1762
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1 January 1762 The cantata Jauchze du Tochter Zion TWV 1: 950 by Georg Philipp Telemann (80) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
God of Slaughter, quit the scene, an ode by William Boyce (50) to words of Whitehead, is performed for the first time.
4 January 1762 Great Britain declares war on Spain, Naples and Parma.
5 January 1762 Empress Yelizaveta of Russia dies in St. Petersburg and is succeeded by her nephew, Pyotr III.
10 January 1762 British forces land and secure a beachhead on the French island of Martinique.
12 January 1762 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (5) and his sister Nannerl are taken from Salzburg to Munich by their father Leopold (42) for a stay of three weeks.
Prince Dmitri Mikhailovich Galitzin is appointed Russian ambassador to Vienna. He will be a major patron of the arts in the Austrian capital until his death in 1793.
14 January 1762 Publication of the Symphony no.37 of Georg Christoph Wagenseil (46) is advertised in Annonces, Paris.
19 January 1762 The Kingdoms of K’art’li and Kakhet’i are joined in personal union under King Irakli II and called the Kingdom of Georgia.
20 January 1762 Two works by Johann Christian Bach (26) are performed for the first time, at Teatro San Carlo, Naples to honor the birthday of King Carlos III of Spain: the opera Alessandro nell’Indie to words after Metastasio, and the Cantata a 3 voci per festiggiare il felicissimo giorno natalizio di sua Maesta cattolica, to words possibly by Passeri.
2 February 1762 Il marchese villano, a dramma giocoso by Baldassare Galuppi (55) to words of Chiari, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Moisè, Venice.
Artaxerxes, a serious opera by Thomas Augustine Arne (51) to his own words, after Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at Covent Garden, London.
3 February 1762 Two Paris institutions, the Opéra-Comique and the Comédie-Italienne, merge by royal edict.
Artaserse, an opera seria by Niccolò Piccinni (34) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Argentina, Rome.
4 February 1762 The French garrison of Ft. Royal, Martinique surrenders to the British, thus breaking French power in the eastern Caribbean.
11 February 1762 The third version of Semiramide riconosciuta, an opera seria by Niccolò Jommelli (47) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Stuttgart Opera House to honor the birthday of Duke Carl Eugen.
16 February 1762 British forces complete the capture of Martinique from the French.
25 February 1762 The British take possession of St. Lucia from the French.
26 February 1762 Beauty and Virtue, a serenata by Thomas Augustine Arne (51) to his own words after Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Drury Lane Theatre, London.
5 March 1762 Der Tag des Gerichts, a sacred oratorio by Georg Philipp Telemann (80) to words of Alers, is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
The Sacrifice, or The Death of Abel, an oratorio by Thomas Augustine Arne (51) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Drury Lane Theatre, London. The work is actually a revival of Arne’s The Death of Abel of 1744.
12 March 1762 Swiss physiologist Albrecht von Haller signs the preface to the fourth volume of his Elementa physiologiae corporis humani which shows that muscular action is due to nervous stimulation and that all nerves lead to the brain or spinal cord.
18 March 1762 Prince Paul Anton Esterházy, employer of Joseph Haydn (29), dies in Vienna. He is succeeded by his brother, Nicholas.
24 March 1762 Georg Christoph Wagenseil’s (47) serenata Prometeo assoluto to words of Migliavacca is performed for the first time, in the Hoftheater, Vienna, in honor of Archduchess Isabel of Austria. The overture is actually Wagenseil’s Symphony no.13.
31 March 1762 The Paris Parlement begins hearing a case brought by the Jesuits who are required to pay the debts of one of their number. In May, the court will find for the creditors and order the Jesuits to pay 1,500,000 livres.
1 April 1762 France and Spain present an ultimatum to Portugal demanding restitution for French ships captured by the British in Portuguese waters.
5 April 1762 British forces capture Grenada from the French.
23 April 1762 Joseph Black describes his discoveries into the nature of heat, specific heat, to the University Philosophical Club in Glasgow. One of his assistants on the work is James Watt.
26 April 1762 Donnerode, part 2, a sacred oratorio by Georg Philipp Telemann (81) to words of Cramer, is performed for the first time, in the Drillhaus, Hamburg.
27 April 1762 Il trionfo di Clelia, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (63) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna. It celebrates the birth of a daughter to Archduke Joseph of Austria and Isabella of Parma.
29 April 1762 Alessandro nell’Indie, an opera seria by Tommaso Traetta (35) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Pubblico, Reggio nell’Emilia.
30 April 1762 Spanish troops enter Trás-os-Montes, Portugal.
1 May 1762 The Citizen of the World; or, Letters From a Chinese Philosopher Residing in London to his Friends in the East by Oliver Goldsmith is published. It has already been partially serialized.
3 May 1762 Spain, annoyed with Portugal’s friendliness towards Britain, crosses the border in force.
5 May 1762 The new Tsar Pyotr III, an ardent admirer of Friedrich the Great, concludes peace between Russia and Prussia at St. Petersburg. Russia restores all the conquests of the Seven Years War and an alliance between the two nations is formed.
