1770 in music

Events

• January 20 – The new Théâtre du Palais-Royal (rue Saint-Honoré), the first purpose-built opera house in Paris, designed by Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux, is inaugurated with a performance of Rameau's Zoroastre . ^{[1] [2]}
• May 16 – The new Opéra royal de Versailles, designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, is inaugurated. ^[3]
• Ballet is performed in Oslo for the first time, by Madame Stuart.
• Musikalisches Vielerley is published; a collection of pieces from various composers, edited by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (Hamburg: Michael Christian Bock).

Classical music

• Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – Fantasia in D minor, H.224
• Johann Christian Bach
  • 6 Keyboard Concertos, Op. 7
  • 6 Quartets, Op. 8
• Luigi Boccherini – Cello Concerto in D major, G.479
• Joseph Haydn – Baryton Trio in A major, Hob.XI:2
• Gabriele Leone – Six sonatas for mandolin and bass marked with signs according to the new method, Op. 2
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Symphony 11
• Pietro Nardini – Sonatas for 2 Flutes/Violins and Basso Continuo

Methods and theory writings

• Johann Caspar Heck – The Art of Playing the Harpsichord
• John Holden – An Essay Towards a Rational System of Music

Operas

• Christoph Willibald Gluck – Paride ed Elena , Wq.39
• André Grétry – Les deux avares

Published popular music

• William Billings – The New England Psalm Singer, featuring the song Chester .

Births

• February 18 – Christian Heinrich Rinck, composer (died 1846)
• February 20 – Ferdinando Carulli, composer (died 1841) ^[4]
• February 22 – Jan Matyas Nepomuk August Vitasek, composer ^[5] (died 1839)
• February 26 – Antoine Reicha, composer (died 1836)
• May 19 – Antoine-Charles Glachant, violinist and composer (died 1851)
• June 4 – James Hewitt, composer (died 1827)
• November 8 – Friedrich Witt, composer ^[6] (died 1836)
• November 29 – Peter Hänsel, composer ^[7]
• December 13 – John Clarke-Whitfeld, composer (died 1836) ^[8]
• December 15 or December 16 (baptized on December 17) – Ludwig van Beethoven, composer and pianist (died 1827) ^[9]
• December 17 – Johann Friedrich Schubert, composer

Deaths

• February 26 – Giuseppe Tartini, violinist and composer, 77
• April 19 – Esprit Antoine Blanchard, composer, 74
• May 9 – Charles Avison, composer, 61 ^[10]
• October 1 – Louis-Gabriel Guillemain, composer, 64
• December 9 – Gottlieb Muffat, organist and composer, 80 ^[11]
• December 13 – Johann Heinrich Hartmann Bätz, organ-builder, 61

References

1. Pitou, Spire (1983). The Paris Opéra: An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers and Performers: Genesis and Glory, 1671–1715. Westport, Ct: Greenwood. p. 26. ISBN   9780313214202.
2. Mead, Christopher Curtis (1991). Charles Garnier's Paris Opera. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. p. 45. ISBN   978-0-262-13275-6.
3. Praefcke, Andreas. "Versailles: Théâtre Gabriel / Opéra Royal". Carthalia. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
4. Aaron Shearer (March 1985). Classic Guitar Technique. Alfred Music Publishing. p. 70. ISBN   978-0-89898-572-6.
5. Don Randel, The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, Harvard, 1996, p. 952.
6. David Mason Greene (1985). Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers. Reproducing Piano Roll Fnd. p. 442. ISBN   978-0-385-14278-6.
7. Eduard Bernsdorf (1857). Neues Universal-Lexikon der Tonkunst ... Unter Mitwirkung von Frz. Liszt, H. Marschner ... Robert Schäfer. p. 298.
8. Maggie Humphreys; Robert Evans (1 January 1997). Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland. A&C Black. p. 66. ISBN   978-0-7201-2330-2.
9. "When is Beethoven's birthday?". Classic FM. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
10. Philip H. Highfill, Jr.; Kalman A. Burnim; Edward A. Langhans (December 1973). A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800: Abaco to Belfille. SIU Press. p. 180. ISBN   978-0-8093-0517-9.
11. Maunder, Richard (1998). Keyboard Instruments in Eighteenth-century Vienna. Clarendon Press. p. 230. ISBN   978-0-19-816637-5.