1786 in music

Events

January 21 – Luigi Boccherini becomes an official composer to Prince Frederick William of Prussia.^[1]
February 7 – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, presents a festival at Schönbrunn Palace, at which new compositions by both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri are performed.^[1]
April 28 – Leopold Mozart writes to his daughter, Maria Anna Mozart, predicting failure for his son's latest opera, The Marriage of Figaro.^[1] In fact its premiere on May 1 under the composer's baton at the Burgtheater in Vienna is a success with encores demanded.^[2] The libretto is by Lorenzo da Ponte.
October 18 – Leopold Mozart is given a blood test on the same day that his daughter-in-law Constanze Mozart gives birth to her third child, Johann Thomas Leopold; the baby dies a month later, Leopold the following year.^[1]
November 7 – America's oldest singing society is founded as the Stoughton Musical Society.
November 24 – Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf unsuccessfully seeks employment with the newly enthroned King Frederick William II of Prussia.^[1]
In Britain, William Parsons succeeds John Stanley as Master of the King's Musick.
In Benares, Jiwan Shah and Francis Fowke conduct an experiment comparing the pitch of the harpsichord with that of a traditional Indian instrument.
Georg Joseph Vogler is appointed Kapellmeister to King Gustav III of Sweden.

Johann Wilhelm Hässler – 6 Leichte Sonaten, Theil 1
Leopold Kozeluch – Three Piano Sonatas, Op. 20
Maria Theresia von Paradis – Zwölf Lieder auf ihrer Reise in Musik gesetzt, composed on tour over the previous two years
Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart – Musicalische Rhapsodien

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – Funeral music for A. Schulte^[1]
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach – Ino, BR G 48
Cecilia Maria Barthélemon
- Op. 1: Three Sonatas for the Piano-Forte, or Harpsichord, the Second with an Accompaniment for the Violin
- 6 English and Italian Songs, Op.2
Luigi Boccherini – Symphony in C major, G.515
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf
- Der Apotheker und der Doktor (singspiel)
- Giobbe (oratorio)
Xaver Hammer – Gamba Sonata No.1 in D major
Joseph Haydn
- Symphony No. 82 in C ("Bear")
- Symphony No. 84 in Eb
- Symphony No. 86 in D
- Concerto for 2 "Lyra organizzata" Hob.VIIh:3
- Cavatina: "Sono Alcina e sono ancora" Hob.XXIVb:9
- Recit: "Ah, tu non senti, amico" and Aria: "Qual destra omicida" Hob.XXIVb:10
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Rondo in D for Keyboard, K. 485
- Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K. 488
- Duet for Soprano and Tenor, “Spiegarti no poss'io”, K. 489
- Scena and Rondo for Soprano, “Non più, tutti ascoltai”, K. 490
- Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491
- Quartet in E♭ for Piano and Strings, K. 493
- Concerto No. 4 in E♭ for Horn and Orchestra, K. 495
- Trio No. 2 in G for Piano, Violin and Violoncello, K. 496
- Concerto No. 25 in C for Piano and Orchestra, K. 503
- Symphony No. 38 in D "Prague", K. 504
- Canon for 3 Voices in F major, K.507
Giovanni Paisiello – Amor vendicato, R.2.7
Ignaz Pleyel – Symphony in C major, B.128
Corona Schröter – 25 Lieder
Michel Yost – Clarinet Concerto No.14

Gioacchino Albertini – Virginia
Bonifazio Asioli – Le nozze in villa
Dmitri Stepanovich Bortniansky – Le Faucon
Nicolas Dalayrac – Nina, premiered May 15 in Paris
François-Joseph Gossec – Rosine, ou L’épouse abandonnée
André Grétry – Amphitryon
Lucille Grétry – Le mariage d’Antonio
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impresario)
- Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)
Antonio Salieri
- Les Horaces
- Prima la musica e poi le parole
Giuseppe Sarti – Armida e Rinaldo
Johann Christoph Vogel – La Toison d'or, premiered Sept. 5 in Paris

Francesco Azopardi – Il musico prattico
Henry Beck – Flute Book
Antonio D. R. Borghese – L’art musical ramené à ses vrais principes
João Ribeiro de Almeida Campos – Elementos de Musica
Johann Adam Hiller – Nachricht von der Aufführung des Händelschen Messias
Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg – Legende einiger Musikheiligen
James Nares – A Concise and Easy Treatise on Singing, with a Set of English Duets for Beginners
Joseph Riepel – Baßschlüssel
Ignaz Schweigl – Grundlehre der Violin

January 3 – Johann Christian Friedrich Schneider, composer
February 16 – Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, amateur composer and patron (died 1859)
April 11 – Johann Friedrich Kelz, composer (died 1862)
April 18 – Franz Xaver Schnyder von Wartensee, composer (died 1868)
June 20 – Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, lyricist (died 1859)
June 21 – Charles Edward Horn, singer and composer (died 1849)
July 25 – Giacomo Cordella, composer (died 1847)
September 11 – Friedrich Kuhlau, composer (died 1832)
September 12 – Jean-Louis Tulou, composer (died 1865)
September 26 – August Mühling, German composer (died 1847)
September 27 – José Mariano Elízaga, composer (died 1842)
October 3 – Carl Almenräder, bassoonist (died 1846)
October 21 – Henry Lemoine, composer (died 1854)
November 10 – Carl Eberwein, violinist and composer (died 1868)
November 18
- Carl Maria von Weber, composer (or December 18)
- Sir Henry Bishop, Professor of Music at Oxford
December 20 – Pietro Raimondi, composer
date unknown
- Konstantinos Nikolopoulos, composer (died 1841)
- Elena Pucić-Sorkočević, composer (died 1865)

January 4 – Moses Mendelssohn, philosopher and grandfather of composers Felix Mendelssohn and Fanny Mendelssohn (born 1729)
January 14 – Michael Arne, composer (born c.1740)
February 16 – Johann Georg Schürer, composer (born 1720)
March 7 – Frantisek Benda, composer (born 1709)
March 21 – Johann Gottlieb Preller, cantor and composer (born 1727)
April 13 – Jan Tomáš Kuzník, composer and music teacher (born 1716)
May 19 – John Stanley, composer (born 1712)
June 2 – Giovanni Battista Lampugnani, composer (born 1706)
July – Sophia Baddeley, actress and singer (born 1745)
July 5 – Michel Yost, composer (born 1754)
July 29 – Franz Asplmayr, composer (born 1728)
August 2 – François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet, librettist (born 1716)
August 17 – King Frederick II of Prussia, amateur composer (born 1712)
August 26 – Christoph Christian Sturm, lyricist (born 1786)
September 6 – Karl von Ordóñez, composer (born 1734)
September 18 – Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, musical instrument maker (born 1711)
September 29 – Dietrich Ewald von Grotthuss pianist and composer (born 1751)
October 6 – Antonio Sacchini, composer (born 1730)
December 25 – Christoph Sonnleithner, composer (born 1734)

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