MusicAndHistory.com

1 January 1764 The cantata Singet um einander TWV 1: 1347 by Georg Philipp Telemann (83) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (7) performs on the organ before King Louis XV of France in the chapel of the Palace of Versailles.  The Mozart family attends a court dinner.

Gli stravaganti, ossia La schiava riconosciuta, an intermezzo by Niccolò Piccinni (35), is performed for the first time, in Teatro Valle, Rome.

2 January 1764 Le sorcier, an opéra comique by François-André Danican-Philidor (37) to words of Poinsinet, is performed for the first time, in the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.  The work enjoys enormous success and the composer is called forth by the cheering crowd.

7 January 1764 When Székely people, a subgroup of Hungarians, refuse to join the Hapsburg armed forces, Austrian soldiers kill 200 of them at Madéfalva, Hungary (Siculeni, Romania).  The Székely flee into Moldavia and Bukovina.

Christoph Willibald Gluck’s (49) opéra comique La rencontre imprévue to words of Dancourt after Le Sage and d’Orneval is performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna.

8 January 1764 The Mozart family moves back to Paris after two weeks at Versailles.

19 January 1764 John Wilkes, presently in Paris, is expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel against King George.

The Arcadian Nuptials, a masque by Thomas Augustine Arne (53), is performed for the first time, at Covent Garden, London.

24 January 1764 Harvard Hall in Cambridge, Massachusetts is destroyed by fire, including the 400 volumes of John Harvard’s original bequest.  Only one book survives.  It is overdue at the time of the fire.

30 January 1764 Louis-Balthasar de la Chevardière announces in Paris what is probably the first publication of any music by Franz Joseph Haydn (31):  the String Quartets op.1/1-4.

1 February 1764 Johann Christian Bach (28) publishes six trios op.2 in London.  In the announcement he is described as Music Master to the Queen of England.

6 February 1764 The Mozarts’ hostess in Paris, the Countess van Eyck, dies after a short illness.  She is 23 years old.

11 February 1764 A third version of Demofoonte, an opera seria by Niccolò Jommelli (49) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at the Stuttgart Opera House in honor of the birthday of Duke Carl Eugen.  See 27 January 1753 and 4 November 1770.

16 February 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (8) is seized with a “violent sore throat and catarrh” in Paris and is in danger of choking to death.  He will recover in four days.

18 February 1764 La moglie in calzoni, a dramma giocoso by Giovanni Paisiello (23) to words of Palomba, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Marsigli-Rossi, Bologna.

20 February 1764 Johann Adolf Hasse (64) leaves Dresden.  He returned to the city ten months ago to find the court’s sacred music library, his home and the opera house destroyed by the Prussians.

26 February 1764 Friedrich August, Duke of York and Albany replaces Clemens August I as Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück.

29 February 1764 Johann Christian Bach (28) and Karl Friedrich Abel give a joint concert for the first time at the Great Room in Spring Gardens, London.  The many Bach-Abel concerts will have a significant impact on the musical life of London.  Bach’s serenata La Galatea for three voices and orchestra to words after Metastasio is performed for the first time.

3 March 1764 Rhode Island College is founded in Providence.  In 1804 its name will be changed to Brown.

4 March 1764 A month after the death of their hostess, the Mozart family moves out of the home of Count van Eyck into other accommodations in Paris.

5 March 1764 A subscription for twelve harpsichord sonatas by Johann Schobert (29) is announced in Avant-coureur, Paris.

8 March 1764 Rose et Colas, a comédie by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny (34) to words of Sedaine after Desfontaines, is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre Bourgogne, Paris.

10 March 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus (8) and Nannerl Mozart give a public performance at the private theater of M. Félix, Paris.

12 March 1764 French publisher Jean Baptiste Venier announces in Paris the publication of a series of symphonies.  Among them is the Symphony no.2 of Franz Joseph Haydn (31).  It is Haydn’s first symphony in print.

21 March 1764 The vestry of All Hallows the Great and the Less Parish decides to dismiss William Boyce (52) as organist.

27 March 1764 Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine, son of Emperor Franz I, is elected King of the Romans.

30 March 1764 Pietro Antonio Locatelli dies in Amsterdam, aged 68 years, six months and 27 days.

3 April 1764 Amidst much ceremony, Crown Prince Joseph is crowned King of the Romans in Frankfurt.

The mortal remains of Pietro Locatelli are interred in the English Church of Begijnhof in Amsterdam.

5 April 1764 The British Parliament passes the Sugar Act.  The law raises duties on foreign sugar and adds items to the duty list.  Importation of rum is prohibited.  This is the first act designed to raise money in the American colonies for the crown.  It is denounced by colonists as taxation without representation.

A French settlement, Fort St. Louis, is established on the Îles Malouines (Falkland Islands) by Louis Antoine de Bougainville.  He claims the islands for France.

9 April 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus (8) and Nannerl Mozart give a second public performance at the private theater of M. Félix, Paris.

