1771
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1 January 1771 Again returns the circling year, an ode by William Boyce (59) to words of Whitehead, is performed for the first time.
2 January 1771 Le finte gemelle, an intermezzo by Niccolò Piccinni (42) to words of Petrosellini, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Valle, Rome.
5 January 1771 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (14) is named honorary Kapellmeister of the Verona Accademia Filarmonica.
6 January 1771 Emmanuel Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu, duc D’Aiguillon replaces Louis Phélypeaux, duc de La Frillère as Chief Minister of France.
This is the probable date of the first performance of Don Chisciotte allenozze di Gamace, a divertimento teatrale by Antonio Salieri (20) to words of Boccherini, in the Kärntnertortheater, Vienna. Emperor Joseph II is in attendance.
9 January 1771 Hidehito replaces Toshi-ko as Emperor of Japan.
14 January 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart depart Milan for Turin.
16 January 1771 Annibale in Torino, a dramma per musica by Giovanni Paisiello (30) to words of Durandi, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Regio, Turin. Two visiting Germans named Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (14) Mozart are in the audience.
19 January 1771 This night, armed soldiers go to the homes of every member of the Parlement of Paris. The members are required to say whether they will resume their duties under the Edict of Discipline of the King. 39 say they will.
20 January 1771 When the Parlement of Paris meets, the 39 yea-sayers of last night change their minds and the opposition to the king continues. Tonight, every member who answered nay last night is transferred to distant places in the country. Over the next year, the Parlement of Paris will be dismantled.
22 January 1771 A message from the King of Spain is delivered to the British government disavowing the seizure of the Falkland Islands by Spanish forces last June. However, he does not give up claim to Spanish sovereignty over the islands.
26 January 1771 A second version of Niccolò Jommelli’s (56) opera seria Achille in Sciro, to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro della Dame, Rome.
30 January 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart depart Turin, heading for Milan.
31 January 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart arrive in Milan from Turin.
4 February 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart depart Milan for Venice.
11 February 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart reach Venice from Milan at the end of Carnival.
12 February 1771 Adolf Fredrik, King of Sweden, dies in Stockholm and is succeeded by his son, Gustaf III.
15 February 1771 Der büssende Sünder, an oratorio by Michael Haydn (33), is performed for the first time.
16 February 1771 French astronomer Charles Messier publishes his first catalogue of nebulae in the Memoirs of the French Academy of Sciences. These are 45 unexplained objects he found while searching for comets. They will turn out to be galaxies and other celestial phenomena.
Niccolò Piccinni (43) is appointed second organist of the Royal Chapel, Naples. During his ten years as second organist, Piccinni will spend much of his time on leave and away at the opera centers of Europe, especially Rome.
20 February 1771 A decree in Denmark frees all peasants who are not serfs from rule by the nobility.
23 February 1771 Empress Maria Theresia grants royal consent to Florian Leopold Gassmann (41) to form the Tonkünstler-Societät. It will provide pensions for the widows and orphans of Viennese musicians.
3 March 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart meet with Count Giacomo Durazzo, Imperial ambassador to Venice.
4 March 1771 The Regio Ducal Teatro Milan commissions a new opera from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (15), sending it to Salzburg today. It will be Lucio Silla.
5 March 5, 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart perform in the Palazzo Malfetti (Palazzo Tiepolo), Venice.
7 March 1771 The Massachusetts Gazette announces that Englishman David Propert will give a concert playing “select pieces on the new instrument (called) the Forte, piano.”
12 March 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) travel from Venice to Padua by boat.
14 March 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart depart Padua, making for Verona.
16 March 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart arrive in Verona from Padua.
20 March 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart depart Verona for home.
23 March 1771 An organizational meeting of the Tonkünstler-Societät takes place in the Vienna apartment of Florian Leopold Gassmann (41).
25 March 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart reach Innsbruck from Italy in a violent snowstorm.
28 March 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart arrive in Salzburg from Italy after a sojourn of one year and three months.
16 April 1771 Giovanni Battista Cambiaso replaces Giovanni Battista Negrone as Doge of Genoa.
18 April 1771 Der Dorfbalbier, a comische Operette by Johann Adam Hiller (42) and Christian Gottlob Neefe (23) to words of Weisse after Sedaine, is performed for the first time, at the Theater am Rannstädter Thore, Leipzig.
