1754
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1 January 1754 Niccolò Jommelli (39) assumes the position of Musikdirektor und Oberkapellmeister to Duke Carl Eugen of Württemberg in Stuttgart.
Hail! Hail! auspicious rising year, an ode by Maurice Greene (57) to words of Cibber, is performed for the first time.
16 January 1754 Chacun à son tour, a pantomime by Ignaz Holzbauer (42) to a story of d’Inzeo, is performed for the first time, in the Mannheim Hoftheater.
20 January 1754 A second version of Alessandro nelle Indie, an opera seria by Baldassare Galuppi (47) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
22 January 1754 Don Falcone, an intermezzo by Niccolò Jommelli (39) is performed for the first time, in Teatro Rossi, Bologna.
31 January 1754 François-André Danican-Philidor’s (27) ode A Hymn to Harmony, to words of Congreve, is performed for the first time, in the Little Theatre in the Haymarket, London, “in order to justify himself of the calumny spread about the town that he was not the author of the Latin music he gave last year...” Present at the concert is George Frideric Handel (68) who finds “the choruses well put together, and only said that that the airs lacked taste.”
6 February 1754 Artemisia, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (54) to words of Migliavacca, is performed for the first time, at the Dresden Court Opera.
10 February 1754 Siroe, an opera by Baldassare Galuppi (47) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Argentina, Rome.
6 March 1754 Prime Minister Henry Pelham of Great Britain dies in London.
16 March 1754 Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle replaces his brother Henry Pelham as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
22 March 1754 In a coffee shop in Covent Garden, eleven eminent English gentlemen found the Royal Society of Arts, “for the encouragement of arts, manufactures, and commerce in Great Britain.” (Wood, 11-12)
23 March 1754 Thomas Chippendale publishes one of the most influential books on furniture design, Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Directory.
27 March 1754 Semiramide, an opera by Karl Heinrich Graun (50) to words of Tagliazucchi after Voltaire, is performed for the first time, at the Berlin Opera.
31 March 1754 Francesco Geminiani (66) is in Paris to attend a performance of the pantomime La forest enchantée at the Salle des Machines, for which he wrote the music.
9 April 1754 Fernando de Silva y Alvarez Toledo, duque de Huéscar replaces José de Carvajal y Lancáster as First Secretary of State of Spain ad interim.
17 April 1754 A force of 600 French and Indians reaches the confluence of the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers. They encounter a small British advance force trying to erect defensive positions. They destroy these works and begin building a larger, stronger edifice: Ft. Duquesne (Pittsburgh).
9 May 1754 The first newspaper cartoon appears in the Pennsylvania Gazette. It shows a divided snake with each of eight sections identified as a colony. The caption reads “Join or Die.” It was designed by Benjamin Franklin to foster unity in the anticipated war against France.
14 May 1754 The St. Andrew’s Society of Golfers is organized in Scotland.
15 May 1754 Anton Fils (20) is appointed cellist to the electoral court of Mannheim. The appointment is retroactive to 1 February.
Messiah by George Frideric Handel (69) is performed at the Foundling Hospital, London. This is probably the last time that the work is performed under the direction of the composer.
17 May 1754 Ricardo Wall y Devreux replaces Fernando de Silva y Alvarez Toledo, duque de Huéscar as First Secretary of State of Spain.
20 May 1754 Five weeks of voting conclude in the British general election. Although no real party structure exists, supporters of the present government appear to be in the majority.
28 May 1754 A party of Virginia militiamen commanded by George Washington surprise a slightly smaller French party south of Ft. Duquesne (Pittsburgh). Ten French are killed and most of the rest captured by the English.
29 May 1754 Thomas Augustine Arne’s (44) opera Eliza, to words of Rolt, is performed for the first time, in the Little Theatre, Haymarket, London.
30 May 1754 Virginia militia commanded by Lt. Col. George Washington start building Ft. Necessity near the Ohio River 80 km southeast of Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh).
3 June 1754 Aziz ad-Din Abu’l-Adl Mohammad Alamgir Padshah-e Ghazi replaces Mojahed ad-Din Abu’n Nasr Ahmad Shah Bahadur Padshah-e Ghazi as Emperor of India.
8 June 1754 Giovanni Paisiello (14) enrolls in the Conservatorio di Sant’Onofrio a Capuano in Naples.
11 June 1754 Joseph Black offers his thesis De Humore Acido a Cibis orto, et Magnesia Alba (On the acid Humor rising from Food, and Magnesia Alba) in Edinburgh. He explains how he created carbon dioxide in the laboratory.
