MusicAndHistory.com

1 January 1757 The cantata Wiewohl er Gottes Sohn war TWVI:  1648 by Georg Philipp Telemann (75) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.

While Britain in Her Monarch Blest, an ode by William Boyce (45) to words of Cibber, is performed for the first time.

2 January 1757 British forces retake Calcutta from Nawab Siraj-ud-daula of Bengal.

5 January 1757 Apparently incensed by the disputes between the King, the Pope and the Parlements, Robert François Damiens stabs King Louis XV with a knife at Versailles.  The King is only slightly wounded.  Damiens will be tortured and hung.

12 January 1757 Koca Mehmed Ragib Pasha replaces Köse Bahir Mustafa Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.

17 January 1757 The Holy Roman Empire declares war on Prussia.

22 January 1757 Ezio, an opera seria by Baldassare Galuppi (50) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at the Regio Ducal, Milan.

24 January 1757 Verhängnis, dein Wüten entkräftet die Armen, a cantata by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (46) for a memorial service for Sophia Dorothea of Prussia, is performed for the first time, in Halle.

27 January 1757 King Louis XV exiles 16 magistrates from the Parlement of Paris, which turns the Parlement against him.

1 February 1757 King Louis XV sacks Minister of Marine Jean-Baptiste Machault d'Arnouville after he ran afoul of Madame de Pompadour.

5 February 1757 Creso, an opera seria by Niccolò Jommelli (42) to words of Pizzi, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Argentina, Rome.

7 February 1757 Johann Anton Fils (25) marries Elisabeth Range in Mannheim.

9 February 1757 A peace treaty is signed between Britain and the Nawab of Bengal.  Calcutta is given back to Britain and the privileges of the British East India Company are restored.

15 February 1757 The publication of six symphonies op.3 (25, 44, 55, 31, 45, 28) of Georg Christoph Wagenseil (42) is advertised in Annonces, Paris.

3 March 1757 Publication of six symphonies by Johann Stamitz (39) op.3 (G-2, G-3, D-3, Eb-3, A-2, F-2) is announced in Annonces, Paris.

11 March 1757 The Triumph of Time and Truth by George Frideric Handel (72) to words of Morell after Pamphili is performed for the first time, at Covent Garden.

14 March 1757 Admiral John Byng is shot by a firing squad on the quarterdeck of HMS Monarque.  He commanded naval forces which, because of his undue caution, failed to raise the French siege of Minorca.  Although the admiralty and Prime Minister desired mercy, widespread popular opinion and King George demanded his life.

15 March 1757 The Fleece, a poem by John Dyer, is published in Britain.

23 March 1757 British forces capture the French base at Chandernagore (Chandannagar), just north of Calcutta.

28 March 1757 In Paris, Robert François Damiens, who attempted to kill King Louis XV last January, has the skin stripped off his body with hot pincers, boiling hot liquid poured in the wounds, and is then quartered. The remains are then burned to ashes.  The whole process takes four hours.

30 March 1757 The mortal remains of Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz are laid to rest in Mannheim, 39 years, nine months and eleven days after his baptism.  It is officially recorded:  “Buried, Jo’es Stainmiz, director of court music.  So expert in his art that his equal will hardly be found.”

31 March 1757 De danske, norske og tydske undersaatters glaede, a cantata for the birthday of King Frederik V of Denmark by Georg Philipp Telemann (76), is performed for the first time, in Christaneum, Altona.

12 April 1757 Titles and ermine fall behind, an ode by William Boyce (45), is performed for the first time, at Drury Lane Theatre, London.

21 April 1757 Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim replaces Franz Konrad von Stadion-Thannhausen as Prince-Bishop of Bamberg.

22 April 1757 The Fair Penitent, a play by Rowe with music by Thomas Augustine Arne (46), is performed for the first time, at Covent Garden, London.

29 April 1757 La Nitteti, an opera seria by Tommaso Traetta (30) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Pubblico, Reggio Emilia.

1 May 1757 A second treaty between France and Austria is signed at Versailles.  It provides for the partition of Prussia.  France increases payments to Austria until it regains Silesia.  There are also territorial agreements over the Austrian Netherlands and Italy.

2 May 1757 Georg Christoph Wagenseil (42) receives a second ten-year royal privilege to print his music in France, retroactive to 4 April.

6 May 1757 Prussian forces defeat the Austrians at Prague.  The Austrians retreat into the city which King Friedrich of Prussia decides not to attack.

15 May 1757 A Te Deum by Karl Heinrich Graun (53) is performed for the first time, in Berlin, to commemorate King Friedrich’s successful siege of Prague.

17 May 1757 The Academy and College of Philadelphia confers degrees on its first seven graduates.

31 May 1757 Anacreon (ii), an acte de ballet by Jean Philippe Rameau (73) to a scenario by Bernard, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.

14 June 1757 Cantate zur Einweihung der kleinen Michaelskirche in Hamburg by Georg Philipp Telemann (76) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.

18 June 1757 Ignaz Josef Pleyel is born in Ruppersthal, Austria, son of Martin Pleyel, a schoolteacher, and Anna Theresia Pleyel.

Austrian forces defeat the Prussians at Kolín, 50 km east of Prague.  Austrian cavalry colonel Nicolaus Esterházy saves the day, leading his troops to victory.  The Imperial victory causes the Prussians to lift the siege of Prague.

23 June 1757 In spite of the fact that they are outnumbered 17-1, British forces rout Siraj-ud-daula, the Nawab of Bengal, and his French artillery, at Plassey (Palashi), east of the Bhagirathi River north of Calcutta.  Great Britain becomes the master of Bengal at the cost of 72 men.

25 June 1757 François Joachim de Piernes de Bernis replaces Antoine Louis Rouillé, Comte de Jouy as Chief Minister of France.

