1820 in music
This is a list of music-related events in 1820.
Events
- Pietro Raimondi returns to Naples and begins his career as an opera composer.
- The Musical Fund Society is founded at Musical Fund Hall in Philadelphia. Its first public concert on April 22, 1821, featured Beethoven's 2nd Symphony.
- Franz Liszt plays in public for the first time in Ödenburg.
Popular music
- "Hail to the Chief" – words, Sir Walter Scott; music James Sanderson
- "London Cheats" aka "There Never Were Such Times" sung by Joseph Grimaldi in The Yellow Drawf or Harlequin Knight of the Golden Moon"
- "D'ye Ken John Peel" – words, John Woodcock Graves. music traditional.
Classical music
- Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 30
- Franz Berwald – Violin Concerto in C sharp minor, Op. 2
- Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel – "Annette", H-U 14
- Friedrich Kuhlau
- *3 Sonatinas, Op.20
- *Fantasy and Variations, Op.25
- Felix Mendelssohn
- *"Raste Krieger, Krieg ist aus" MWV K 2
- *Violin Sonata in F major, MWV Q 7
- *Recitativo in E minor, MWV U 11
- *Piano Piece in E minor, MWV U 12
- *Piano Piece in E minor, MWV U 18
- Ignaz Moscheles – Piano Concerto No.3, Op.58
- Ferdinand Ries – Sextet, Op.100
- Friedrich Schneider – Das Weltgericht, Op.46
- Franz Schubert
- *Lazarus, oratorio
- *Quartettsatz, D. 703
- *Psalm 23, D.706
- Louis Spohr
- *Grand Rondo in G major for violin and piano, Op. 51
- *Potpourri on Irish Themes in A major, Op. 59
- *Potpourri on Themes from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte for violin and piano in F-sharp minor, Op. 50
- *Quintet for piano and winds in C minor, Op. 52
- *Symphony No. 2 in D minor, Op. 49
- *Violin Concerto No. 9 in D minor, Op. 55
Opera
- Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga – Los Esclavos Felices
- Friedrich Kuhlau – Elisa, Op.29
- Giovanni Pacini – La schiava di Bagdad
- Gioacchino Rossini – Maometto II
- Franz Schubert – Sakuntala, D. 701
Births
- January 9 – Pavel Křížkovský, conductor and composer
- February 10 – Cornelius Gurlitt, composer
- February 17 – Henri Vieuxtemps, violinist and composer
- March 7 – Gustav Graben-Hoffmann, German composer and voice teacher
- March 24 – Fanny Crosby, American lyricist
- May 21 – Michel Lentz, lyricist of the Luxembourg national anthem
- June 22 – Franz Kroll, pianist
- July 7 – George Cooper, organist
- July 20 – Enrico Crivelli, Italian opera singer
- July 26 – Maria Severa Onofriana, Portuguese singer and guitarist, considered the founder of fado
- August 13 – George Grove, music writer
- August 30 – George Frederick Root, songwriter
- September 5 – Louis Köhler, pianist, composer and conductor
- October 6 – Jenny Lind, Swedish singer
- December 17 – Karl Anton Eckert, conductor and composer
- date unknown
- *Maria Severa Onofriana, fado singer
- *Anna-Kajsa Norman, Swedish folk musician
Deaths
- February 2 – Peder Schall, composer
- March 26 – Jean-Étienne Despréaux, French dancer, choreographer and composer
- August 6 – Antonín Vranický, Bohemian violinist and composer
- August 28 – Antonín Kraft, cellist and composer
- October 3 – Ludwig Wenzel Lachnith, horn player and composer
- date unknown – Marie Bigot, piano teacher
- probable
- *Mikhail Matinsky, scientist, writer and composer
- *Louis Joseph Saint-Amans, composer