1763
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1 January 1763 At length, th’imperious Lord of War, an ode by William Boyce (51) to words of Whitehead, is performed for the first time.
5 January 1763 The Mozart family returns to Salzburg from Vienna.
11 January 1763 Alcide, a festa teatrale by Franz Joseph Haydn (30) to words of Migliavacca, is performed for the first time, in celebrations surrounding the wedding of Anton, son of Prince Nicholas Esterházy, in Eisenstadt. Also performed as part of the celebrations is Haydn’s cantata Vivan gl’illustri sposi.
21 January 1763 Count Durazzo petitions Empress Maria Theresia for an annual pension of 600 gulden for Christoph Williabald Gluck (48) in an attempt to retain his services.
25 January 1763 Wilhelm Anton Count von der Asseburg replaces Clemens August, Duke of Bavaria as Prince-Bishop of Paderborn.
27 January 1763 Nine-year-old August Friedrich and two-year-old Georg I become joint Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen under regency.
Clemens Wenzel von Sachsen replaces Johann Theodor Duke of Bavaria as Prince Bishop of Regensburg.
3 February 1763 An overture by Johann Christian Bach (27), is performed for the first time, in the King’s Theatre, London to open La Calamita de’ Cuori, a dramma giocoso mostly by Baldassare Galuppi (56) to words after Goldoni.
7 February 1763 Friedrich Wilhelm von Westfalen becomes Prince Bishop of Hildesheim.
10 February 1763 Peace is signed in Paris by representatives of Great Britain, France, Spain and Portugal ending the Seven Years War. Britain receives Canada, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, St. Vincent, Tobago, Dominica, Grenada, Senegal and Minorca from France and Florida from Spain. France receives Martinique, Guadaloupe, St. Lucia, St. Pierre and Miquelon and Goree and is guaranteed fishing rights off Newfoundland. The British return Belle Île to France. French possessions in India are restored but may not be fortified. Spain receives Louisiana from France, trades Florida to the British for Havana and receives the Philippines back from the British. The border of Portugal and Spain is returned to status quo ante-bellum.
11 February 1763 The third version of Didone abbandonata, an opera seria by Niccolò Jommelli (48) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at the Stuttgart Opera House to celebrate the birthday of Duke Carl Eugen of Württemberg.
12 February 1763 A Te Deum in D by Niccolò Jommelli (48) is performed for the first time, in Württemberg.
15 February 1763 Peace is signed between Prussia, Austria and Saxony at Hubertusburg. Borders are returned to status quo ante-bellum. Austria returns Glatz and Silesia to Prussia. Prussia gives up all designs on Saxony.
16 February 1763 Il trionfo d’amore, a pastorale by Niccolò Jommelli (48) to words of Tagliazucchi, is performed for the first time, on an improvised stage in Ludwigsburg.
19 February 1763 Orione, ossia Diana vendicata, a drama by Johann Christian Bach (27) to words of Bottarelli, is performed for the first time, in King’s Theatre, London, in the presence of the King and Queen. The evening is a great success. Charles Burney notes that this was “the first time that clarinets had admission in our opera orchestra.”
23 February 1763 A large equestrian statue of King Louis XV is placed in the Place de Louis XV (Place de la Concorde), Paris. Parisians scoff since Louis did very little war-like in the last war.
Slaves in the Dutch colony of Berbice (Guyana) begin a general uprising against their masters. They take over some plantations and eventually overthrow the Dutch governor. Within a year, it will be over.
24 February 1763 Applausus musicus, a cantata by Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (27), is performed for the first time, in Melk.
26 February 1763 Friedrich Christian replaces Friedrich as Prince of Bayreuth.
28 February 1763 As part of the celebration of the birthday of the Archbishop of Salzburg, Leopold Mozart (43) is promoted to the rank of Vice-Kapellmeister. Wolfgang (7) and Nannerl (10) perform this evening.
Le bûcheron, ou Les trois souhaits, an opéra comique by François-André Danican-Philidor (36) to words of Guichard and Castet, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne. It receives considerable success.