James Waldegrave, Earl of Waldegrave replaces William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire as Prime Minister of Great Britain ad interim.

27 June 1757 William Boyce (45) is sworn in as Master of the King’s Musicians, a year and a half after the death of his predecessor, Maurice Greene.

28 June 1757 British commander Robert Clive installs Mir Jafar as Nawab of Bengal at Murshidabad, 170 km north of Calcutta.

2 July 1757 Siraj-ud-daula, former Nawab of Bengal, is killed in Murshidabad on orders of his grand uncle, Mir Jafar.

Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle replaces James Waldegrave, Earl of Waldegrave as Prime Minister of Great Britain.

5 July 1757 Raimund Anton Count von Strasoldo replaces Johann Anton II von Fryberg-Hoperferau as Prince-Bishop of Eichstätt.

23 July 1757 Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti dies at his home in Madrid, aged 71 years, eight months and 27 days.  His mortal remains will be laid to rest in the Convento de San Norbeto.  (Since the convent was suppressed in 1845, no trace of the grave now remains)

A setting of the Pater noster by Johann Christian Bach (21) is performed for the first time, in the church of San Fedele, Milan, directed by the composer.

25 July 1757 French troops attack Hanoverian forces at Hastenbeck, 50 km southwest of Hanover.

26 July 1757 French forces defeat the Hanoverians at Hastenbeck.

1 August 1757 Halleluja, amen, Lob und Ehr und Weisheit und Dank, Cantate auf Dankfest Wegen des Sieges bei Lowoschütz, by Georg Philipp Telemann (76) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.

3 August 1757 Christian Friedrich Karl Alexander replaces Karl Wilhelm Friedrich as Prince-Margrave of Ansbach.

French forces and their Indian allies lay siege to the British garrison at Fort William Henry in Warren County, New York.

9 August 1757 The British soldiers in Fort William Henry, Warren County, New York, agree to generous surrender terms offered by French commander the Marquis de Montcalm.  They evacuate the fort and Indians enter to plunder.  The Indians kill a small number of British still within the fort.

10 August 1757 As British troops, along with a number of women and children, attempt to leave the area of Fort William Henry, they are set upon by Indians.  About 200 are killed outright, some 500 taken away by the Indians.  Of these, 200 are never seen again.

23 August 1757 A setting of the Dies Irae by Johann Christian Bach (21) is performed for the first time, in Milan directed by the composer.

29 August 1757 John Antes (17) receives the Holy Communion for the first time, at the festival of the adult Brethren, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  “What a feeling of well-being I felt in my heart I am incapable of describing.”  (Crews, 3)

30 August 1757 Russian forces defeat the Prussians at Gross Jägersdorf (Chernyakhovsk District, Russia), which allows them to occupy East Prussia.  They could march unopposed to Berlin but decide to wait for supplies.

8 September 1757 William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, commander of the British Expeditionary force, signs the Convention of Kloster Zeven, which leaves Hanover at the mercy of the French and exposes Prussia’s western flank.  For this, King George II will recall his son and dismiss him from his military post.

18 September 1757 Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (21) enters upon duties as organist in the pilgrimage church of Maria Taferl near Melk, 80 km west of Vienna.

29 September 1757 The cantata Welch Getrümmel erschüttert TWV 1:  1546 by Georg Philipp Telemann (76) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.

7 October 1757 The British government agrees to encourage King George II to denounce the Convention of Kloster Zeven.

The publication of three “concerti grossi” op.6 by Giovanni Battista Sammartini (56), actually the symphonies JC.51, is anounced in the Public Advertiser, London.

18 October 1757 Prussian forces move west to meet the French in Saxony.

20 October 1757 The Tempest, a masque by William Boyce (46) to words of Garrick after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, in Drury Lane Theatre, London.

30 October 1757 Rejoice, ye Britons, hail the day!, an ode by William Boyce (46) to words of Cibber, is performed for the first time, to celebrate the birthday of King George II.

Ottoman Sultan Osman III dies, succeeded by Mustafa III, son of Ahmed III.

4 November 1757 Niccolò Piccinni’s (29) opera seria Nitteti, to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.

La clemenza di Tito, a dramma per musica by Ignaz Holzbauer (46) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at the Mannheim Hoftheater.

5 November 1757 Prussian forces crush a combined French and Imperial army more than twice their size at Rossbach, Saxony, near Halle.  This allows the British to renounce the Convention of Kloster Zeven and continue the war.

10 November 1757 Publication of six symphonies by Johann Stamitz (†0) op.3 is advertised in Annonces, affiches, et avis divers, Paris.

16 November 1757 Daniel Read is born in Attleborough, Massachusetts.

22 November 1757 Imperial and Prussian forces fight to a standstill at Breslau (Wroclaw), but the Prussians quit the field tomorrow.

25 November 1757 The Prussian garrison of Breslau (Wroclaw) surrenders to the Empire.

26 November 1757 Baldassare Galuppi’s (51) opera seria Sesostri, to words of Pariati, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Benedetto, Venice.

2 December 1757 Isabella, or the Fatal Marriage, a play by Garrick, after Southerne, with music by Thomas Augustine Arne (47), is performed for the first time, at the Drury Lane Theatre, London.

5 December 1757 Prussian forces defeat Imperial troops over twice their size at Leuthen, near Breslau (Wroclaw).  About 15,000 people are killed or wounded.  The Empire is forced to abandon Silesia.

18 December 1757 Niccolò Jommelli’s (43) opera seria Temistocle to words of Metastasio is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.

25 December 1757 The cantata Tönet die Freude TWV I:  1410 by Georg Philipp Telemann (76) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.

©Paul Scharfenberger 2004-2012

1 June 2012