1770
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1 January 1770 Forward Janus, turn thine eyes, an ode by William Boyce (58) to words of Whitehead, is performed for the first time.
As a surprise, Count Schafgotsch, Prince-Bishop of Breslau, presents the Cross of the Order of the Golden Spur to his employee, Carl Ditters (30). The Count used his influence in Rome to get Ditters named a Knight of the Golden Spur.
5 January 1770 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (13) gives his first concert in Italy, at the Accademia Filarmonica in Verona.
7 January 1770 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (13) performs on the two organs in the Carmelite monastery of San Tommaso Becket in Verona. Leopold (50) writes that “such a mob had assembled at the...church that upon our arrival we scarcely had room to step down from the coach.” (Gutman, 258)
8 January 1770 Didone abbandonata, an opera seria by Niccolò Piccinni (41) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Argentina, Rome.
Scipione in Cartagena, an opera seria by Antonio Sacchini (39) to words of Giunti, is performed for the first time, in the Munich Residenz.
10 January 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (13) Mozart travel from Verona to Mantua.
Le donne letterate, a commedia per musica by Antonio Salieri (19) to words of G. Boccherini, is performed for the first time, at the Vienna Burgtheater. It is his first opera.
13 January 1770 After several misadventures, John Antes (29) arrives in Egypt at Alexandria.
16 January 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (13) Mozart perform in Teatro Scientifico, Mantua.
19 January 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (13) Mozart depart Mantua for Milan.
Several rebellious citizens armed with clubs clash with 30-40 British soldiers using bayonets at Golden Hill, New York City. Many serious injuries are incurred on both sides.
20 January 1770 A new home for the Paris Opéra opens at the Palais Royal with a revival of Zoroastre by Jean-Philippe Rameau (†5).
Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (13) Mozart witness a production of La Clemenza di Tito by Johann Adolf Hasse (70) in Cremona.
22 January 1770 La nouvelle école des femmes, an opéra-comique by François-André Danican-Philidor (43) to words of Mouslier de Moissy, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
Mayor Whitehead Hicks of New York orders that British soldiers may not leave their barracks unless accompanied by officers.
23 January 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (13) Mozart arrive in Milan from Mantua.
28 January 1770 Frederick, Lord North replaces Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
29 January 1770 Die Jagd, a comische Oper by Johann Adam Hiller (41) to words of Weisse after Collé, is performed for the first time, in the Kleines Schloss, Weimar. It is very successful.
2 February 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart witness the dress rehearsal of Niccolò Piccinni’s (42) opera Cesare in Egitto in Milan. They meet and converse with Piccinni and his wife.
4 February 1770 Ludwig Otto Karl replaces Nicholas Leopold as Prince of Salm-Salm.
7 February 1770 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) performs at a reception given by Count Carl Joseph Firmian, Governor-General of Austrian Lombardy in Milan. It is attended by leading intellectual and artistic figures in Milan, including Giovanni Battista Sammartini (69). Firmian gives Wolfgang an edition of the works of Metastasio in nine volumes.
10 February 1770 John Antes (29) finally arrives in Cairo from London as the first American-born missionary to Egypt.
11 February 1770 Calliroe, an opera seria by Antonio Sacchini (39) to words of Verazi, is performed for the first time, in the Schloss, Ludwigsburg.
13 February 1770 Niccolò Piccinni’s (42) opera buffa La donna di spirito is performed for the first time, in Teatro Capranica, Rome.
15 February 1770 The English scientist Daines Barrington reads his report on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) before the London Royal Society.
17 February 1770 A Russian fleet anchors off the Peloponnesus as part of a scheme to foment a Greek rebellion against the Turks. They meet with the rebel “army” to organize resistance. Both the Greeks and the Russians are disappointed with their counterparts.
18 February 1770 Christian Carl replaces Christian Johann as Count of Alt-Leiningen.
Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart perform for a second time at the home of Count Carl Joseph Firmian, Governor-General of Austrian Lombardy in Milan. Among the guests is Duke Francesco III of Modena and his granddaughter, intended wife of Archduke Ferdinand. They have come to hear Mozart.
