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
- 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.
Popular music
- "Looney's Lamentation for Miss Margery Muggins", from British panto performance. Grew in popularity in UK after being covered in 1809 by Joseph Grimaldi in ''Castles in the Air or Columbine Cowslip''
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
- Domenico Cimarosa
- *Le astuzie femminili
- *Penelope
- Francois-Joseph Gossec – Le triomphe de la République, RH 618
- 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
- April 7 – Giovanni Battista Rubini, tenor
- April 9
- *Aristide Farrenc, musician and music publisher
- *Theobald Boehm, composer and flautist
- May 23 – Ignaz Moscheles, composer and piano virtuoso
- August 10 – Princess Amalie of Saxony, composer
- September 10 – François Benoist, organist and composer
- September 16 – Wenzel Gährich, composer
- September 29 – William Michael Rooke, violinist and composer
- October 4 – Justina Casagli, operatic soprano
- October 7 – Wilhelm Müller, lyricist
- October 13 – Anselm Hüttenbrenner, composer
- October 18 – Ferdinand Schubert, Austrian composer
- October 23 – Joseph Panny, composer and violinist
- October 29 – William Bingham Tappan, hymnist
- November 3 – William Cullen Bryant, patron of the arts and poet
- December 6 – Luigi Lablache, operatic bass
- date unknown
- *Mirza Shafi Vazeh, lyricist
Deaths
- April 26 – Johan Foltmar, composer
- May 6 – Jean-Jacques Beauvarlet-Charpentier, composer and organist
- July 13 – Josse-François-Joseph Benaut, composer and musician
- July 17 – Jean-Frédéric Edelmann, composer
- July 22 – Jean-Benjamin de Laborde, composer,
- July 25 – André Chénier, lyricist
- August 7 –, composer
- August 11 – Jakob Friedrich Kleinknecht, German composer
- August 25 – Leopold August Abel, composer
- November 9 – Gregory Skovoroda, poet and composer
- November 20 – Mattia Verazi, Italian librettist
- November 22 – Alison Cockburn, lyricist