| Year |
Event |
| 1726 |
Michel de Lalande, French composer and organist, dies |
| 1726 |
Charles Burney, English music historian, born |
| 1726 |
Handel becomes British subject |
| 1726 |
La Camargo, French ballerina makes debut at Paris Opera |
| 1726 |
Rameau: "Nouveau systeme de musique theorique" |
| 1727 |
Francesco Gasparini, Italian composer, dies |
| 1728 |
John Gay: "Beggar's Opera" |
| 1728 |
Nicola Piccini, Italian composer, born |
| 1729 |
J.S. Bach "St. Matthew Passion" |
| 1730 |
J.A. Hasse: "Artaserse," German opera in Italian style |
| 1731 |
Lodovico Giustini: "Sonate da Cimbalo di piano e forte," probably first compositions for the modern piano |
| 1731 |
J.A. Hasse becomes Kapellmeister at the Dresden Opera, his wife Faustina Bordoni its prima donna |
| 1731 |
Public concerts held at Boston, MA and Charleston, SC |
| 1732 |
Academie of Ancient Music founded in London |
| 1732 |
Covent Garden Opera House opens, London |
| 1732 |
Franz Joseph Haydn, Austrain composer, born |
| 1732 |
J.G. Walther: Musik-Lexikon, first of its kind |
| 1733 |
Francois Couperin, French composer, dies |
| 1733 |
J.S. Bach: short version of the Mass in B minor |
| 1733 |
Couperin dies |
| 1733 |
Pergolesi: "La Serva padrona, " opera buffa, Naples- once called the oldest opera in the standard repretoire |
| 1733 |
Rameau: " Hippolyte et aricie," opera, Paris |
| 1734 |
Handel: 6 concerti grossi, Op3 |
| 1734 |
Handel: "Alcina," opera (Covent Garden, London) |
| 1734 |
Imperial ballet school at St. Petersburg |
| 1734 |
Rameau: " Les Indes galantes," ballet opera |
| 1735 |
Ballad opera "Flora," first musical theater in America, Charleston, SC |
| 1736 |
Johann Christian Bach, Bach youngest son, born |
| 1736 |
Handel: "Alexander's Feast," London, Covent Garden |
| 1736 |
Pergolesi: "Stabat Mater" |
| 1736 |
Pergolesi dies |
| 1737 |
William Boys conducts Three Choirs Festivals |
| 1737 |
Handel: "Berenice," opera, Covent Garden, London |
| 1737 |
Rameau: "Castor et Pollux," opera |
| 1737 |
Antonio Stradivari dies |
| 1738 |
J.S. Bach completes Mass in B minor in full version |
| 1739 |
Reinhard Keiser, German composer, dies |
| 1739 |
Handel: oratorios "Saul" and "Israel in Eygpt" first performed (King's Theatre, London) |
| 1739 |
Johann Mattheson: "Der vollkommene Kapellmeister," treatise on conducting |
| 1739 |
Rameau: "Dardanus," opera |
| 1739 |
Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian composer, born |
| 1740 |
Thomas Augustine Arne: "Alfred," masque containing "Rule Britannia" (London) |
| 1740 |
Haydn enters the court chapel, Vienna, as a choirboy |
| 1740 |
Domenico Scarlatti visits London and Dublin |
| 1740 |
J. A. Scheibe "Der critische Musicus," against Bach |
| 1740 |
German organ builder John Snetzler establishes himself in England |
| 1741 |
Johann Joseph Fux, Austrian musician, dies |
| 1741 |
Gluck: "Artaserse," his first opera, Milan |
| 1741 |
Andre Gretry, French composer, born |
| 1741 |
Handel writes "The Messiah" oratorio in 18 days |
| 1741 |
Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer, born |
| 1741 |
Johann Joachim Quantz becomes court composer to Frederick the Great |
| 1741 |
Rameau: "Pieces de clavecin en concert' published |
| 1741 |
Antonio Vivaldi, Italian composer, dies |
| 1742 |
Karl Heinrich Graun introduces Italian opera in Berlin |
| 1742 |
Handel's "Messiah" first performed in Dublin |
| 1743 |
Francesco Stradivari, Italian violin maker, dies |
| 1743 |
Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer, born |
| 1743 |
Handel: "Samson," Covent Garden, London |
| 1744 |
J.S. Bach: "Das wohltemperierte Klavier" part 2 |
| 1744 |
Gluck: "Iphigenie en Aulide," opera, Paris |
| 1744 |
"God Save the Queen" published in Thesaurus Musicus |
| 1744 |
Madrigal Society, London, founded |
| 1745 |
"The Campbells are coming" Scottish national song published |
| 1745 |
Charles Dibdin, English composer and singer, born |
| 1745 |
Johann Stamitz becomes court Kapellmeister in Mannheim |
| 1747 |
J.S. Bach: "Das Musikalische Opfer" |
| 1747 |
Handel: "Judas Maccabaeus," oratorio, Covent Garden, London |
| 1747 |
Rousseau: "Les Muses galantes, " opera |
| 1748 |
Bach: "Die Kunst der Fuge" |
| 1748 |
Holywell Music Room, Oxford, opened (still in use) |
| 1749 |
Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer, born |
| 1749 |
Handel: "Music for the Royal Fireworks" |
| 1749 |
Georg "Abbe" Volger, German music teacher, born |
| 1750 |
J. S. Bach dies |
| 1750 |
Johann Breitkopf, Leipzig music publisher, uses movable type for printing music |
| 1750 |
Pergolesi: "La Serva padrona," opera buffa, first performed in London |
| 1750 |
Antonio Salieri, Italian composer, born |
| 1750 |
"The Beggar's Opera" performed for the first time in New York |
Music History Timeline - 1726 to 1750
