1786 in music

Events

January 21 – Luigi Boccherini becomes an official composer to Prince Frederick William of Prussia.
February 7 – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, presents a festival at Schönbrunn Palace, at which new compositions by both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri are performed.
April 28 – Leopold Mozart writes to his daughter, Maria Anna Mozart, predicting failure for his son's latest opera, The Marriage of Figaro. In fact its premiere on May 1 under the composer's baton at the Burgtheater in Vienna is a success with encores demanded. The libretto is by Lorenzo da Ponte.
October 18 – Leopold Mozart is given a blood test on the same day that his daughter-in-law Constanze Mozart gives birth to her third child, Johann Thomas Leopold; the baby dies a month later, Leopold the following year.
November 7 – America's oldest singing society is founded as the Stoughton Musical Society.
November 24 – Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf unsuccessfully seeks employment with the newly enthroned King Frederick William II of Prussia.
In Britain, William Parsons succeeds John Stanley as Master of the King's Musick.
In Benares, Jiwan Shah and Francis Fowke conduct an experiment comparing the pitch of the harpsichord with that of a traditional Indian instrument.
Georg Joseph Vogler is appointed Kapellmeister to King Gustav III of Sweden.

Johann Wilhelm Hässler – 6 Leichte Sonaten, Theil 1
Leopold Kozeluch – Three Piano Sonatas, Op. 20
Maria Theresia von Paradis – Zwölf Lieder auf ihrer Reise in Musik gesetzt, composed on tour over the previous two years
Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart – ''Musicalische Rhapsodien''

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – Funeral music for A. Schulte
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach – Ino, BR G 48
Cecilia Maria Barthélemon
*Op. 1: Three Sonatas for the Piano-Forte, or Harpsichord, the Second with an Accompaniment for the Violin
*6 English and Italian Songs, Op.2
Luigi Boccherini – Symphony in C major, G.515
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf
*Der Apotheker und der Doktor
*Giobbe
Xaver Hammer – Gamba Sonata No.1 in D major
Joseph Haydn
*Symphony No. 82 in C ("Bear")
*Symphony No. 84 in Eb
*Symphony No. 86 in D
*Concerto for 2 "Lyra organizzata" Hob.VIIh:3
*Cavatina: "Sono Alcina e sono ancora" Hob.XXIVb:9
*Recit: "Ah, tu non senti, amico" and Aria: "Qual destra omicida" Hob.XXIVb:10
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
*Rondo in D for Keyboard, K. 485
*Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K. 488
*Duet for Soprano and Tenor, “Spiegarti no poss'io”, K. 489
*Scena and Rondo for Soprano, “Non più, tutti ascoltai”, K. 490
*Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491
*Quartet in E♭ for Piano and Strings, K. 493
*Concerto No. 4 in E♭ for Horn and Orchestra, K. 495
*Trio No. 2 in G for Piano, Violin and Violoncello, K. 496
*Concerto No. 25 in C for Piano and Orchestra, K. 503
*Symphony No. 38 in D "Prague", K. 504
*Canon for 3 Voices in F major, K.507
Giovanni Paisiello – Amor vendicato, R.2.7
Ignaz Pleyel – Symphony in C major, B.128
Corona Schröter – 25 Lieder
Michel Yost – Clarinet Concerto No.14

Francesco Azopardi – Il musico prattico
Henry Beck – Flute Book
Antonio D. R. Borghese – L’art musical ramené à ses vrais principes
João Ribeiro de Almeida Campos – Elementos de Musica
Johann Adam Hiller – Nachricht von der Aufführung des Händelschen Messias
Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg – Legende einiger Musikheiligen
James Nares – A Concise and Easy Treatise on Singing, with a Set of English Duets for Beginners
Joseph Riepel – Baßschlüssel
Ignaz Schweigl – ''Grundlehre der Violin''