18 May 1762 Portugal declares war on Spain.
19 May 1762 Francesco Loredano, Doge of Venice, dies.
Viriate, an opera seria by Baldassare Galuppi (55) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Salvatore, Venice, under the title Siface.
22 May 1762 Peace is concluded between Sweden and Prussia at Hamburg. Conquered territories are returned to status quo ante.
24 May 1762 Emile, ou L’Education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau goes on sale in Paris.
26 May 1762 John Stuart, Earl of Bute replaces Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
27 May 1762 Johann Christian Bach (26) receives a leave of absence from Milan Cathedral “for a year, beginning this July, in order to travel to England and compose two operas.”
31 May 1762 Marco Foscarini becomes Doge of Venice.
1 June 1762 Authorities in Paris begin confiscating all copies of the recently published Emile, ou L’Education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
4 June 1762 Go Flora, an ode by William Boyce (50) to words of Whitehead, is performed for the first time, for the birthday of King George III.
7 June 1762 The syndic of the Faculty of Theology at the Sorbonne declares Emile, ou L’Education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau to be a threat to public order.
British forces land on Cuba at Bacuranao, east of Havana.
11 June 1762 Emile, ou L’Education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau is ritually destroyed in the Palais de Justice in Paris.
12 June 1762 A month after invading Portugal, Spain declares war.
La bella verità, an opera buffa by Niccolò Piccinni (34) to words of Goldoni, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Marsigli-Rossi, Bologna.
22 June 1762 British siege mortars begin firing at El Morro, the castle guarding Havana harbor.
24 June 1762 French forces occupy the British port of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
29 June 1762 Spanish defenders attack out of Havana against the British siege works. They are forced to retreat.
1 July 1762 Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville (50) ends his seven-year tenure as director and conductor of the Concerts spirituels in Paris. During this time he programmed the music of Gossec (28), foreigners like Holzbauer (50) and Wagenseil (47), as well as his own music.
British land and naval forces begin a joint bombardment of El Morro, guarding Havana Harbor. The Spanish defenders are unmoved.
5 July 1762 John Antes (22) opens an instrument making shop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
8 July 1762 Sancho Pança, dans son isle, an opéra comique by François-André Danican-Philidor (35) to words of Poinsinet after Cervantes, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris. The work is a success, due mostly to the music.
9 July 1762 Thanks to plotters in the Russian Guards (her lover and his four brothers), Empress Yekaterina overthrows her husband, Pyotr III, to become ruler in her own right.
10 July 1762 Tsar Pyotr III abdicates his throne and is arrested at Peterhof, the summer palace 30 km west of St. Petersburg. He asks only that he not be separated from his mistress.
A monument to George Frideric Handel (†3) by Louis François Roubiliac is unveiled in Westminster Abbey.
17 July 1762 The former Tsar of Russia, Pyotr III, dies in custody at Ropsha, an estate 30 km inland from St. Petersburg. Empress Yekaterina II will issue a statement attributing his death to “hemorrhoidal colic.” He was killed by Count Alexei Orlov, at the bidding of Yekaterina. He is succeeded as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp by his son, eight-year-old Pavel.
18 July 1762 Johann Georg Albrechtsberger’s (26) cantata Sacrificium Jubilaeum, to words of Müller, is performed for the first time, in Säusenstein on the Danube east of Linz.
20 July 1762 Publication of two harpsichord concertos op.7 by Georg Christoph Wagenseil (47) is announced in Mercure de France, Paris.
21 July 1762 Prussian forces defeat Imperial troops at Burkersdorf in Silesia. Aiding the Prussian victory is a contingent of troops from their recent enemy, Russia.
25 July 1762 Prince Nicholas Esterházy performs his first official act regarding his cappella: he raises the salary of Vice-Kapellmeister Franz Joseph Haydn (30).
30 July 1762 British sappers blow up part of El Morro, the castle guarding Havana harbor. British soldiers enter the breach and defeat the superior numbers of the defenders. Only 100 Spaniards make it to the safety of Havana.
6 August 1762 The Paris Parlement, after a financial scandal and investigations of immorality, finds the Society of Jesus a threat to France, orders it suppressed and its members expelled from the country.
10 August 1762 Spanish forces abandon La Punta, just north of Havana, in the face of a British onslaught.
14 August 1762 The Spanish governor of Cuba surrenders Havana and the western one-third of the island.
25 August 1762 British naval forces begin a blockade of the French inside St. John’s, Newfoundland.
9 September 1762 Publication of the Symphony D-11 by Johann Stamitz (†5) is advertised in Annonces, Paris.
15 September 1762 Toshi-ko becomes Empress of Japan, replacing Toshito.
British forces defeat the French on Signal Hill at St. John’s Newfoundland. The French retreat inside Fort William.
Franz Joseph (30) and Johann Michael Haydn (25) travel together from Vienna to visit their family in Rohrau and settle the estate of their late mother.