8 March 1763 The Dutch abandon Ft. Nassau in the face of the slave revolt in Berbice (Guyana).
17 March 1763 Johann Christian Bach (27) publishes his first set of harpsichord concertos (op.1) dedicated to Queen Charlotte of Great Britain.
24 March 1763 Christoph Willibald Gluck (48) and Carl Ditters (23) depart Vienna for Bologna to produce Gluck’s Il trionfo di Clelia.
29 March 1763 Florian Leopold Gassmann (33) arrives in Vienna, having been hired by the Burgtheater to compose operas.
30 March 1763 King Friedrich II of Prussia returns to his capital Berlin for only the second time since he marched into Saxony in 1756.
31 March 1763 Marco Foscarini, Doge of Venice, dies.
2 April 1763 The Saxon royal court returns to Dresden from Warsaw.
Hundreds of rebelling slaves attack the Dutch garrison at Dageraad (Guyana), to no avail.
10 April 1763 Florian Leopold Gassmann (33) assumes his post at the harpsichord of the Burgtheater, Vienna for the first time.
11 April 1763 Hamza Hamid Pasha replaces Koca Mehmed Ragib Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
13 April 1763 Voltaire’s Traité sur la Tolérance à l’occasion de la mort de Jean Calas is published in Paris but will not be widely circulated until later this year.
15 April 1763 Ruth, an oratorio by Charles Avison (54) and Felice Giardini, is performed for the first time, in Newcastle.
16 April 1763 George Grenville replaces John Stuart, Earl of Bute as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
18 April 1763 Clemens Wenzel von Sachsen replaces Johan Theodor Duke of Bavaria as Prince Bishop of Freising.
19 April 1763 Alvise Giovanni Mocenigo becomes doge of Venice.
24 April 1763 King Louis XV of France orders the lifting of some taxes following the Seven Years War but the continuation of others and the imposition of still more.
26 April 1763 Christoph Willibald Gluck (48) receives a pension of 600 gulden from Empress Maria Theresia.
30 April 1763 The newspaper North Briton is seized and its principles arrested for slander against King George. It has printed words by John Wilkes, MP criticizing King George’s support for the Treaty of Paris.
3 May 1763 King Louis’ decree of April 24 is registered in a lit de justice. It is not well received.
5 May 1763 The Lord is King be the people never so impatient, an anthem by William Boyce (51), is performed for the first time.
6 May 1763 In his second appearance in the court of common pleas, John Wilkes is freed from charges that he slandered King George III. Wilkes and his printer will receive total judgments in civil court of £1,400 against under-secretary of state Robert Wood. It is a serious rebuke to the government.
Pontiac’s Rebellion begins as Chippewas attack a British party in the Saginaw Valley (Michigan), killing four and capturing six.
7 May 1763 Native Americans under Pontiac attempt to take Fort Detroit but are beaten off by the British garrison.
Zanaida, an opera by Johann Christian Bach (27) to words of Bottarelli, is performed for the first time, at the King’s Theatre, London.
9 May 1763 Native Americans under Pontiac lay siege to the British Fort Detroit.
10 May 1763 Joseph Boulogne (17) buys the Office of Cavalier, Adviser to the King, Controller Ordinary of Wars.
13 May 1763 Rebelling slaves attack the Dutch garrison at Dageraad (Guyana) for a second time, with a similar disasterous result.
14 May 1763 Il trionfo di Clelia, a dramma per musica by Christoph Willibald Gluck (48) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, to open the new Teatro Comunale, Bologna. According to Carl Ditters (23), “it pleased immensely, notwithstanding that it was not by a long way performed as the composer had imagined it.” The work will ultimately fail.
15 May 1763 The cantata Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille by Georg Philipp Telemann (82) is performed for the first time, in the Hörsaal of the Gymnasium, Hamburg.
16 May 1763 James Boswell meets Samuel Johnson for the first time, in the back parlor of Tom Davies’ bookshop, London. Mindful of Johnson’s prejudices, Boswell announces “I do indeed come from Scotland, but I cannot help it.”