19 February 1770 Silvain, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (29) to words of Marmontel after Gessner, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
22 February 1770 Angry loyalist Ebenezer Richardson attacks a radical crowd protesting a merchant accused of importing British goods. They chase Richardson to his house and pelt it with rocks and produce. When his wife is hit, Richardson exits his house and fires a musket into the crowd, striking 11-year-old Christopher Seider. Richardson and a man who came to his aid are dragged through the streets and beaten, then brought to authorities. Christopher Seider dies this evening. Richardson will be found guilty of murder, his good Samaritan is exonerated.
23 February 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart perform publicly in Milan.
26 February 1770 Giuseppe Tartini dies in Padua of gangrene from an ulcerated foot, aged 77 years, ten months and 18 days.
Christopher Seider is laid to rest in Boston after a funeral procession of 500 schoolchildren and 2,000 other citizens.
5 March 1770 On the same day that Lord North moves the repeal of the Townshend Acts in Parliament, five Boston citizens are killed and six injured when British soldiers guarding the Customs House fire into a crowd. The incident is forever known as the Boston Massacre.
6 March 1770 A town meeting in Boston delegates the selectmen to petition Lt. Governor Hutchinson and the Governor’s Council to remove regular troops from the town. At first opposed, Hutchinson will agree and within a week, all regular troops are removed to Castle Island.
11 March 1770 Der reumütige Petrus, an oratorio by Michael Haydn (32) to words of Reichssiegel, is performed for the first time.
12 March 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart participate in a gala concert at Count Carl Joseph Firmian’s Palace in Milan in which three of Wolfgang’s arias are performed. As a result of this performance, Count Firmian grants a contract to the young Mozart for the first opera of the next carnival season. It will be Mitridate, rè di Ponto.
15 March 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart depart Milan for Lodi, Parma, Bologna and Florence. Wolfgang dates his String Quartet in G K.80 this day from Lodi.
20 March 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart reach Parma.
22 March 1770 Gioas, re di Giuda, an oratorio by Johann Christian Bach (34) to words after Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in King’s Theatre, London. The work is well received.
24 March 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart reach Bologna, where they meet Padre Giovanni Battista Martini (63).
26 March 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart participate in a concert in the Palace of Count Pallavicini, Bologna. In the audience is Padre Giovanni Battista Martini (63) for whom Mozart has been composing fugues.
29 March 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart depart Bologna with letters of recommendation from Count Pallavicini.
30 March 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart reach Florence from Bologna.
Christoph Willibald Gluck (55) withdraws his financial stake in the shady theatrical management of Giuseppe d’Afflisio. He does not lose money, but his standing at court is damaged.
31 March 1770 After circumnavigating New Zealand, Captain Cook and Endeavour depart New Zealand for Australia.
Les filles pourvues, a compliment de clôture by André-Ernest-Modest Grétry (29) to words of Anseaume, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
1 April 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart are presented to Grand Duke Leopold (later Emperor Leopold II) in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence. Earlier they meet Franz Xaver Wolfgang Orsini-Rosenberg who will later be opera overseer in Vienna.
2 April 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart perform at the Villa Poggio Imperiale in Florence before Duke Leopold.
6 April 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart depart Florence.
7 April 1770 Christoph Willibald Gluck’s (55) Orfeo ed Euridice opens in London with seven arias contributed by Johann Christian Bach (34).
11 April 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart arrive in Rome during a thunderstorm, on the Wednesday of Holy Week. In the afternoon, they go to the Sistine Chapel where they hear Gregorio Allegri’s (†118) Miserere, which Wolfgang will later note down from memory.
12 April 1770 The British Parliament repeals the Townshend Act of 29 June 1767, retaining only the tax on tea.
15 April 1770 Joseph Priestly discovers that India Gum may be used as an effective eraser. This will replace the most common eraser now in use: bread.
Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart are received in audience by Pope Clement XIV at the Vatican.
