clementi
- 3 Piano Trios, Op.21
- 3 Piano Trios, Op.22
- Keyboard sonata op.24/1^[1]
Michel Corrette – Messe pour le tems de Noël
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf – 6 String Quartets
Jan Ladislav Dussek
- 3 Sonatas for Keyboard with Violin, Op.5
- Three piano sonatas C.41–43^[1]
Joseph-Francois Garnier – Simphonie Concertante for 2 Oboes
Joseph Haydn
- 8 Nocturnes, Hob.II:25–32
- String Quartet in C major, Hob.III:57
- String Quartet in G major, Hob.III:58
- String Quartet in E major, Hob.III:59
- String Quartet in A major, Hob.III:60
- String Quartet in F minor, Hob.III:61
- String Quartet in B-flat major, Hob.III:62
- Baryton Trio in A major, Hob.XI:6
- Baryton Trio in A major, Hob.XI:8
- Symphony No.90 in C major, Hob.I:90
- Symphony No.91 in E-flat major, Hob.I:91
Michael Haydn
- Die Ährenleserin (singspiel)
- Symphony No.37 in D major, MH 476
Pelham Humfrey – O Lord, My God
Frantisek Kotzwara – The Battle of Prague (piano with commentary)
Leopold Kozeluch – Piano Sonata, Op.26 No.3
Anton Kraft – 3 Cello Sonatas, Op. 1
Rodolphe Kreutzer – Violin Concerto No.6 in E minor
Jean-Baptiste Krumpholz – 6 Harp Sonatas, Opp. 13–14
Vicente Martín y Soler – 12 Canzonette Italiane
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- 6 German Dances, K.536
- Ein deutsches Kriegslied, K.539
- Adagio in B minor, K.540 (dated March 19)
- Un bacio di mano, K.541 (dated May)
- Piano Trio in E major, K.542
- Symphony No. 39 in E flat major, K.543
- Piano Trio in C major, K.548
- Più non si trovano, K.549
- Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
- Symphony No. 41 in C major, K.551, "Jupiter"
- Canon for 3 Voices in A major (Caro bell'idol mio), K.562
- Divertimento in E-flat major, K.563
- Piano Trio in G major, K.564
- 6 German Dances, K.567
- 12 Minuets, K.568
Giovanni Paisiello – Duet for two violins
Ignaz Pleyel
- Violin Concerto in D major, B.103A
- 3 Quintets, B.280–282
- 6 Keyboard Trios, B.431–436
Alexander Reinagle – Federal March
Giuseppe Sarti – 3 Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin, Op. 4
Giovanni Battista Viotti
- Violin Concerto No.13 in A major
- Violin Concerto No.14 in A minor
- 6 Violin Sonatas, W 5.1–6 (Op. 4)

Methods and theory writings

Johann Nikolaus Forkel – Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik
Ferdinand Kauer – Kurzgefaßte Anweisung das Violoncell zu spielen
Vincenzo Manfredini – Difesa della musica moderna e de' suoi celebri esecutori
Ernst Wilhelm Wolf – Musikalischer Unterricht

Births

January 5 – Caspar Ett, composer and musician (died 1847)
January 8
- Erzherzog Rudolph, composer and archduke (died 1831)
- Duke Eugen of Württemberg, composer and general (died 1857)
January 22 – George Gordon Byron, lyricist and poet (died 1824)
January 31 – Felice Romani, librettist and writer (died 1865)
February 10 – Johann Peter Pixis, composer (died 1874)
March 10 – Joseph von Eichendorff, lyricist and poet (died 1857)
May 16 – Friedrich Rückert, librettist and poet (died 1866)
August 20 – José Bernardo Alcedo, composer (died 1878)
August 26 – Aloys Schmitt, composer (died 1866)
September 5 – George Macfarren, lyricist (died 1843)
September 28 – Karl Christian Philipp Reichel composer (died 1857)
October 11 – Simon Sechter, composer (died 1867)
October 20 – Philip Knapton, composer (died 1833)
November 6 – Giuseppe Donizetti, composer (died 1856)
November 11 – Michał Wielhorski, Russian composer (died 1856)
December 18 – Camille Pleyel, musician (died 1855)
December 21 – Charles Chaulieu Sr., composer (died 1849)
December 26 – Carl Anton Philipp Braun, composer (died 1835)
date unknown
- Brita Catharina Lidbeck, Swedish concert singer and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (died 1864)
- John David Loder, composer and violinist (died 1846)

Deaths

January 15 – Gaetano Latilla, composer (b. 1711)
March 2 – Salomon Gessner, lyricist and poet (born 1730)
March 29 – Charles Wesley, hymn-writer (b. 1707)
April 12
- Carlo Antonio Campioni, composer (b. 1720)
- Carl Joseph Toeschi, composer (born 1731)
April 15 – Giuseppe Bonno, composer (b. 1711)
May 17 – Dorothea Biehl, librettist (born 1731)
June 28 – Johann Christoph Vogel, composer
July 14 – Johann Gottfried Müthel, composer (b. 1728)
November 2 – Johann Samuel Schröter, German composer (born 1753)
December 14 – Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, composer (b. 1714)
December 12 – Joseph Gibbs, composer (b. 1699)

Events

Opera

Classical music

Methods and theory writings

Births

Deaths

References