The British garrison of Fort Sandusky (Erie County, Ohio) is overrun by Hurons and Ottawas. 14 soldiers and several residents are killed. One is captured.
25 May 1763 Fort St. Joseph (Niles, Michigan) is overrun by Native Americans.
26 May 1763 François-Joseph Gossec (29) appears before a Parisian magistrate to recover scores by himself and others from the estate of the recently deceased La Pouplinière.
27 May 1763 Indians capture Fort Miami (Fort Wayne, Indiana). The captured British are marched to Detroit. Only four will survive to be displayed before Chief Pontiac.
1 June 1763 Native Americans allied to Pontiac take Fort Ouiatenon (near present Lafayette Indiana) without loss of life.
2 June 1763 Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac (Emmet County, Michigan) killing 20 British soldiers.
4 June 1763 Common births, like common things, an ode by William Boyce (51) to words of Whitehead, is performed for the first time, for the birthday of King George III.
Johann Friedrich Carl, Count Ostein, Elector-Archbishop of Mainz, dies in that city.
6 June 1763 Christoph Willibald Gluck (48) and Carl Ditters (23) return to Vienna from Bologna where they produced Gluck’s Il trionfo di Clelia. Ditters immediately asks Count Durazzo for four weeks dispensation from playing a concerto in public. He has written several in Italy and wants to rehearse them.
See, white robed peace, an ode by William Boyce (51) to words of Mallet, is performed for the first time, at St. James’ Park, London.
9 June 1763 The Mozart family, including Leopold (43) and Wolfgang (7), departs Salzburg on their first European journey.
12 June 1763 Arianna e Teseo, an opera seria by Baldassare Galuppi (56) to words of Pariati, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Nuovo, Padua.
The Mozart family arrives in Munich where Wolfgang (7) will perform at court.
13 June 1763 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (7) performs before Elector Maximilian of Bavaria at Munich.
14 June 1763 Johannes Simon Mayr is born in Mendorf, near Ingolstadt, Bavaria, the second of five surviving children of Joseph Mayr, schoolteacher and organist, and Maria Anna Prantmayer, daughter of a brewer.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (7) and his sister Nannerl play for Duke Clemens Franz von Paula of Bavaria in Munich.
15 June 1763 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (7) and his sister Nannerl play for a second time before Duke Clemens of Bavaria in Munich.
16 June 1763 Senecas annihalate the British garrison at Fort Venango (Franklin, Pennsylvania).
18 June 1763 Fort Le Boeuf (Waterford, Pennsylvania) is taken by Native Americans. Most of the British garrison escapes.
22 June 1763 Etienne-Nicolas Méhul is born in Givet, second of four children born to Jean-François Méhul, the maître d’hôtel to the Count of Montmorency.
The Mozart family are in Augsburg where Wolfgang (6) and Nannerl will give three concerts, on June 28, 30 and July 4.
The British defenders of Fort Presque-Isle (Erie, Pennsylvania) surrender to attacking Indians (Seneca, Ottawa, Huron, Chippewa). Most are never seen again.
Delawares attack Fort Pitt. Unable to take it by force, they lay siege.
28 June 1763 Wolfang Amadeus Mozart (7) and his sister Nannerl give a public concert in Augsburg.
30 June 1763 Wolfang Amadeus Mozart (7) and his sister Nannerl give a second public concert in Augsburg.
1 July 1763 Johann Christian Bach (27) writes to Padre Giovanni Battista Martini (57) in Milan that although he intended to return to Italy, he will heed the request of the King and Queen that he remain in England. Bach will shortly be named music master to the Queen.
4 July 1763 Wolfang Amadeus Mozart (7) and his sister Nannerl give their third and last public concert in Augsburg.
Les fêtes de la paix, an opéra comique by François-André Danican-Philidor (36) to words of Favart, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris. It is given for the dedication of a statue of King Louis and the Peace of Paris.
5 July 1763 Emmerich Josef, Baron Breidbach, becomes Elector-Archbishop of Mainz.
6 July 1763 The Mozart family travel from Augsburg to Ulm.
9 July 1763 The Mozart family arrives in Ludwigsburg hoping to play for Carl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg. Unfortunately, he is not there.