19 April 1770 Captain Cook and Endeavour reach the coast of Australia and sail north. They will encounter inhabitants within a few days.
Austrian Archduchess Maria-Antonia (Marie Antoinette) is married to Louis, le Dauphin by proxy by the Papal Nuncio in Vienna. Louis is represented by one of Maria’s brothers.
Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart are guests of Prince San Angelo of Naples, in Rome. They meet the Scottish Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart.
20 April 1770 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) performs in the Palazzo Chigi in the Piazza Colonna, Rome, before a distinguished audience invited by Cardinal Pallavicini.
23 April 1770 Edmund Burke, MP publishes Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents wherein he warns against unchecked royal power.
26 April 1770 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) gives a concert before a distinguished audience in the Palazzo Barberini, Rome.
27 April 1770 L’eroe cinese, an opera seria by Antonio Sacchini (39) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Munich Residenz.
28 April 1770 The Endeavour, commanded by Captain James Cook, anchors in a large bay on the east coast of Australia. They are overwhelmed by the hundreds of plant species there to be categorized, and so name the place Botany Bay.
8 May 1770 After a month of performances, meetings with important people, and sightseeing, Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart depart Rome for Naples.
10 May 1770 Charles Avison dies in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, aged 61 years, two months and 24 days. (This could be 9 May)
12 May 1770 The mortal remains of Charles Avison are laid to rest in St. Andrew’s Churchyard, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, next to those of his wife.
14 May 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart arrive in Naples.
At the edge of the forest of Compiègne, Marie-Antoinette, an archduchess of Austria, daughter of Maria Theresia and sister to Emperor Joseph II, is handed over to King Louis XV of France. She then first lays eyes on her husband, the Dauphin Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duc de Berry.
16 May 1770 Louis, le Dauphin (age 15) and Archduchess Marie-Antoinette are maried in the chapel of the Palace of Versailles. In the evening, the worst fireworks disaster in history takes place in the Place de la Concorde. 133 people are killed.
18 May 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart are presented to Neapolitan First Secretary Bernardo, marchese Tanucci and the British ambassador, William Hamilton.
26 May 1770 Oliver Goldsmith publishes The Deserted Village.
27 May 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart call on Niccoló Jommelli (55) at the Teatro San Carlo where rehearsals for his Armida abbandonata are underway. Wolfgang finds Jommelli gracious and polite.
28 May 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart perform at the home of Count Ernst Christoph von Kaunitz, the Imperial ambassador, in Naples. It is very successful and the Mozarts are well remunerated.
29 May 1770 Damian August Philipp of Limburg-Vehlen-Styrum becomes Prince-Bishop of Speyer.
30 May 1770 Armida abbandonata, an opera seria by Nicolò Jommelli (55) to words of de Rogati after Tasso, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples. In attendance are Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Wolfgang (14) describes it as “beautiful, but much too broken up and old-fashioned for the theatre.”
4 June 1770 Discord hence! the torch resign, an ode by William Boyce (58) to words of Whitehead, is performed for the first time, in honor of the birthday of King George III.
10 June 1770 Spanish ships commanded by Don Juan Ignacio de Madariaga land 1,600 men at Port Egmont in the Falkland Islands and force the surrender of the British settlement there.
11 June 1770 James Cook aboard Endeavour discovers the Great Barrier Reef just north of Cape Tribulation by running into it.
13 June 1770 Henry Sampson Woodfall is tried in London for libel for the Letters of Junius, critical of King George. He is convicted only of publishing them, not writing them, essentially an acquittal.
Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart visit Baia, the Roman baths and the grave of Virgil.
18 June 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart take a trip from Naples to view Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii and Herculaneum.
25 June 1770 After six weeks in the city, Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart depart Naples to return to Rome.
26 June 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart arrive back in Rome from Naples after a journey of 27 hours, including a coach accident in which Leopold receives a gash to his right leg.
