1783
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1 January 1783 Ye nation, hear th’important tale, an ode by John Stanley (70) to words of Whitehead, is performed for the first time.
8 January 1783 French forces board ship in Annapolis and sail for France.
11 January 1783 Mia speranza adorata…Ah, non sai qual pena, K.416, a concert aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (26) to words of Sertor, is performed for the first time, in Vienna, three days after it was composed.
15 January 1783 The publication of Jan Ladislav Dussek’s (22) three keyboard concertos C.2-4 in The Hague and three keyboard sonatas C.5-7 in Berlin, is announced in Cramer’s Magazin der Musik.
Publication of the Piano Concertos K.413-415 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (26) is advertised in the Wiener Zeitung.
20 January 1783 Three separate cease-fire agreements are signed by British ministers in Paris, with the United States, France, and Spain.
26 January 1783 Empress Yekaterina II decrees that anyone in Russia may establish a printing press and places censorship in the hands of local police chiefs.
30 January 1783 An announcement appears in the Pennsylvania Packet, advertising a singing school newly founded by Andrew Law (33). He arrived in Philadelphia from New England at the end of last year.
4 February 1783 An earthquake in Calabria kills 30,000 people.
Great Britain declares an end to hostilities in the American war.
5 February 1783 Sweden recognizes the independence of the United States.
7 February 1783 With the cessation of hostilities, the French-Spanish siege of Gibraltar is lifted.
14 February 1783 British forces capture the Fortress of Bednore, India.
15 February 1783 Portugal recognizes the independence of the United States.
Emperor Joseph II decides to reopen the Italian opera in Vienna. The singers and instrumentalists are chosen by the Emperor personally, along with Antonio Salieri (32).
21 February 1783 The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies declares armed neutrality in the war between Great Britain and the United States.
24 February 1783 British Prime Minister the Earl of Shelburne resigns after two parliamentary defeats of the preliminary peace.
25 February 1783 Denmark recognizes the independence of the United States.
Emperor Joseph II decrees that instrumental participation in church music be restricted to Sundays and holy days.
28 February 1783 Renaud, a tragédie lyrique by Antonio Sacchini (52) to words of Leboeuf and Pellegrin after Tasso, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra. Sacchini finds himself in the middle of the war between the Piccinnists and Gluckists. As a result, it is not well received.
2 March 1783 Ludwig van Beethoven (12) receives his first public notice, in a letter from his teacher, Christian Gottlob Neefe (35) to Cramer’s Magazin der Musik. (This edition is actually published on March 30)
3 March 1783 A pantomime K.446 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) is performed for the first time, in the Hofburg, Vienna.
6 March 1783 William Herschel reads his On the proper Motion of the Sun and Solar System; with an Account of several Changes that have happened among the fixed Stars since the Time of Mr. Flamstead to the Royal Society of London. He shows that the Sun is moving through space.
8 March 1783 British forces attack the French garrison on Turk’s Island in the Caribbean. They are repulsed and reboard their ships.
10 March 1783 USS Alliance and USS Duc de Lauzun, sailing from Havana are set upon by HMS Sybil and two other ships. The Americans drive off the attackers in the last naval engagement of the war.
23 March 1783 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) gives a benefit concert for himself before an overflow crowd, including Emperor Joseph II, in the Burgtheater, Vienna. The program includes the Symphony K.385, an aria from Idomeneo, Piano Concerto K.415, the concert aria Misera! dove son...Ah! non son io (to words of Metastasio) K.369, movements three and four from the Serenade in D K.320, Piano Concerto K.369 including the rondo-finale K.382, an aria from Lucio Silla, improvised variations on a theme of Paisiello (42) K.398 (encored), improvised variations on a theme of Gluck K.455, and the Recitative and Rondo K.416. Among the audience is Christoph Willibald Gluck (68). It is a gigantic success.