Olimpiade, an opera seria by Antonio Sacchini (33) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Nuovo, Padua. It is a glittering success and will lead to more performances throughout Italy.
The rebuilt Kärntnertortheater opens in Vienna. The old one burned down in November 1761.
11 July 1763 Carl Ludwig Wilhelm Theodor replaces Carl Walrad Wilhelm as Count of Salm-Grunbach.
14 July 1763 The Mozart family arrives in Schwetzingen, the country seat of Count Theodor, Elector Palatine.
18 July 1763 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (7) performs before Count Theodor, Elector Palatine, in Schwetzingen, the summer palace near Mannheim.
19 July 1763 Leopold Mozart (43) writes from Schwetzingen, “The orchestra is undeniably the best in Germany. It consists altogether of people who are young and of good character, not drunkards, gamblers or dissolute fellows.” (Keefe, 20)
20 July 1763 Johann Philipp von Walderdorf replaces Johann Friedrich Carl von Ostein as Prince-Bishop of Worms.
31 July 1763 In the Battle of Bloody Ridge (Wayne County, Michigan), British troops are met and defeated by Ottawas at Parent’s Creek. An estimated 30 people are killed, 50 wounded.
3 August 1763 The Mozart family arrives in Mainz. Their hopes to play before Elector Emmerich Joseph are dashed when they learn that the Elector is too sick to receive them.
5 August 1763 Indians attack a British force marching to the relief of the besieged Fort Pitt at Bushy Run. They are beaten off with heavy casualties on both sides.
10 August 1763 The Mozart family arrives in Frankfurt.
12 August 1763 King Friedrich II of Prussia issues the General-Landschul-Reglement. It reforms all schools in Prussian territory, affirms religious education, regulates hours of teaching, syllabi, textbooks, provides books for each child and sets penalites for truancy.
British forces occupy Cuba. This will last until next July.
14 August 1763 Giovanni Battista Somis dies in Turin, aged 76 years, seven months and 20 days.
Michael Haydn (25) officially enters upon duties as Konzertmeister and court composer to the Archbishop of Salzburg.
15 August 1763 Mea dilecta coronato Urbano, a cantata by Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (27) to words of Teufel, is performed for the first time, in Melk.
18 August 1763 The Mozart family gives their first public concert in Frankfurt. It is attended by a 15-year-old named Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Goethe will remember the event to the end of his life.
22 August 1763 The Mozart family gives a second public concert in Frankfurt.
25 August 1763 The Mozart family gives a third public concert in Frankfurt.
26 August 1763 The Mozart family gives a fourth public concert in Frankfurt.
29 August 1763 Friedrich I replaces Karl August Friedrich as Prince of Waldeck, Count of Pyrmont.
30 August 1763 The Mozart family gives their fifth and last public concert in Frankfurt.
31 August 1763 The Mozart family leaves Frankfurt for Mainz where they will give a public concert.
1 September 1763 Leopold Ernst Graf von Firmian replaces Joseph Maria Graf von Thun as Prince-Bishop of Passau.
13 September 1763 The Mozart family boards ship and leaves Mainz for Koblenz.
14 September 1763 Indians ambush a military supply train at Devil’s Hole between Fort Schloster and Fort Niagara, New York. Troops sent to aid them are set upon by more Indians. 72 British are killed, eight wounded.
17 September 1763 The Mozart family arrives in Koblenz from Mainz.
18 September 1763 In Koblenz, Wolfgang Amadeus (7) and Nannerl Mozart play before Johann Philipp, Baron von Walderdorff, Prince Elector and Archbishop of Trier.
21 September 1763 The Mozart family gives a concert in Koblenz.
27 September 1763 The Mozart family arrives in Bonn from Koblenz.
28 September 1763 The Mozart family arrives in Cologne from Bonn.
29 September 1763 Köse Bahir Mustafa Pasha replaces Hamza Hamid Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
30 September 1763 The Mozart family arrives in Aachen from Cologne. They are delayed here when Leopold (43) suffers an attack of sciatica.