10 April 1764 The Mozart family leave Paris for London.

11 April 1764 A treaty is signed between Russia and Prussia.  Both agree to aid the other in case of an attack on Poland.  The constitutions of Sweden and Poland are guaranteed.

15 April 1764 Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV and leading French patron of the arts and philosophy, dies at Versailles, at the age of 42.

17 April 1764 Johann Mattheson dies in Hamburg, aged 82 years, six months and 20 days.

22 April 1764 The earthly remains of Johann Mattheson are laid to rest in the Michaelskirche, Hamburg.

The Mozart family sails from Calais to Dover.  All of them suffer sea sickness.

23 April 1764 The Mozart family arrives in London from Paris.

24 April 1764 Egeria, a festa teatrale by Johann Adolf Hasse (65) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at the Vienna court.  It is part of the celebrations surrounding the April 3 coronation of Crown Prince Joseph.

25 April 1764 A special service in memory of Johann Mattheson is held in Hamburg.  Bells toll for two and a half hours in all the major churches of the town.  All city dignitaries attend.  The town cantor, Georg Philipp Telemann (83), conducts Mattheson’s Das fröliche sterbelied.  It was composed four years ago specifically for this occasion.  His mortal remains are laid to rest in the crypt of the Michaelskirche.

26 April 1764 The town of Lucca hires Luigi Boccherini (21) as a cello player.

27 April 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus (8) and Nannerl Mozart perform for King George III and Queen Charlotte today and 19 May at Buckingham House.  Leopold (44) will report that the reception they receive at this royal court “surpassed all others.” (Sadie, 59)

3 May 1764 Francesco Algarotti dies in Pisa, aged 51 years, four months and 22 days.

12 May 1764 Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (53) walks out of his position as organist and music director in Halle without notice.

Il ciarlone, a dramma giocoso by Giovanni Paisiello (24) to words of Palomba, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Marsigli-Rossi, Bologna.  The work is a success.

19 May 1764 Wolfgang (8) and Nannerl Mozart perform before King George III and Queen Charlotte in London.  The King has Wolfgang play harpsichord music of George Frideric Handel (†5), Georg Christoph Wagenseil (49), Karl Friedrich Abel (40) and Johann Christian Bach (28), which he does at sight.

22 May 1764 Dass wir nach gedämpften kriegen, an oratorio by Georg Philipp Telemann (83) to honor the election of Crown Prince Joseph as King of the Romans, is performed for the first time, in St. John’s, Hamburg.

31 May 1764 Cajo Mario, an opera seria by Baldassare Galuppi (57) to words of Roccaforte, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Giovanni Crisostomo, Venice.

4 June 1764 To wedded Love, Ye Nations bow, an ode by William Boyce (52) to words of Whitehead, is performed for the first time, for the birthday of King George III.

5 June 1764 Wolfgang (8) and Nannerl Mozart appear before the English public for the first time in the Spring Garden Rooms, London in a benefit for themselves, before an audience including many aristocrats.  It is very successful.  Leopold (44) reports that they made “100 guineas in three hours.”  (Abert, 42)

13 June 1764 The Massachusetts House of Representatives creates a committee to keep in contact with other colonies.

16 June 1764 Antigono, an opera seria by Tommaso Traetta (37) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, at the Teatro Nuovo, Padua.

24 June 1764 Giovanni Paisiello’s (24) dramma giocoso I francesi brillanti to words of Mililotti is performed for the first time, at the Teatro Marsigli-Rossi, Bologna.  It is not well received.

29 June 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus (8) and Nannerl Mozart play a benefit concert in Ranelagh Gardens, Chelsea.

1 July 1764 Joseph Boulogne (18) gains the position of Officer of the King’s Guard.

5 July 1764 John Antes (24) arrives in Marienborn from America.

8 July 1764 Leopold Mozart (44) contracts a serious illness in London, a “kind of native complaint, which is called a cold.”  It will get much worse.

12 July 1764 The Massachusetts Gazette publishes a letter from William Billings (17) attesting to the importance of the human voice and the music written for it.

15 July 1764 Conspirators, backed by some military units, attack Schlüsselberg Fortress, St. Petersburg, hoping to rescue deposed Tsar Ivan VI, now 24 and imprisoned since infancy.  Upon reaching his cell, the conspirators discover that the guards have carried out their orders.  At the first sign of the attack, they stabbed Ivan to death.

23 July 1764 Bostonian James Otis, who in May coined the phrase “No taxation without representation”, publishes The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved.

1 August 1764 About 50 Boston merchants begin a boycott of British luxury items to protest the Sugar Act.

4 August 1764 Luigi Boccherini (21) performs for the first time in his new position of cellist for the town of Lucca.  It is a Vespers service in the Chapel.

5 August 1764 Leopold Mozart (44) is taken from London to Chelsea where a house has been rented in the country so he can recuperate from a serious throat condition.  He will fully recover.