24 March 1783 Spain recognizes the independence of the United States.
25 March 1783 Le patriotisme, a grand opera by Georg Joseph Vogler (33), is performed for the first time, at Versailles.
Also hat Gott die Welt for chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (47) is performed for the first time.
27 March 1783 I vecchi burlati, a dramma giocoso by Pasquale Anfossi (55), is performed for the first time, in King’s Theatre, London.
2 April 1783 William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of Portland replaces William Petty-Fitzmaurice, Earl of Shelburne as Prime Minister of Great Britain. He heads a coalition of the followers of Charles James Fox and Lord North.
7 April 1783 Ignaz Holzbauer dies in Mannheim, aged 71 years, six months and 21 days.
9 April 1783 After successfully taking Bednore, the British find themselves surrounded and are forced to surrender the fortress to Tipu Sahib, Sultan of Mysore.
11 April 1783 The United States Congress declares an end to hostilities with Great Britain.
15 April 1783 The United States Congress ratifies the cease-fire agreement of last November.
18 April 1783 British forces are able to retake the Bahamas from the Spanish.
19 April 1783 Exactly eight years after the Battle of Lexington, the United States Army, camped at Newburgh, New York, is informed of the end of the war.
Spanish forces end their occupation of the Bahamas.
21 April 1783 The National Theatre in Prague officially opens for opera, singspiel and stage plays. It will see the successes of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27): Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and La Clemenza di Tito.
22 April 1783 An opera buffa company assembled by Emperor Joseph II makes its debut in Vienna with a production of Antonio Salieri’s (32) La scuola de’ gelosi.
26 April 1783 Bonn Kapellmeister Andrea Luchesi and Konzertmeister Cajetano Mattioli leave town for Italy. While they are away, Luchesi’s duties are taken up by court organist Christian Gottlob Neefe (35). With all this extra work, Neefe will call on the assistance of his student, Ludwig van Beethoven (12).
7,000 loyalists, the last group, sail from New York.
27 April 1783 Amen, Lob und Preis und Stärke, a chorus for Quasimodogeniti by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (69) to words of Sturm, is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
28 April 1783 André Ernest Modeste Grétry’s (42) Thalie au nouveau théâtre is performed for the first time, for the opening of the Théatre Favart, Paris.
6 May 1783 Giovanni Battista Airoli replaces Marco Antonio Gentile as Doge of Genoa.
7 May 1783 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) writes to his father from Vienna. “Our poet here is now a certain Abbate da Ponte. He has an enormous amount to do in revising pieces for the theatre and he has to write per obbligo an entirely new libretto for Salieri (32) (Il ricco d’un giorno), which will take him two months. He has promised after that to write a new libretto for me. But who knows whether he will be able to keep his word--or will want to? For, as you are aware, these Italian gentlemen are very civil to your face. Enough, we know them! If he is in league with Salieri, I shall never get anything out of him.” (Anderson, 848)
8 May 1783 François-André Danican-Philidor (56) gives his second multiple chess game demonstration in St. James’ Street, London. He plays three simultaneous games without seeing any of them, winning two and drawing one.
9 May 1783 Juliane Benda Reichardt, wife of Johann Friedrich Reichardt (30) and mother of Louise Reichardt (4), dies in Berlin.
18 May 1783 The first group of United Empire Loyalists arrives in Parrtown, Nova Scotia (now New Brunswick) from New York.
19 May 1783 Joseph Franz Anton Graf von Auersperg replaces Leopold Ernst Graf von Firmian as Prince-Bishop of Passau.
27 May 1783 Boßler and Speyer announce the publication of Symphonies 76-78 by Franz Joseph Haydn (51).
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) dates the score to his Horn Concerto K.417 in Vienna.
30 May 1783 The Pennsylvania Evening Post, the first daily newspaper in the United States, begins publication in Philadelphia.
2 June 1783 Joseph Maria Benedict replaces Joseph Wenzel as Prince of Fürstenberg.
4 June 1783 At length the troubled waters rest, an ode by John Stanley (71) to words of Whitehead, is performed for the first time, to honor the birthday of King George III.
