1794
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5 January 1794 Jacques Louis David replaces Georges Auguste Couthon as President of the National Convention of France.
11 January 1794 Publication of a Symphony in B flat B.149 by Ignaz Pleyel (36) is announced in the Frankfurter Ristretto.
12 January 1794 Elvira, a tragedia per musica by Giovanni Paisiello (53) to words of Calzabigi, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
14 January 1794 Dr. Jesse Bennett of Edom, Virginia, performs the first modern Caeserian section, on his wife.
17 January 1794 Il servo padrone ossia L’amor perfetto, a comedy by Niccolò Piccinni (66) to words of Mazzolà, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Samuele, Venice.
British forces land in Corsica.
19 January 1794 Joseph Haydn (61) departs Vienna for his second journey to London in a traveling coach loaned by Baron van Swieten. With the departure of Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven (23) seeks instruction from Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (57).
20 January 1794 Marc Guillaume Alexis Vadier replaces Jacques Louis David as President of the National Convention of France.
22 January 1794 Prince Anton Esterházy dies in Vienna and is succeeded by his son, Nicolas II Esterházy.
23 January 1794 As part of a general campaign to discourage counterrevolutionary activities in the Vendée, Republican troops force 200 old people, mothers, and children at Gonnord to dig their own graves and then shoot the victims into them.
27 January 1794 Thomas Paine dates the introduction to his The Age of Reason, part 1.
29 January 1794 Despite widespread popular support, Archibald Rowan of the United Irishmen is tried and convicted in Dublin of distributing seditious writings. He will be sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of £500.
1 February 1794 The Columbian Centinel, Boston reports as “just published” the collection Continental Harmony by William Billings (47).
2 February 1794 On their second try, British forces capture Cape Tiburón in Sainte Domingue (Haiti).
3 February 1794 The Boston Theatre opens on Federal Street (often called the Federal Street Theatre), a year after a ban on theatrical productions expires. It is the most important factor in the development of music in Boston at this time.
4 February 1794 The National Convention orders the emancipation of all slaves in French lands.
Joseph Nicolas Barbeau Du Barran, dit Dubarran replaces Marc Guillaume Alexis Vadier as President of the National Convention of France.
Joseph Haydn (61) arrives in London from Vienna.
5 February 1794 British forces land on the French island of Martinique.
10 February 1794 The third season of the Salomon-Haydn concerts begins in the Hanover Square Rooms, London. The Symphony no.99 by Joseph Haydn (61) is performed for the first time.
15 February 1794 A tricolor of blue, white and red vertical stripes is adopted by the National Convention as the official flag of France.
16 February 1794 In recognition for his services at the Siege of Toulon, the Committee of Public Safety confirms Napoléon Buonaparte as brigadier general. He is 24 years old.
17 February 1794 British forces establish Fort Miami on the Maumee River, 100 km southwest of Detroit.
Saffo ossia I riti d’Apollo Leucadio, a dramma per musica by Johannes Simon Mayr (30) to words of Sografi, is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice.
18 February 1794 Horatius Coclès, an opéra by Etienne-Nicolas Méhul (30) to words of Arnault, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra. Based on republicanism and patriotism, it is reasonably successful.
19 February 1794 Louis de Saint-Just replaces Joseph Nicolas Barbeau Du Barran, dit Dubarran as President of the National Convention of France.
24 February 1794 La ritrovata figlia di Ottone II, a ballo eroico by Leopold Kozeluch (46) to a story by Muzzarelli, is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
25 February 1794 The Paris Opéra appeals to the Committee of Public Safety for support, citing the propagandistic possibilities inherent in opera for securing the revolution.
26 February 1794 Le congrès des rois, a pasticcio with music by Luigi Cherubini (33), André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (53), Etienne-Nicolas Méhul (30) and nine others to words of Desmaillots (pseud. of Eve), is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre Favart, Paris. It will be banned after two performances.
1 March 1794 The statutes of Dublin University are amended to allow for the granting of degrees to Roman Catholics.
2 March 1794 A letter from a local revolutionary leader in Paris is read to the Commune de Paris. It denounces Le congrès des rois as pro-aristocratic. The Commune suspends the opera after two performances at the Théâtre Favart. See 26 February 1794.
3 March 1794 The Symphony no.101 “Clock” by Joseph Haydn (61) is performed for the first time, in the Hanover Square Rooms, London. The audience requires the first and second movements to be repeated.
6 March 1794 Philippe Jacques Rühl replaces Louis de Saint-Just as President of the National Convention of France.
10 March 1794 Three Grand Sonatas for piano with violin or cello accompaniment B.449-451 by Ignaz Pleyel (36) are entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
12 March 1794 Opposition to Russian rule in Poland crystallizes when a cavalry unit refuses a Russian order to demobilize and marches to Krakow. Rioting ensues throughout Poland.
The new Drury Lane Theatre opens in London with an official seating capacity of 3,611.
