1760 in music
Events
- November 26 – Joseph Haydn marries Maria Anna Keller, but he and his wife will live apart for most of their lives.
- John Newton leaves his job for the church, and begins composing hymns.
- Memoirs of the Life of the Late George Frideric Handel, by John Mainwaring, is published anonymously.
- John Alcock is forced to resign as organist and choirmaster of Lichfield Cathedral.
- Johann Christian Bach becomes organist of Milan Cathedral.
- John Garth publishes his Op. 1 cello concertos, the first time such compositions have been published in Britain.
- Johann Baptist Wanhal is brought to Vienna to receive lessons from Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf.
Opera
- Thomas Arne – Thomas and Sally
- Johann Christian Bach – Artaserse
- Nicola Porpora - "Il trionfo di Camilla"
- Johann Adolph Hasse – Alcide al Bivio
- Vincenzo Manfredini – Semiramide
- Niccolò Piccinni – La buona figliuola
- Jean-Philippe Rameau – ''Les Paladins''
Classical music
- Johann Albrechtsberger – String Quartet in D
- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
- *Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, H.75.5
- *Sechs Sonaten für Clavier mit veränderten Reprisen, Wq.50
- William Boyce – Eight Symphonies, op. 2
- François Joseph Gossec – Grande Messe des Morts
- Joseph Haydn
- *Symphony No.25 in C major, Hob.I:25
- *Partita in B-flat major, Hob.XVI:2
- *Partita in E major, Hob.XVI:13
- Michael Haydn – Concerto for Violin in B-flat major
- Pierre Hugard – La Toilette, suites for the pardessus de viole
- Ignacio de Jerusalem – Clarines sonad
- Franz Xaver Richter
- *6 Harpsichord Trios
- *6 Symphonies, Op. 2
- Christoph Schaffrath – Duetto for Bassoon and Harpsichord in F minor, CSWV F:18
- Georg Philipp Telemann – ''Lukas-Passion''
Methods and theory writings
- John Alcock, Sr. – The Life of Miss Fanny Brown
- Giorgio Antoniotto – L'arte armonica
- Francesco Geminiani – The Art of Playing the Guitar or Cittra
- John Mainwaring – Memoirs of the Life of the Late George Frederic Handel
- Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg – Kritische Briefe über die Tonkunst
- Edward Miller – Institutes of Music, or Easy Instructions for the Harpsichord
- Nicolo Pasquali – The Art of Fingering the Harpsichord
- Jean-Philippe Rameau – Code de musique pratique
- Georg Andreas Sorge
- * Anleitung zum Generalbass und zur Composition
- * Compendium Harmonicum
- William Tans'ur – ''The Psalm-Singer's Jewel''
Births
- January 10 – Johan Rudolf Zumsteeg, German composer
- January 19 – Melchor Lopez Jimenez, Spanish composer
- January 30 – Franz Xaver Partsch, Bohemian composer
- February 12 – Jan Ladislav Dussek, composer
- February 15 – Jean-François Le Sueur, French composer
- March 2 – Charlotta Cederström, born Christina Charlotta Mörner af Morlanda, Swedish patron of the arts
- March 27 – Ishmail Spicer, American composer
- April 4 – Juan Manuel Olivares, Venezuelan composer
- May 10 – Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, French composer of La Marseillaise
- May 29 – Charlotte Slottsberg, Swedish ballerina
- July 11 – François-Benoît Hoffman, librettist and playwright
- June 12 – Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvray, librettist and novelist
- June 14 – Cándido José Ruano, Spanish composer
- July 12 – Giuseppe Foppa, Italian librettist
- September 12 – Gaetano Valeri, Paduan organist and composer
- September 14 – Luigi Cherubini, Italian-born composer
- September 29 – Maria Hester Park, British composer
- October 1 – William Beckford, English novelist, patron of the arts and composer
- November 9 – Henri-Philippe Gérard, Liègeois composer
- November 14 – Johann Evangelist Brandl, composer
- November 30 – Catharine Frydendahl, opera singer
- December 2 – Joseph Graetz, German composer
Deaths
- January 18 – Claudio Casciolini, Italian composer
- February 14 – François Colin de Blamont, French composer
- February 22 – Anna Magdalena Bach, German singer, second wife and assistant of Johann Sebastian Bach
- March 2 – François Bouvard, French composer
- March 14 – Anton Fils, German composer
- April 12 – Ernst Gottlieb Baron, German lutenist and composer
- April 24 – Michele Mascitti, music editor and violinist
- May – Girolamo Abos, Italian composer
- May 10 – Christoph Graupner, German composer
- August 8 – Henry Needler, English music transcriber
- October 24 – Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, Italian composer
- November 5 – Pierre Février, French organist, harpsichordist and composer
- Date unknown – Roque Ceruti, Italian composer