5 June 1783 In Annonay, France, a hot-air balloon built by Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier ascends an estimated 450 meters and travels about two km in ten minutes. It is the first sustained flight by a man-made craft.
8 June 1783 The Laki volcano on Iceland erupts. It kills 9,350 people and spews lava for the next eight months. It creates a famine that will last seven years.
13 June 1783 Thousands gather in the street outside the Salle des Menus Plaisirs, Paris before the scheduled premiere of Beaumarchais’ Le mariage de Figaro. Half-an-hour before curtain, King Louis XVI orders the production cancelled. Beaumarchais responds, “there may be no performance here, very well, I swear to you that it shall be performed, perhaps in the very choir of Notre-Dame.”
17 June 1783 A first child is born to Constanze and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) in Vienna, named Raimund Leopold.
18 June 1783 Antoine Lavoisier and Pierre-Simon de Laplace publish Mémoire sur la chaleur describing their discovery that respiration is a form of combustion.
20 June 1783 British and French naval forces engage off Cuddalore, India. The battle is inconclusive but the French prevent the British from taking Cuddalore, just south of Pondicherry.
21 June 1783 About 300 American soldiers march on Independence Hall, Philadelphia demanding a redress of grievances. Congress adjourns and moves to Princeton, New Jersey.
30 June 1783 The aria for soprano and orchestra Vorrei Spiegarvi, oh Dio K.418 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) is performed for the first time, as part of Anfossi’s(56) Il curioso indiscreto, in the Vienna Burgtheater.
The United States Congress convenes in Princeton, New Jersey.
2 July 1783 Great Britain closes the West Indies to trade with the United States, unless the merchandise is carried in British ships.
5 July 1783 The Wiener Zeitung announces the publication of Muzio Clementi’s (31) three keyboard sonatas op.10.
7 July 1783 Tupac Inca Yupanqui, who lead a second Inca rebellion in Peru within two years, is hanged by the Spanish.
8 July 1783 The Massachusetts Supreme Court rules in the case of Commonwealth v. Jennison. The court upholds the right of slaves to sue their masters for freedom, essentially abolishing slavery in the state.
14 July 1783 The Russian Empire establishes the Provinces of Estonia and Livonia, thereby abolishing local authority.
17 July 1783 Two Tatar tribes swear their allegiance to Empress Yekaterina II of Russia, thus effecting a Russian annexation of the Crimea.
The Besançon Parlement demands the convocation of the Estates-General.
19 July 1783 Twelve leaders of recent Inca rebellions in Peru are executed by the Spanish, their tongues removed before they are drawn and quartered.
21 July 1783 On their way from Reading to give a concert at Oxford, William Crotch (8) and his mother are injured when their carriage overturns.
22 July 1783 In spite of his injuries of yesterday, William Crotch (8) insists on participating in a scheduled concert in Oxford. He plays an organ concerto and two other pieces. After he experiences some pain in the shoulder, a surgeon is called in who discovers that William has a broken collarbone. Through the six weeks of convalescence, the surgeon will accept no money as payment, but instead asks William to write him a piece of music.
24 July 1783 The Treaty of Georgyevsk is signed making Kartli-Kakheti (East Georgia) a protectorate of Russia.
28 July 1783 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) and his wife arrive in Salzburg for a stay of three months.
Britain ends its occupation of St. Pierre and Miquelon.
12 August 1783 Franciszek Rzewuski replaces Prince Stanislaw Lubomirski as Grand Marshal of Poland.
13 August 1783 Oreste, a dramma per musica by Domenico Cimarosa (33) to words of Serio, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
16 August 1783 The Committee for the Direction of Imperial Theatres, St. Petersburg names Giovanni Paisiello (43) as inspector of opera.