14 March 1794 Eli Whitney receives a US patent for his cotton gin.
21 March 1794 Jean-Lambert Tallien replaces Philippe Jacques Rühl as President of the National Convention of France.
22 March 1794 British forces complete the capture of the French island of Martinique.
24 March 1794 20 left-wing insurrectionists led by Jacques René Hébert are guillotined by order of Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety.
Tadeusz Kosciuszko proclaims a revolt against Russian domination, in the marketplace of Krakow. He begins to organize a Polish army.
26 March 1794 The US Congress votes a 30-day embargo on foreign ships in US harbors, in retaliation for British attacks on neutral trade.
31 March 1794 The Symphony no.100 “Military” by Joseph Haydn is performed for the first time, in the Hanover Square Rooms, London on the composer’s 62nd birthday. The Morning Chronicle will report on 9 April of this symphony: “Another new Symphony, by Haydn, was performed for the second time and the middle movement was again received with absolute shouts of applause. Encore! Encore! Encore! resounded from every seat: The Ladies themselves could not forbear.”
2 April 1794 Georges Jacques Danton, Jacobin leader and rival of Maximilien de Robespierre, goes on trial before the National Convention.
3 April 1794 The Committee of Public Safety in France authorizes a fleet of balloons to be tethered as observation posts. It is the first military air force.
4 April 1794 An army of Polish peasants under Tadeusz Kosciuszko defeats the Russians at Raclawice.
The French island of St. Lucia surrenders to the Royal Navy.
5 April 1794 Georges Jacques Danton and several of his followers are guillotined.
Jean Baptiste André Amar replaces Jean-Lambert Tallien as President of the National Convention of France.
7 April 1794 Due to court intrigues against him, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (54) is given one week to leave the Johannisberg Palace by his employer, Prince-Bishop Schaffgotsch.
8 April 1794 Andrew Law (45) receives a US copyright for the Art of Singing Part I and the Art of Singing Part II otherwise known as the Christian Harmony.
12 April 1794 Luigi Cherubini (33) marries Anne Cécile Tourette, daughter of a countertenor, first in a civil ceremony and then a religious ceremony in the basement of a house in Paris by a priest in hiding.
14 April 1794 Muzio Clementi’s (42) piano trios WoO 6 is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
The ashes of Jean-Jacques Rousseau are placed in the Panthéon, Paris.
16 April 1794 A French offensive against Sardinia begins in the mountains as they capture Ormea, 70 km northeast of Nice.
The National Convention grants an independent police power to the Committee of Public Safety.
17 April 1794 The Polish revolt spreads to Warsaw. Rebels take control of the city amid great bloodshed. The day is known as the Sicilian Vespers of Warsaw.
19 April 1794 The Treaty of The Hague is signed. Great Britain will pay for 60,000 Prussian and Dutch troops to fight France.
20 April 1794 Jean Baptiste Robert Lindet replaces Jean Baptiste André Amar as President of the National Convention of France.
French forces on Guadeloupe. surrender to invading British.
22 April 1794 Poles in Wilno (Vilnius) follow the example of Warsaw and rise up against Russian rule.
Pennsylvania abolishes capital punishment.
28 April 1794 Rev. William Jackson is arrested in Dublin charged with being a French agent.
29 April 1794 After a siege, Landrecies, France fall to Allied forces.
1 May 1794 United Irishman Archibald Rowan escapes from Newgate Prison in Dublin.
Erasmus Darwin dedicates his book Zoonomia; or the Laws of Organic Life.
5 May 1794 Jan Ladislav Dussek’s (34) duet for piano and harp C.102 is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot replaces Jean Baptiste Robert Lindet as President of the National Convention of France.
6 May 1794 Étienne-Nicolas Méhul’s (30) drame lyrique Mélidore et Phrosine to words of Arnault after Bernard, is performed for the first time, in Théâtre Favart, Paris.
7 May 1794 The National Convention decrees that “the French people recognize the existence of the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul.”
Fearful of “radical” meetings and incidents, the British Parliament votes to suspend Habeas Corpus as of 16 May.
Tadeusz Kosciuszko proclaims the Polaniec Manifesto which severely limits serfdom and improves the lot of peasants. This helps to spur the Polish resistance to Russia and Prussia.
8 May 1794 Antoine Laurent Lavoisier is guillotined in Paris having been found guilty of eight counts of defrauding the government. (The charges have been proven to be false.)
The National Convention transfers all judicial power over counterrevolutionary offenses to the Paris Revolutionary Tribunal.
10 May 1794 Prussian forces enter Poland to aid Russia in putting down the revolt.
12 May 1794 The third season of the Salomon-Haydn (62) concerts concludes.
Radical Thomas Hardy is arrested on charges of high treason and transported to the Tower. He is the secretary of the London Corresponding Society and is among 30 reformers arrested through the Spring and Summer. On the same day, William Godwin dates the preface to his novel Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams.