Christoph Willibald Gluck’s (48) pantomime La Citera assediata to words of Angiolini, is performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna.
16 September 1762 French vessels manage to evade the British blockade of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
17 September 1762 Francesco Xaverio Geminiani dies in Dublin “at his lodgings on College-Green”, 74 years, nine months and twelve days after his baptism.
18 September 1762 The Mozart family, including Leopold (42) and Wolfgang (6), leave Salzburg for Vienna.
After an occupation of almost three months, French forces surrender St. John’s, Newfoundland to the British.
19 September 1762 The mortal remains of Francesco Xaverio Geminiani are laid to rest in Dublin, “in the Churchyard of St. Andrew, near College-Green, the Church of the Irish Parliament.”
29 September 1762 The cantata Dich rühmen die Welten TWV 1: 329 by Georg Philipp
Telemann (81) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
1 October 1762 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (6) gives his first known public musical performance, at Trinity Inn, Linz.
5 October 1762 Orfeo ed Euridice, an azione teatrale by Christoph Willibald Gluck (48) to words of Calzibigi, is performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna for the name day of Emperor Franz. It is a tremendous success and will have 19 performances this year alone.
6 October 1762 After a siege by the Royal Navy, Spanish defenders surrender Manila and all of the Philippines. In fact, British power will not be pressed beyond the capital city.
The Mozart family arrives in Vienna from Salzburg.
12 October 1762 Antonio Sacchini (32), secondo maestro at the Conservatorio Santa Maria di Loreto in Naples, is granted leave to travel to Venice to produce an opera at the Teatro San Benedetto.
13 October 1762 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (6) and his sister Nannerl perform at Schönbrunn Palace before Emperor Franz I, Empress Maria Theresia, Archduchess Marie Antoinette and the music teacher to the imperial family, Georg Christoph Wagenseil (47). Leopold (42) writes home to Salzburg, “Everyone is amazed, especially at the boy, and everyone whom I have heard says that his genius is incomprehensible.” (Solomon, 41)
19 October 1762 Komm wieder, Herr, a cantata by Georg Philipp Telemann (81), is performed for the first time, for the consecration of the rebuilt St. Michael’s Church, Hamburg.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (6) performs before the French ambassador in Vienna, Glorent-Louis-Marie Comte du Châtelet-Lomont, who invites him to Versailles. Leopold (42) sends home gifts from the Imperial family and many nobles totalling 120 ducats, about twice his annual salary.
21 October 1762 In Vienna, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (6) begins showing symptoms of scarlet fever. He will be in bed for ten days.
23 October 1762 The Portuguese defenders of Colónia de Sacramento (in present Uruguay) surrender to besieging Spaniards.
29 October 1762 At the Battle of Freiburg, southwest of Dresden, Prussian troops defeat the Austrians.
1 November 1762 French forces surrender at Kassel and evacuate the eastern bank of the Rhine.
3 November 1762 Preliminary Articles of Peace are signed by British, French and Spanish ministers at Fontainebleau.
4 November 1762 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (6) has recovered from scarlet fever enough to go out of the house.
Niccolò Piccinni’s (34) opera seria Antigono, to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
5 November 1762 The Mozart children perform at the home of Dr. Johann Anton von Bernhard in Vienna to thank him for treating their recent scarlet fever.
Sofonisba, an opera seria by Tommaso Traetta (35) to words of Verazi after Zanetti and Zanetti, is performed for the first time, at the Mannheim Hoftheater.
13 November 1762 Johann Christian Bach (27) appears professionally in London for the first time. He directs the pasticcio Il Tutore e la Pupilla, to which he contributed.
22 November 1762 On St. Cecilia’s day, the Mozart family attend lunch with Imperial Kapellmeister Georg Reutter.
Le roi et le fermier, a comédie mêlée morceaux de musique by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny (33) to words of Sedaine after Dodsley, is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre-Bourgogne, Paris.
24 November 1762 A truce is concluded between Prussia, the Empire and Saxony.
25 November 1762 Rodolfo Emilio Maria Brignole Sale replaces Agostino Lomellini as Doge of Genoa.
8 December 1762 Thomas Augustine Arne’s (52) pasticcio comic opera Love in a Village to words of Bickerstaff after Johnson, is performed for the first time, in Covent Garden, London.
11 December 1762 The Mozart family travels from Vienna to Pressburg (Bratislava).
22 December 1762 Michael Haydn (25) dates his Partita in F for winds at Pressburg (Bratislava).
24 December 1762 The Mozart family returns to Vienna from Pressburg (Bratislava) where they were invited by Hungarian nobles.
26 December 1762 Baldassare Galuppi’s (56) dramma giocoso Il puntiglio amoroso to words of Gozzi is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Moisè, Venice.
31 December 1762 The Mozart family departs Vienna for Salzburg.
©Paul Scharfenberger 2004-2012
2 June 2012
Last Updated (Saturday, 02 June 2012 04:49)