19 August 1783 The Committee for the Direction of Imperial Theatres, St. Petersburg names Giovanni Paisiello (43) inspector of opera buffa. Because neither this appointment nor the one of 16 August brings with it a salary, Paisiello refuses both.
The first child of Constanze and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) dies in Vienna at the age of two months. His parents are presently in Salzburg.
23 August 1783 Michal Jerzy Mniszech replaces Franciszek Rzewuski as Grand Marshal of Poland.
27 August 1783 A hydrogen-filled balloon four meters in diameter, constructed by AJ and MN Robert under the supervision of Paris physicist Jacques AC Charles, ascends over Paris to an altitude of 900 meters and travels 25 km in 45 minutes. Among the crowd watching is Benjamin Franklin.
31 August 1783 Der Herr hat Zion erwehlet for chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (48) is performed for the first time.
3 September 1783 Representatives of Great Britain and the United States sign a treaty of peace in Paris. Great Britain recognizes the complete independence of the United States of America. Separate peace accords are signed at Versailles between Britain and France, and Britain and Spain.
19 September 1783 13:00 A taffeta balloon constructed by Étienne Montgolfier ascends into the sky over the royal palace of Versailles. It carries the first Earth beings to leave the planet in a man-made craft: a sheep appropriately named Montauciel, a duck and a rooster (names not recorded). The balloon lands eight minutes later in the forest of Vaucresson, a few kilometers distant. All three space travellers are safe. The sheep is found munching on straw. Approximately 100,000 humans, including Benjamin Franklin, witness the event.
26 September 1783 Under the influence of Adam Smith, a free trade treaty is signed between France and Great Britain. In Britain it is known after the name of their negotiator, the Eden Treaty.
28 September 1783 The main part of the loyalist army arrives from the United States at the mouth of the St. John River. Thousands will be settled through the Autumn and create the Province of New Brunswick.
1 October 1783 Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia writes to Luigi Boccherini (40) in Madrid thanking him for sending the six string quartets op.33. He encourages Boccherini to write more for him and sends a gift.
3 October 1783 Brothers George and William Penrose establish a glass manufacturing concern in Waterford City, Ireland.
5 October 1783 Il mondo della luna, an festa teatrale comica by Giovanni Paisiello (43) to words of Goldoni, is performed for the first time, commissioned by Empress Yekaterina II for the opening of the new Bolshoy Theatre, St. Petersburg.
14 October 1783 Three piano sonatas WoO 47, called the “Kurfürstensonaten”, by Ludwig van Beethoven (12) are published in Speyer.
15 October 1783 In the first ascent by a human in a man-made craft, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier rides in a balloon over Paris, tethered by ropes to the ground.
16 October 1783 Didon, a tragédie lyrique by Niccolò Piccinni (55) to words of Marmontel, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau.
26 October 1783 The incomplete Mass in c minor K.427 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) is heard for the first time, in St. Peter’s Abbey, Salzburg. Singing one of the soprano parts is the composer’s wife.
27 October 1783 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) and his wife leave Salzburg for Linz. He will never see his sister again.
30 October 1783 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) and his wife arrive in Linz from Salzburg. They lodge at the home of Count Thun-Hohenstein.
La caravane du Caire, an opéra-ballet by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (42) to words of Morel de Chédeville, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau.
1 November 1783 Publication of Six String Quartets B.301-306 by Ignaz Pleyel (26) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
3 November 1783 Thomas Mifflin replaces Elias Boudinot as President of the Congress of the United States.
Highwayman James Austin becomes the last person to be executed at Tyburn. It has been the place of executions since the Middle Ages. Henceforth, all London executions will take place at Newgate Prison.
4 November 1783 Symphony K.425 “Linz” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) is performed for the first time, in Linz.
The United States Congress adjourns in Princeton, New Jersey.
12 November 1783 Antoine Lavoisier announces to the French Academy of Sciences in Paris that water contains another element besides oxygen. He will name it hydrogen.
