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Events

  • 1751 is the year commonly given as the beginning of the classical era
  • The "War of the Buffoons" (La Querelle des Bouffons), concerning the relative merits of French and Italian opera, divides Paris.
  • Francesco Geminiani publishes "The Art of Playing on the Violin" in London.

Classical music

  • Charles Avison – 6 Concertos in 7 Parts, Op. 3
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Kunst der Fuge with appendix of Chorale prelude BWV 668a (posthumously)
  • Charles Burney – 6 Cornet Pieces for Organ
  • Armand-Louis Couperin – ', in his Pieces de Clavesin
  • Antoine Dauvergne – Concerts de Simphonies
  • Pierre-Claude Foucquet – Second Livre de Pièces de Clavecin
  • Johann Adolphe Hasse
  • Mass in D minor
  • Oh Dio partir conviene
  • Wilhelm Gommaar Kennis – 6 Trio Sonatas, Op. 2
  • Niccolò Pasquali – Raccolta di overture, e symphonie... (London)
  • Peter Pasqualino – 6 Cello Duets, Op. 2 (London: John Johnson)
  • John Francis Wade – Cantus Diversi including Adeste Fideles ("O Come All Ye Faithful")

Opera

  • Pasquale Cafaro – Ipermestra
  • Baldassare Galuppi – Antigona
  • Carl Heinrich Graun
  • Britannico, GraunWV B:I:24
  • L'Armida GraunWV B:I:23, premiered Mar. 27 in Berlin
  • Johann Adolf Hasse – Ciro Riconosciuto
  • Joseph Haydn – Der Krumme Teufel (singspiel)
  • Niccolò Jommelli – La villana nobile; Ifigenia in Aulide
  • Jean-Philippe Rameau
  • Acante et Céphise
  • La Guirlande, RCT 42
  • Giuseppe Sarti – Pompeo in Armenia
  • Domingo Terradellas – Sesostri re d'Egitto

Methods and theory writings

  • William Hayes – The Art of Composing Music by a Method Entirely New
  • Jacob Wilhelm Lustig – Inleiding tot de Muzykkunde
  • Manuel de Moraes Pedroso – Compendio musico

Births

  • January 18 – Ferdinand Kauer, pianist and composer (died 1831)
  • February 9 – Antoine Bullant, bassoonist and composer (died 1821)
  • March 5 – Jan Křtitel Kuchař, composer
  • March 29 – Supply Belcher, singer, composer and compiler of tune books (died 1836)
  • July 30 – Maria Anna Mozart ("Nannerl"), Austrian musician and composer, sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (d. 1829)
  • date unknown – Blas de Laserna, composer

Deaths

  • January 17 – Tomaso Albinoni (born 1671)
  • February 18 – Giuseppe Matteo Alberti, composer (born 1685)
  • May 20 – Domènec Terradellas, composer (born 1713)
  • October 2 – Pierre Dumage, organist (born c. 1674)
  • date unknown – Henry Reinhold, singer (born c. 1690)