1 May 1771 Il viaggiatore americano in Joanesberg, a farce by Carl Ditters (31) to words of Pinto, is performed for the first time, in the Turm-Theater, Johannisberg, near Jauernig (Javorník).
11 May 1771 Several exiles to Kamchatka, some of them noblemen, overthrow and kill the Russian commander on the peninsula and force the local citizens to swear allegiance to Pavel Petrovich, son of Empress Yekaterina II. They seize the local treasury and a ship. Most will die as they bounce from port to port in Asia and are repulsed by Japan, Taiwan and Macao. Some will survive and return as free men to Siberia, pardoned by the Empress.
15 May 1771 La donna di bell’umore, an opera buffa by Niccolò Piccinni (43), is performed for the first time, in Teatro dei Fiorentini, Naples.
29 May 1771 Les projets de l’Amour, an opéra-ballet by Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville (59) to words of Voisenon, is performed for the first time, at Versailles.
30 May 1771 Niccolò Jommelli’s (56) opera seria Ifigenia in Tauride to words of Verazi is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples. Finished today and hastily prepared, the work is such a complete failure that the embarrassed composer will return his payment.
2 June 1771 Armida, a dramma per musica by Antonio Salieri (20) to words of Coltellini after Tasso, is performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna.
4 June 1771 Long did the churlish East detain, an ode by William Boyce (59) to words of Whitehead, is performed for the first time, to honor the birthday of King George III.
14 June 1771 Russian forces enter Orkapisi and thence into the Crimea.
17 June 1771 The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, a novel by Tobias Smollett, is published in London.
6 July 1771 Austria and the Ottoman Empire conclude a treaty to oppose Russian conquest of the Crimea.
7 July 1771 Queen Caroline Matilda of Denmark gives birth to a daughter at Hirschholm Palace north of Copenhagen. It is widely believed to be the child of the King’s minister Johann Friedrich, Count Struensee.
13 July 1771 Turkish Khan Selim Giray of the Crimea surrenders to invading Russians.
His Majesty’s Bark Endeavour, captained by James Cook, anchors in the Downs, thus completing a voyage of almost three years. Of 96 passengers and crew, 55 return, a very good mortality rate for such an expedition.
17 July 1771 Samuel Hearne of the Hudson’s Bay Company, traveling with a Chipewyan war party, reaches the Arctic Ocean at the mouth of the Coppermine River.
1 August 1771 Arkwright and his partners agree to lease land to build a spinning mill at Cromford. It will be the first successful water-powered spinning mill.
13 August 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart depart Salzburg for Italy.
Nitteti, a dramma per musica by Pasquale Anfossi (44) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples. Also premiered is Anfossi’s cantata I dioscuri to words of Mattei.
14 August 1771 Niccolò Jommelli (56) suffers a major paralytic stroke in Naples. He survives, and will gradually regain his speech and use of his right arm.
James Cook is presented to King George III at St. James’ Palace, London. He is promoted and given command of HMS Scorpion.
21 August 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart arrive in Milan from Salzburg.
27 August 1771 Ten days ago in Leeds, Joseph Priestley puts a sprig of mint into air in which a wax candle had been burned out. Today he burns another candle in the same air, thus proving that plants give off oxygen.
29 August 1771 In Milan, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (15) receives a libretto by Giuseppe Parini for Ascanio in Alba.
So ihr bleiben for soprano and strings by Johannes Herbst (36) is performed for the first time.
31 August 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart meet Johann Adolf Hasse (72) in Milan.
15 September 1771 British forces officially repossess the Falkland Islands from Spain.
18 September 1771 The Comédie-Italienne, Paris, agrees to pay André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (30) a regular salary.
4 October 1771 Riots break out in Moscow against government handling of an outbreak of plague since June. A hundred people are killed, 300 arrested. Among those dead is Archbishop Amvrosii. The plague causes 300-400 deaths daily. Abandoned corpses litter the streets.
16 October 1771 Il Ruggiero ovvero L’eroica gratitudine, an opera by Johann Adolf Hasse (72) to words of Metastasio after Ariosto, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan. Among the audience are two visitors named Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart.