14 November 1783 Le dormeur éveillé, an opéra comique by Niccolò Piccinni (55) to words of Marmontel, is performed for the first time, at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
15 November 1783 La kermesse ou La foire flamande, a comic opera by Georg Joseph Vogler (34) to words of Patrat, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Favart, Paris.
18 November 1783 The first official lottery in Portugal goes into operation to benefit the Casa de Misericórdia.
Chimène, a tragédie lyrique by Antonio Sacchini (53) to words of Guillard after Corneille, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau. Perceived as a rival of Niccolò Piccinni (55), Sacchini’s work does not compare well.
21 November 1783 Jean Pilâtre de Rozier and Marquis d’Arlandes become the first humans to ride in an untethered balloon, over Paris reaching an altitude of 150 meters and traveling nine km in 20 minutes.
British forces withdraw into New York City as American troops occupy the Harlem Heights.
23 November 1783 Ludwig van Beethoven (12) appears in performance at the court of Prince Willem V of Orange-Nassau at The Hague, probably playing his Piano Concerto in E flat WoO4.
25 November 1783 British troops complete the evacuation of Manhattan. American troops enter the city immediately afterward.
26 November 1783 The United States Congress convenes in Annapolis.
1 December 1783 Jacques Alexandre Charles and the Robert Brothers ascend in a balloon from the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris. It is the first hydrogen-filled balloon to carry passengers, the first balloon with up-down controls, the first time a barometer is used to measure altitude and the first time physiological measurements are taken on a human body at high altitude.
4 December 1783 The last British troops in the United States evacuate Staten Island and Long Island, boarding ship in New York harbor. In a few days, they will depart.
General Washington bids farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern, New York City.
5 December 1783 Le faux lord, an opéra comique by Niccolò Piccinni (55) to words of GM Piccinni, is performed for the first time, at Fontainebleau.
8 December 1783 The British House of Commons passes a bill which transfers power in British India to seven commissioners. The seven are all cronies of ministers.
9 December 1783 Giovanni Paisiello (43) is nominated compositore della musica de’ drammi by King Ferdinando IV of Naples. The composer is presently in Russia but conducted an extensive campaign through friends to gain the position.
10 December 1783 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts awards a copyright to Andrew Law (34) for his Rudiments of Music.
14 December 1783 Seven months after the death of his first wife, Johann Friedrich Reichardt marries Johanna Alberti Hensler of Hamburg. The marriage takes place in either Berlin or Hamburg.
16 December 1783 Johann Adolf Hasse dies in Venice, 84 years, eight months and 21 days after his baptism. After a long and illustrious career in opera and sacred music, his burial will be attended by only a few family members.
17 December 1783 After personal intervention by King George III, the House of Lords defeats the government bill passed 8 December. The King uses the defeat to dismiss the coalition government.
19 December 1783 Empress Yekaterina II of Russia grants Giovanni Paisiello (43) a one-year leave of absence.
King George III dismisses the coalition government of the Duke of Portland. William Pitt, the Younger, replaces William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of Portland as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
20 December 1783 Padre Antonio Francisco Javier José Soler Ramos dies at El Escorial, aged 54 years and 17 days.
22 December 1783 Franz Joseph Haydn (51) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27) meet for possibly the first time, at a Tonkünstler-Societät concert in Vienna where works by both are performed, including the premiere of Mozart’s Misero! o sogno...Aura che intorni spiri K.431, a concert aria for tenor and orchestra.
23 December 1783 General George Washington resigns his commission before Congress, meeting in Annapolis.
26 December 1783 Louis-Sébastien Lenormand makes the first successful parachute jump, from the observatory in Montpellier. The device has a rigid wooden frame, like an umbrella.
A British order-in-council allows for the resumption of trade with the United States.
28 December 1783 Morgengesang am Schöpfungsfeste by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (69) to words of Klopstock, is performed publicly for the first time, in Hamburg.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
4 July 2012
Last Updated (Wednesday, 04 July 2012 04:58)