1794 in music

This is a list of events in music in 1794. This year is notable for the overlap of compositions by both Haydn and Beethoven, a critical turning point in the history of music, and by the horrific execution by guillotine of a whole generation of French composers and poets in July, at the end of the Reign of Terror.

Events

• Joseph Haydn begins his second visit to London ^{[ citation needed ]}
• Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf is expelled from the palace in Johannesberg after a dispute with his patron Philipp Gotthard von Schaffgotsch, ending nearly a quarter of a century in his service there.^{[ citation needed ]}

Popular music

• "Looney's Lamentation for Miss Margery Muggins", from British panto performance. ^[1] Grew in popularity in UK after being covered in 1809 by Joseph Grimaldi in Castles in the Air or Columbine Cowslip ^[2]

Classical music

• Ludwig van Beethoven – String Trio No. 1 in E-flat major
• William Billings – The Continental Harmony
• Benjamin Carr – The Federal Overture
• Domenico Cimarosa – Il trionfo della fede, sacred oratorio premiered May 3 in Naples
• Muzio Clementi
  • Violin Sonata in C major, Op.30
  • Flute Sonata in A major, Op.31
  • 3 Piano Sonatas, Op. 33
  • Piano Trio, WO 6
• Jan Ladislav Dussek – 12 Leçons progressives
• Anton Eberl – Piano Sonata in C minor, Op. 1
• Joseph Eybler
  • Christmas Oratorio
  • 3 String Quartets, Op. 1
• Lev Gurilyov – Piano Sonata No.1
• Joseph Haydn
  • Symphony No. 100 in G major, "Military"
  • Symphony No. 101 in D major, "Clock"
  • Symphony No. 102 in B-flat major, Hob.I:102
  • Divertimento in C major, Hob.IV:1
  • Divertimento in G major, Hob.IV:4
  • Piano Trios, Op.36
  • Piano Trio in G major, Hob.XV:32
  • Piano Sonata No. 51 in D major, Hob XVI:51
  • Piano Sonata No. 52 in E-flat, Hob XVI:52
  • 6 Psalms, Hob.XXIII:suppl.
  • 6 English Canzonettas, Hob.XXVIa:25-30
• Johann Nepomuk Hummel – 3 Fugues, Op. 7
• Jean Xavier Lefèvre – Clarinet Concerto No.4 in G minor, IJL 1
• Johann Simon Mayr – La Passione , oratorio in Italian
• Etienne Nicolas Méhul – Chant du départ
• F. D Mouchy – La Mort de Louis XVI, Op.3
• William Parkinson – 3 Sonatas for the pianoforte or harpsichord, Op. 1
• William Parsons – The Court Minuets for His Majesty's Birth Day, 1794
• Ignaz Pleyel – 3 Keyboard Trios, B.446-448
• Pierre Rode – Air varié, Op.10
• Antonio Rosetti – Symphony in F major, M.A49/I:25 or 24
• Friedrich Wilhelm Rust – Keyboard Sonata No. 12 in D major, CzaR 11
• Giovanni Battista Viotti – Violin Concerto No.27 in C major
• Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse – Piano Sonatas No. 5-8

Opera

• Luigi Cherubini – Eliza (premiered Dec. 13 in Paris)
• Domenico Cimarosa
  • Le astuzie femminili (premiered Aug. 26 in Naples)
  • Penelope (premiered Dec. 26 in Naples)
• Francois-Joseph Gossec – Le triomphe de la République, RH 618 (divertissement, premiered Jan. 27 in Paris)
• Friedrich Heinrich Himmel – Il primo navigatore
• Johann Simon Mayr – Saffo
• Étienne Méhul – Horatius Coclès , Mélidore et Phrosine
• Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf – Das Gespenst mit der Trommel

Methods and theory writings

• Matthew Camidge – Instructions, 8 Sonatinas, and Useful Preludes
• Francois Devienne – Nouvelle méthode théorique et pratique pour la flûte
• Anton Joseph Hampel – Méthode pour Cor
• Nicola Sala – Regole del contrappunto pratico

Births

• January 6 – Kašpar Mašek, composer (d. 1873)
• April 7 – Giovanni Battista Rubini, tenor
• April 9
  • Aristide Farrenc, musician and music publisher (died 1865)
  • Theobald Boehm, composer and flautist (died 1881)
• May 23 – Ignaz Moscheles, composer and piano virtuoso (d. 1870)
• August 10 – Princess Amalie of Saxony, composer (d. 1870)
• September 10 – François Benoist, organist and composer (d. 1878)
• September 16 – Wenzel Gährich, composer (died 1864)
• September 29 – William Michael Rooke, violinist and composer (d. 1849)
• October 4 – Justina Casagli, operatic soprano
• October 7 – Wilhelm Müller, lyricist (died 1827)
• October 13 – Anselm Hüttenbrenner, composer (d. 1868)
• October 18 – Ferdinand Schubert, Austrian composer (died 1859)
• October 23 – Joseph Panny, composer and violinist (died 1838)
• October 29 – William Bingham Tappan, hymnist (died 1849)
• November 3 – William Cullen Bryant, patron of the arts and poet (died 1878)
• December 6 – Luigi Lablache, operatic bass
• date unknown
  • Mirza Shafi Vazeh, lyricist (died 1852)

Deaths

• April 26 – Johan Foltmar, composer (b. 1714)
• May 6 – Jean-Jacques Beauvarlet-Charpentier, composer and organist (born 1734)
• July 13 – Josse-François-Joseph Benaut, composer and musician (born 1741)
• July 17 – Jean-Frédéric Edelmann, composer (born 1749) (executed by guillotine)
• July 22 – Jean-Benjamin de Laborde, composer (born 1734), ^[3] (executed by guillotine)
• July 25 – André Chénier, lyricist (born 1762) (executed by guillotine)
• August 7 – Edmund Angerer  [ de ], composer (born 1740)
• August 11 – Jakob Friedrich Kleinknecht, German composer (born 1722)
• August 25 – Leopold August Abel, composer (b. 1717)
• November 9 – Gregory Skovoroda, poet and composer (b. 1722)
• November 20 – Mattia Verazi, Italian librettist (born c. 1730)
• November 22 – Alison Cockburn, lyricist (born 1712)

References

1. Agreeable Songster 2. 1794.
2. "Memoirs Of Joseph Grimaldi by Joseph Grimaldi, a Project Gutenberg eBook". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
3. "Jean-Benjamin de La Borde (05 septembre 1734 - 22 juillet 1794)". Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2026.