17 October 1771 Ascanio in Alba K.111, a festa teatrale by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (15) to words of Parini, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan, to celebrate the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and Maria Ricciarda Berenice of Modena. Leopold Mozart (51) reports that it is “an extraordinary success” overshadowing the work by Hasse (72) performed last night.
21 October 1771 Margrave August Georg Simpert of Baden-Baden dies and his dominions pass to Margrave Karl IV Friedrich of Baden-Durlach. The new entity is called the Margraviate of Baden.
25 October 1771 Heinrich Ernst II replaces Christian Ernst as Count of Stolberg and Wernigerode.
26 October 1771 L’ami de la maison, an opéra-comique by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (30) to words of Marmontel, is performed for the first time, in Fontainebleau.
27 October 1771 Johann Gottlieb Graun dies in Berlin, aged approximately 69 years.
2 November 1771 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (15) completes his Symphony K.112 in Milan.
Le faucon, an opéra comique en prose mêlée d’ariettes by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny (42) to words of Sedaine after La Fontaine, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau. The reception is not favorable.
4 November 1771 Ezio, an opera seria by Antonio Sacchini (41) to words of Metastasio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
8 November 1771 Leopold (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart dine together with Johann Adolf Hasse (72) at the home of Count Carl Joseph Firmian, Governor-General of Austrian Lombardy in Milan. Last month, both Hasse and Mozart produced operas in Milan to celebrate the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand with Maria Ricciarda Berenice.
9 November 1771 Zémire et Azor, a comédie-ballet mêlée de chants et de danses by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (30) to words of Marmontel after Le Prince de Beaumont, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau.
10 November 1771 King Louis XV of France grants a royal pension of 1,200 francs to André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (30).
12 November 1771 The Fairy Prince, a masque by Thomas Augustine Arne (61) to words of Colman after Jonson, is performed for the first time, in Covent Garden, London.
22 November 1771 Today or tomorrow, Leopold (52) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart perform at the residence of Albert Michael von Mayr, keeper of the privy purse to Archduke Ferdinand, Governor of Lombardy in Milan. The music probably includes the premiere of the Symphony K.112.
Divertimento K.113 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (15) is performed today or tomorrow for probably the first time, in Milan.
27 November 1771 Johann Adolph Hasse (72) and his daughter reach Vienna from Naples. Tomorrow he will have an audience with Empress Maria Theresia.
30 November 1771 Leopold (52) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart are received by Archduke Ferdinand, Governor of Lombardy, in Milan.
5 December 1771 Leopold (52) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart depart Milan for Salzburg.
11 December 1771 Muhsinzade Mehmed Pasha replaces Silahdar Mehmed Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
12 December 1771 After showing interest in hiring Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (15), Archduke Ferdinand, Governor and Captain-General of Lombardy in Milan is warned in a letter from his mother, Empress Maria Theresia not to employ such “useless people.”
13 December 1771 Die Apotheke, a comic opera by Christian Gottlob Neefe (23) to words of Engel, is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
15 December 1771 Leopold (52) and Wolfgang Amadeus (15) Mozart arrive in Salzburg from Italy.
16 December 1771 Sigismund Christoph von Schrattenbach, Archbishop of Salzburg, employer of Leopold (52) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (15), and Michael Haydn (34), dies at the age of 74.
21 December 1771 Esterházy Kapellmeister Joseph Haydn (39) witnesses a contract settling a dispute between two Esterházy musicians, oboist Zacharaias Pohl and bassist Xavier Marteau, to wit, a brawl in the local tavern in June during which Pohl lost an eye.
26 December 1771 Giovanni Paisiello’s (31) dramma per musica Artaserse to words of Metastasio is performed for the first time, at the Ducal court, Modena.
28 December 1771 Two weeks after the death of Archbishop Schrattenbach, Leopold Mozart (52) petitions the Cathedral Chapter for the reinstatement of his salary.
30 December 1771 Niccolò Jommelli (57) writes a few lines on a New Year’s greeting written by his brother, the first words he has written since his stroke on August 14.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (15) completes his Symphony K.114 in Salzburg.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
3 June 2012
Last Updated (Sunday, 03 June 2012 04:42)