28 June 1770 Libera me, for the funeral of his friend Francis Pemberton by Thomas Augustine Arne (60), for soprano, tenor, bass, mixed chorus and organ, is performed for the first time, in London.
5 July 1770 In the name of Pope Clement XIV, Cardinal Pallavicini officially informs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) that he is to receive the Order of the Knight of the Golden Spur, in the Palazzo Quirinale, Rome.
7 July 1770 Joseph Banks of the Endeavour becomes the first western scientist to describe a kangaroo.
After three days of battle, a Russian squadron defeats a Turkish naval force off Çesme near the island of Hios (Chios) in the Aegean.
The New York Assembly votes to lift the ban on the importation of British goods, except tea.
8 July 1770 Pope Clement XIV receives Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) and his father Leopold (50) in a private audience at the Palazzo Santa Maria Maggiore. Wolfgang wears a ceremonial robe and his decoration as a Knight of the Golden Spur. Among the Pope’s entourage is the Bishop of Gurk, Hieronymus Colloredo, who will feature prominently in the lives of both Mozarts.
9 July 1770 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) is voted a member of the Accademia Filarmonica, Rome.
10 July 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart depart Rome for Bologna.
11 July 1770 The German Academy of Sciences is founded in Berlin.
12 July 1770 James Hargreaves receives a patent for his spinning jenny, which he actually invented in 1764.
18 July 1770 Russian forces defeat the Tatars at Larga.
20 July 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart arrive in Bologna.
27 July 1770 In Bologna, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) receives an opera libretto from Vittorio Cigna-Santi which he is to set for performance in Milan. He learns for the first time that it is Mitridate, by Racine.
1 August 1770 Russian forces defeat the Ottomans at Kagul, 225 km northeast of Bucharest, allowing the occupation of Moldavia and Wallachia.
10 August 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart begin a six-week stay at the country estate of Count Pallavicini near Bologna.
16 August 1770 Charles Burney meets Baldassare Galuppi (63) at the composer’s home in Venice. When Burney asks him to define good music Galuppi replies, “charm, clarity, and good harmony.”
22 August 1770 On Possession Island, off present Queensland, Captain James Cook claims all of eastern Australia for Great Britain.
24 August 1770 Seventeen-year-old poet Thomas Chatterton kills himself with arsenic in London, ensuring his place in the Romantic pantheon.
29 August 1770 Du hast dich meiner Seele for chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (35) is performed for the first time.
30 August 1770 While sojourning in Italy, Charles Burney runs into the Mozarts in Bologna. He writes, “There is no musical excellence I do not expect from the extraordinary quickness and talents, under the guidance of so able a musician and intelligent a man as his father.”
3 September 1770 King Louis XV of France tells the Parlement of Paris that any connection between themselves and other parlements would be evidence of “a criminal confederation against his authority and against his person.”
Emperor Joseph II and King Friedrich the Great of Prussia meet at Neustadt in Moravia to decide what to do about Russian expansion.
La contessina, a dramma giocoso by Florian Leopold Gassmann (41) to words of Coltellini after Goldoni, is performed for the first time, in Mährisch-Neustadt, on the first day of the meeting between Emperor Joseph II and King Friedrich II.
7 September 1770 Ich will singen von der Gnade for chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (35) is performed for the first time.
13 September 1770 Johann Friedrich Struensee replaces Johann Hartwig Ernst, greve von Bernstorff av Wotersen as Minister of State of Denmark.
14 September 1770 Censorship is abolished in Denmark.
16 September 1770 Le pescatrici, a dramma giocoso by Joseph Haydn (38) to words of Goldoni, is performed for the first time, at Esterháza, to celebrate the wedding of Countess Lemberg, the niece of Prince Esterházy.
1 October 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart move from the home of Count Pallavicini into Bologna proper.
7 October 1770 Le trame per amore, a commedia per musica by Giovanni Paisiello (30) to words of Cerlone, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Nuovo, Naples.
This date is appended by William Billings to the preface of his New England Psalm Singer in Boston. It is his 24th birthday.