6 August 1764 The Mozart family moves to Chelsea to be with Leopold (44) during his recovery.

Genoa allows France to occupy five coastal forts on Corsica.

10 August 1764 The British government unites the newly won territories of Quebec, Montreal, and Trois-Rivièrs.

23 August 1764 In Paris, Jean-Philippe Rameau (80) suffers an attack of “putrid fever accompanied by scurvy.”

27 August 1764 The Election Diet opens outside Warsaw to choose a new king.

30 August 1764 Two works by Georg Philipp Telemann (83) to words of Paulli are performed for the first time, in Hamburg:  the oratorio Der Herr, Zebaoth ist mit uns and the serenata Trompeten und Hörner erschallet.

1 September 1764 In an attempt to control inflation in their North American colonies, Great Britain puts the Currency Act into effect.  It prohibits the production of paper currency.

7 September 1764 After Russian troops enter the country on his behalf, Empress Yekaterina II’s former lover, Stanislas Poniatowski is elected King of Poland.

12 September 1764 Jean-Philippe Rameau dies in Paris, at his home in the Rue des Bons-Enfants, 13 days before the 81st anniversary of his baptism.

13 September 1764 The mortal remains of Jean-Philippe Rameau are laid to rest in the parish of St. Eustache, Paris.

16 September 1764 Ernst Friedrich replaces Franz Josias as Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

25 September 1764 After Leopold Mozart’s (44) recovery in Chelsea, the Mozart family returns to London.

26 September 1764 Sentences in the Schlüsselberg attack of 15 July are carried out.  The leader, Mirovich, is beheaded.  Six are forced to run a guantlet of 1,000 men between ten and twelve times, then sent to exile and hard labor.  38 others run a similar gauntlet and are transferred to distant posts.  Empress Yekaterina’s throne is now secure.

27 September 1764 The first of several services in memory of Jean-Philippe Rameau takes place at the church of the Pères de l’Oratoire.  1,500 people hear 180 musicians from the Opéra and the musique du roi.

29 September 1764 The cantata Michael, wer ist wie Gott TWV 1:  1136 by Georg Philipp Telemann (83) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.

4 October 1764 Les amours d’Alexandre et de Roxane, a ballo pantomimo by Christoph Willibald Gluck (50) to a choreography by Angiolini, is performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna for the name day of Emperor Franz.

11 October 1764 A Requiem by François-André Danican-Philidor (38) is performed for the first time, in honor of Jean-Philippe Rameau (†0) in the Carmelite Church in the Rue Vaugiraud (now the Institut Catholique).  It is described as an uninspiring performance of some uninspiring music.

13 October 1764 Friedrike Charlotte Leopoldine Luise, Princess of Brandenburg-Schwedt replaces Hedwig Sophie Auguste Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp as Princess-Abbess of Herford.

18 October 1764 L’olimpiade, an opera seria by Florian Leopold Gassmann (35) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Kärntnertortheater, Vienna.

22 October 1764 British forces defeat the Nawab of Bengal and the Nawab of Oudh in Buxar (Bihar State), 550 km northwest of Calcutta.  This victory ensures British mastery over Bengal.

Jean-Marie Leclair dies in Paris, aged 67 years, five months and twelve days.

25 October 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus (8) and Nannerl Mozart perform once again before the royal family, at Buckingham House.

26 October 1764 William Hogarth dies in London at the age of 66.

4 November 1764 Niccolò Jommelli’s (50) opera seria Il re pastore to words of Metastasio is performed for the first time, for the opening of the new Ducal Theatre in Ludwigsburg.

Lucio Vero, an opera seria by Antonio Sacchini (34) to words of Zeno, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.

12 November 1764 The British government separates Tobago from the Windward Islands colony.

25 November 1764 Stanislas Poniatowski is crowned King Stanislas II of Poland.

26 November 1764 The final Royal Expulsion Order is issued by King Louis XV.  The Society of Jesus is banned in France. 

2 December 1764 A memorial service for Jean-Marie Leclair takes place in the church of the Feuillants near the Place Vendôme.  A motet, De profundis, by Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville (52) and an arrangement of Leclair’s music are performed.

6 December 1764 Qual dubbio, a cantata by Franz Joseph Haydn (32), is performed for the first time, in Eisenstadt for the name day of Nicholas Esterházy.

9 December 1764 Luigi Boccherini (21), apparently unhappy with his current condition, leaves Lucca and heads for Milan.

12 December 1764 The Guardian Out-witted, a comic opera by Thomas Augustine Arne (54) to his own words, is performed for the first time, at Covent Garden, London.

24 December 1764 The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole is published in London.

26 December 1764 La partenza il ritorno de’ marinari, a dramma giocoso by Baldassare Galuppi (58), is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Moisè, Venice.

Il nuovo Orlando, an opera buffa by Niccolò Piccinni (36) to words after Ariosti, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Rangoni, Modena.

©Paul Scharfenberger 2004-2012

2 June 2012