2 October 1763 The Mozart family arrives in Liège from Aachen.
4 October 1763 The Mozart family arrives in Brussels from Liège by way of Louvain. They will stay here for six weeks.
Ifigenia in Tauride, an opera seria by Tommaso Traetta (36) to words of Coltellini, is performed for the first time, in the Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna.
5 October 1763 Augustus III, King of Poland, Friedrich August II Elector of Saxony dies of a stroke in Dresden. He is succeeded as Elector of Saxony by his son Friedrich Christian. The King’s death begins machinations between Prussia, Russia and Austria over control of Poland.
7 October 1763 The British Proclamation of 1763 sets the borders of Quebec, East Florida and West Florida and bars whites from settling between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi. It also provides government for Quebec, East and West Florida and Grenada. The coast of Labrador is annexed to Newfoundland. Cape Breton Island and the Island of St. John (Prince Edward Island) are attached to Nova Scotia. Soldiers who served in North America may apply for land grants without cost.
Two days after succeeding his father as Elector of Saxony, Friedrich Christian sacks Johann Adolph Hasse (64) from the Dresden court.
11 October 1763 Pablo-Jerónimo, de Grimaldi y Pallavicini, marques de Grimaldi replaces Ricardo Wall y Devreux as First Secretary of State of Spain.
31 October 1763 Pontiac lifts the siege of Fort Detroit and moves to the Maumee River to continue battle against the British.
4 November 1763 Niccolò Jommelli’s (49) pastorale La pastorella illustre to words of Tagliazucchi is performed for the first time, at the Ducal Theatre, Stuttgart.
7 November 1763 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (7) gives a concert before Prince Karl Alexander in Brussels.
15 November 1763 After six weeks, the Mozart family leaves Brussels for Paris.
Two surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, complete a survey of the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania.
16 November 1763 General Thomas Gage arrives in New York to take up duties as Commander-in-Chief of British forces in North America.
18 November 1763 The Mozart family reaches Paris where they are welcomed and housed by the Bavarian ambassador, Count van Eyck.
22 November 1763 A Requiem in C by Johann Adolf Hasse (64) is performed for the first time, for Elector Friedrich August, in Dresden.
27 November 1763 The wife of Archduke Joseph, Isabella of Parma, dies thus closing all the theaters in Vienna and postponing the premiere of revised version of Les pèlerins de la Mecque by Christoph Willibald Gluck (49).
2 December 1763 The Touro Synagogue is dedicated in Newport, Rhode Island. It is the first center of Judaism in North America.
6 December 1763 Destateri, o miei fidi, a cantata by Franz Joseph Haydn (31), is performed for the first time, in Eisenstadt Castle for the name day of his employer, Prince Nicholas Esterházy.
15 December 1763 King George III grants Johann Christian Bach (28) a royal privilege for the publication of his works in Britain.
16 December 1763 Davidis van Royen publishes Incendiis Corporis Humani Spontaneis in Amsterdam. It is the first scientific study of spontaneous combustion in humans.
17 December 1763 Friedrich Christian, Elector of Saxony dies of complications from smallpox and is succeded by his son Friedrich August III, age 13, who rules under regency.
23 December 1763 Rev. Thomas Bayes’ An Essay Towards Solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances is read before the Royal Society in London, two years after his death. It is the first scholarly work dealing the theories of probability.
24 December 1763 The Mozart family moves from Paris to Versailles where they will be presented to King Louis.
26 December 1763 L’Issipile, a pasticcio with music by several composers including Domenico Scarlatti (†6), Johann Adolf Hasse (64), Baldassare Galuppi (57), Tommaso Traetta (36), and Johann Christian Bach (28), is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
A second version of Ezio, a dramma per musica by Christoph Willibald Gluck (49) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Vienna Burgtheater. The ballet music is by Florian Leopold Gassmann (34).
28 December 1763 Milan Cathedral accounts list Johann Christian Bach’s (28) successor as organist, suggesting that Bach resigned sometime in December.
©Paul Scharfenberger 2004-2012
2 July 2012
Last Updated (Monday, 02 July 2012 05:44)