9 October 1770 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) is examined for membership in the Accademia Filarmonica, Bologna. He is required to display his proficiency in 16th century counterpoint. It is the culminating event of his study with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini (64). He passes.
10 October 1770 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) is accepted into membership in the Accademia Filarmonica, Bologna.
12 October 1770 Padre Giovanni Battista Martini (64) provides a written recommendation for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) in Bologna.
13 October 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart depart Bologna for Milan.
18 October 1770 Leopold (50) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart arrive in Milan to produce Mitridate, rè di Ponto.
24 October 1770 Captain Thomas Preston, in command at the Boston Massacre, goes on trial, defended by John Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr.
27 October 1770 Les deux avares, an opéra bouffon by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (29) to words of Fenouillot de Falbaine, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau, to celebrate the wedding of Louis le Dauphin to Marie Antoinette.
30 October 1770 On the 35th birthday of John Adams, his client, Captain Thomas Preston, is found not guilty of any wrongdoing in the Boston Massacre.
3 November 1770 Paride ed Elena, a dramma per musica by Christoph Willibald Gluck (56) to words of Calzabigi, is performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna. Reports of its reception are mixed.
4 November 1770 A fourth version of the opera seria Demofoonte by Niccolò Jommelli (56) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples. See 27 January 1753 and 11 February 1764.
5 November 1770 Catone in Utica, a dramma per musica by Niccolò Piccinni (42) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in the Hoftheater, Mannheim.
8 November 1770 Luigi Boccherini (27) is appointed “violincellist of his Chamber and composer of music with the authorisation of H.M. Charles III” by Infante Don Luis of Spain at Aranjuez.
13 November 1770 L’amitié à l’épreuve, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (29) to words of Favart and Fusée de Voisenon after Marmontel, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau.
14 November 1770 Scottish explorer James Bruce discovers the source of the Blue Nile at Lake Tana, Ethiopia.
28 November 1770 King Louis XV of France issues an Edict of Discipline. The Parlements are forbidden to contact each other. They may not protest against royal edicts. The King alone is the representative of the nation.
4 December 1770 Five enlisted men are found not guilty in a Boston court for their part in the Boston Massacre. Two others are found guilty of manslaughter and are branded on the thumb.
Acting Governor Thomas Hutchinson is appointed Royal Governor of the Massachuestts Bay Colony.
9 December 1770 Gottlieb Muffat dies in Vienna, 80 years, seven months and 14 days after his baptism.
10 December 1770 William Billings (24) advertises his The New England Psalm-Singer in the Boston Gazette.
13 December 1770 King Arthur, or The British Worthy, a masque revival of Henry Purcell’s (†75) semi-opera with ten new songs by Thomas Augustine Arne (60) to words of Garrick after Dryden, is performed for the first time, in Drury Lane Theatre, London.
16 December 1770 This is the day generally assumed to be the birthdate of Ludwig van Beethoven.
17 December 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven is baptized at the Parish of St. Remigius in Bonn, the second and eldest surviving of seven children born to Johann van Beethoven, tenor and music teacher, and Maria Magdalena Keverich (widow of M. Leym), daughter of the chief kitchen overseer for the Elector of Trier. Given the practices of the day, it is presumed that the birth took place yesterday.
24 December 1770 King Louis XV sacks Étienne-François, duc de Choiseul as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Chief Minister) and Secretary of State for War. Louis Phélypeaux, duc de La Frillère replaces him as Chief Minister. Louis thinks Choiseul is taking the country too close to war.
25 December 1770 Silahdar Mehmed Pasha replaces Ivazzade Halil Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
26 December 1770 Mitridate, rè di Ponto K.87, a dramma per musica by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) to words of Cigna-Santi after Parini and Racine, is performed for the first time, in the Regio Ducal Teatro, Milan, the composer at the keyboard. Including ballets by other composers, it lasts six hours. The opera succeeds, winning 22 performances.
©Paul Scharfenberger 2004-2012
2 June 2012
Last Updated (Saturday, 02 June 2012 04:40)