1821 in music

Events

• Construction work begins on the Teatro Regio at Parma.
• José Bernardo Alcedo wins a contest, sponsored by General José de San Martín, to choose a national anthem for Peru. The anthem is "Somos libres, seámoslo siempre," with lyrics by José de la Torre Ugarte.

Classical music

• Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 31
• Friedrich Wilhelm Kalkbrenner – Piano Sextet Op. 58
• Friedrich Kuhlau – 9 Variations For Piano
• Felix Mendelssohn – Symphonies for Strings 1–6
• George Onslow – Cello Sonata, Op.16 No.3
• Ferdinand Ries
• *2 Piano Sonatinas, Op. 5
• *Fantasie nach Schiller's Gedicht 'Resignation', Op. 109
• Franz Schubert
• * "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", D.714; part song for male voices and low strings; Op.posth. 167
• * Symphony No. 7 in E major, D 729
• Louis Spohr
• *Clarinet Concerto No. 3 in F minor, WoO 19
• *Mass in C minor, Op. 54
• Jan Václav Voříšek – Symphony in D
• Carl Maria von Weber – Konzertstück in F minor, for piano and orchestra, Op. 79

Opera

• Johann Kaspar Aiblinger – Rodrigo und Chimene
• Michele Carafa – Jeanne d'Arc à Orléans
• Saverio Mercadante
• *Andronico
• *Elisa e Claudio
• Giovanni Pacini – Cesare in Egitto
• Gioachino Rossini – Matilde di Shabran, premiered Feb. 24 in Rome.
• Carl Maria von Weber – ''Der Freischütz''

Publications

• Ananias Davisson – ''Introduction to Sacred Music, Extracted from the Kentucky Harmony and Chiefly Intended for the Benefit of Young Scholars''

Births

• April 27 – Henry Willis, organ builder
• May 6 – Emilie Hammarskjöld, composer
• May 25 – Diederich Krug, pianist and composer
• June 15 – Nikolai Zaremba, musical theorist and composer
• June 27 – August Conradi, organist and composer
• July 18 – Pauline Viardot, singer and composer
• October 4 – Fanny Stål pianist
• October 8 – Friedrich Kiel, composer
• October 13 – Oscar Byström, academic and composer
• October 16 – Franz Doppler, flautist and composer
• October 20 – Emilio Arrieta, composer
• December 8 – Josif Runjanin, composer of the Croatian national anthem
• December 22 – Giovanni Bottesini, composer

Deaths

• March 8 – Harriett Abrams, operatic soprano
• May 15 – John Wall Callcott, composer
• June 25 – Antoine Bullant, bassoonist and composer
• August 6 – Antonio Bartolomeo Bruni, violinist, conductor and composer
• August 10 – Salvatore Viganò, choreographer and composer
• September 22 – Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre, "Madame Dugazon", entertainer
• October 28 – Gaspare Pacchierotti, castrato singer
• November 10 – Andreas Romberg, violinist and composer
• date unknown
• *Jules Granier, composer
• *Kamalakanta Bhattacharya, Bengali poet and songwriter