12 June 1754 Dorothea Erxleben is awarded a medical degree from the University of Halle. It is the first medical degree granted to a woman in Germany.
16 June 1754 L’isola disabitata, an azione comica per musica by Ignaz Holzbauer (42) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at Schwetzingen.
19 June 1754 Delegates from the British colonies in North America meet in Albany to discuss concerted action against the French.
23 June 1754 Giovanni Giacomo Stefano Veneroso replaces Giovanni Battista Grimaldi as Doge of Genoa.
3 July 1754 A force of French and Indians attack the recently built Ft. Necessity 80 km southeast of Ft. Duquesne (Pittsburgh).
4 July 1754 British forces under Colonel George Washington at Ft. Necessity surrender and are allowed to withdraw back to Virginia, by the French.
24 July 1754 Antoine Louis Rouillé replaces François Dominique de Barberie de Saint-Contest as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (chief minister) of France.
29 August 1754 Two works by Georg Philipp Telemann (73) with words possibly by Bueck, are performed for the first time, in Hamburg: the oratorio Sing Ehre! and the serenata Wirbelt, ihr Trommeln.
30 August 1754 Catone in Utica, an opera seria by Niccolò Jommelli (39) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Ducal Theatre, Stuttgart.
2 September 1754 King Louis XV recalls the Parlement of Paris after negotiations by the Prince de Conti. He orders all factions to refrain from discussing the refusal of sacraments.
8 September 1754 The name of Johann Stamitz (37) appears in a program of the Concert spirituel, Paris.
9 September 1754 The cantata Nun ist das Heil TWV 1: 1171 by Georg Philipp Telemann (73) to words of Mayer, is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
20 September 1754 George Frideric Handel (69) writes to Georg Philipp Telemann (73) that the rumors of his death are untrue.
24 September 1754 Le cinesi, a componimento drammatico by Christoph Willibald Gluck (40) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Schlosshof, near Vienna for a visit by Empress Maria Theresia to the summer home of Prince Joseph Friedrich von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.
8 October 1754 Georg Philipp Telemann’s (73) cantata Habe acht auf dich selbst is performed for the first time, at the consecration of Joachim Lütken as preacher in St. Maria Magdalena, Hamburg.
12 October 1754 Jean-Philippe Rameau’s (71) acte de ballet La naissance d’Osiris ou La fête Pamilie, to a scenario by Cahusac, is performed for the first time, in Fontainebleau to celebrate the birth of the Duc de Berry (later King Louis XVI).
The Wienerisches Diarum refers to Christoph Willibald Gluck (40) as “Fürstl. Capell-meister” to Prince Joseph Friedrich von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.
18 October 1754 Empress Maria Theresia appoints Christoph Willibald Gluck (40) as Imperial and Royal Chamber Composer.
23 October 1754 Anacreon(i), an acte de ballet by Jean-Philippe Rameau (71) to a scenario by Cahusac, is performed for the first time, in Fontainebleau.
26 October 1754 Baldassare Galuppi’s (48) dramma giocoso Il filosofo di campagna to words of Goldoni, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Samuele, Venice.
29 October 1754 Daphnis et Alcimadure, a pastorale languedocienne by Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville (42) to his own words, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau. The work is well received and will open at the Paris Opéra 5 January 1755.
30 October 1754 When glory with refulgent wings, an ode by Maurice Greene (58) to words of Cibber, is performed for the first time, in honor of the birthday of King George II.
31 October 1754 King’s College is chartered in New York. It will later be known as Columbia University.
4 November 1754 L’Issipile, a dramma per musica by Ignaz Holzbauer (43) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at the Mannheim Hoftheater.
14 December 1754 Ottoman Sultan Mahmud I dies in Constantinople and is succeeded by his brother Osman III.
16 December 1754 L’allégresse du jour, a pantomime by Ignaz Holzbauer (43), is performed for the first time, in the Mannheim Komödiensaal.
23 December 1754 Lauda Jerusalem, a motet by François André Danican-Philidor (28) is performed for the first time, in the Chapel at Versailles during a mass attended by the King and Queen. The Queen dispproves, finding it “too Italian.”
25 December 1754 The cantata Was frag ich nach der Welt TWV I: 508 by Georg Philipp Telemann (73) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
©Paul Scharfenberger 2004-2012
1 June 2012
Last Updated (Friday, 01 June 2012 05:00)