thumb | right |Prompt book for [[George Frideric Handel|Handel's Radamisto]]

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This article lists the most significant events and works of the year 1720 in music.

Events

  • April – The Royal Academy of Music, a company formed for Handel in London, begins to produce operas.
  • Giovanni Bononcini arrives in London, his home until 1732, and becomes one of Handel's most notable rivals.
  • Benedetto Marcello's satirical attack on opera, Il teatro alla moda, is published anonymously in Venice.
  • Domenico Scarlatti arrives in Lisbon.

Publications

  • Jan Josef Ignác Brentner – Horae Pomeridianae
  • George Frideric Handel - Suite de Pièces pour le clavecin, a work including the famous set of variations known as The Harmonious Blacksmith.
  • Marin Marais – Sonnerie de Ste-Geneviève du Mont-de-Paris
  • James Paisible – Six setts of aires for two flutes & a bass...
  • Alessandro Scarlatti – Messa di Santa Cecilia

Classical music

  • Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Prelude for Lute in C minor
  • Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin

Opera

  • Antonio Maria Bononcini – Nino
  • George Frideric Handel – Radamisto
  • Johann David Heinichen – Flavio Crispo
  • Leonardo Leo – Caio Gracco
  • Giovanni Porta – Numitore
  • Antonio Vivaldi – La verità in cimento

Births

  • January 1 – Johann Christoph Altnickol, composer (baptized January 1, 1720)
  • January 4 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, composer (died 1774)
  • August 20 – Bernard de Bury, court musician and composer (died 1785)
  • October 17 – Maria Teresa Agnesi, singer and composer (died 1795)
  • November 16 – Carlo Antonio Campioni, composer (died 1788)
  • date unknown
  • Henry Hargrave, composer (died 1780)
  • William Savage, singer, organist and composer (died 1789)
  • probable
  • Gioacchino Cocchi, composer (died 1804)
  • Bernhard Joachim Hagen, composer (died 1787)
  • Joan Baptista Pla, oboist and composer (died 1773)
  • Johann Georg Schürer, composer (died 1786)

Deaths

  • July 7 – Maria Barbara Bach, first wife of Johann Sebastian Bach (born 1684)
  • July 27 – Johann Samuel Welter, composer
  • date unknown
  • Sridhara Venkatesa Ayyaval, Hindu saint and composer (born 1635)
  • Jean Hotteterre, musician and composer
  • José Peyró, composer (born c.1670)
  • Demoiselle Conradi, German opera singer
  • probable
  • Antonia Bembo, singer and composer (born c. 1640)
  • Jean Baptiste Loeillet of Ghent, composer (born 1688)
  • Guillaume Minoret, composer (born c.1650)
  • Johann Speth, organist and composer (born 1664)