16 May 1794 Radical John Horn Tooke is arrested
17 May 1794 British forces occupy the French territory of the Seychelles Islands.
18 May 1794 French forces defeat the Allies at Tourcoing.
20 May 1794 Claude Antoine Prieur-Duvernois, dit Prieur de la Côte d’Or replaces Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot as President of the National Convention of France.
23 May 1794 Cécile Renault is arrested carrying two knives near the home of Maximilien de Robespierre in Paris. She will be executed next month.
Government agents raid the Dublin Society of United Irish. The movement is suppressed, its assets seized.
Jan Ladislav Dussek’s (34) Piano Sonata with violin accompaniment op.27 is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
26 May 1794 Nicolò Paganini (11) plays during mass at San Filippo Neri, Genoa to “universal admiration.”
29 May 1794 Russian troops smash the Polish defenders at Chelm.
1 June 1794 British naval forces under Richard, Lord Howe, defeat the French in the English Channel.
2 June 1794 Karl II Ludwig Friedrich replaces Adolf Friedrich IV as Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
3 June 1794 Muzio Clementi’s (42) three piano sonatas op.33 are entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
4 June 1794 Maximilien de Robespierre replaces Claude Antoine Prieur-Duvernois, dit Prieur de la Côte d’Or as President of the National Convention of France.
Supported by the Royal Navy, British troops fight their way into Port-au-Prince in the name of royal France.
French forces land on Guadeloupe to try to retake the island from the British.
5 June 1794 William Crotch (18) receives the degree of BMus from Oxford University.
Joseph Barra, a fait historique by André-Ernest-Joseph Grétry (53) to words of Levrier Champ-Rion, is performed for the first time, at the Opéra-Comique, Paris.
6 June 1794 Combined Russian and Prussian forces defeat Poles under Tadeusz Kosciuszko at Szczekociny, 60 km north of Krakow.
The French Committee of Public Safety creates the Commission for Public Instruction to have censorship powers over all stage works.
8 June 1794 Poles are once again defeated by Russians and Prussians at Chelm.
The Festival of the Supreme Being takes place amid much celebration in Paris. Hymne à l’Etre suprème by François-Joseph Gossec (60) to words of Désorgues is performed for the first time, by vast choral groups followed by a procession to the Champ de Mars.
10 June 1794 The Law of 22 Prairial removes safeguards to individual liberties in France.
A performance of Giovanni Paisiello’s (54) La Frascatana in London is interrupted with the news of the victory of 1 June. The orchestra thereupon repeatedly plays Arne’s (†16) Rule Britannia.
15 June 1794 Prussian troops enter Krakow without opposition.
19 June 1794 Élie Lacoste replaces Maximilien de Robespierre as President of the National Convention of France.
26 June 1794 French forces defeat the Austrians at Fleurus, 40 km south of Brussels opening all of the Austrian Netherlands to the French. At one point during the battle, the French commander, General Jourdan, ascends into the sky in a hot-air balloon to assess the progress of his troops.
27 June 1794 Muzio Clementi’s (42) keyboard sonata op.31 is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
4 July 1794 Le chant du départ for chorus and wind band by Etienne-Nicolas Méhul (31) to words of Chénier is performed for the first time, in Paris.
5 July 1794 Jean-Antoine Louis, dit Louis du Bas-Rhin replaces Élie Lacoste as President of the National Convention of France.
8 July 1794 French forces enter Brussels.
9 July 1794 Joseph Haydn (62) visits Portsmouth, stopping off at Hampton Court along the way. Among other things, he inspects some French ships recently captured by British forces under Richard, Lord Howe.
10 July 1794 Muzio Clementi’s (42) keyboard sonata op.30 is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
13 July 1794 A group of Austrian Jacobins travel from Vienna to Mödling and plant a liberty tree. They fortify themselves with wine, sing revolutionary songs, adopt an anti-aristocratic manifesto and return home.
15 July 1794 At the house of General Benjamin Neville in Bower Hill, Pennsylvania, citizens confront a Whiskey Tax collector and in the altercation a 16-year-old boy is killed.
16 July 1794 600 farmers return to the house of General Neville led by James McFarlane. McFarlane is killed holding a truce flag. The farmers thereupon loot Neville’s estate and burn it to the ground.
17 July 1794 16 Carmelite nuns are put to death by guillotine in Paris, one day after the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. See 26 January 1957.
19 July 1794 Jean-Marie Collot, dit Collot d’Herbois replaces Jean-Antoine Louis, dit Louis du Bas-Rhin as President of the National Convention of France.
22 July 1794 Russian forces lay siege to Warsaw.
The Committee of Public Safety imposes a Maximum (control) on wages in Paris. Until now, maximums have only been applied to prices.
24 July 1794 The Allies abandon Antwerp as British forces cross into the Netherlands at the Austrians retreat behind the Meuse.
25 July 1794 Friedrich IV replaces Friedrich III as Prince of Salm-Kyrburg, Prince of Åhaus and Bocholt, Wild-und Rheingraf, Count von Renneberg.
27 July 1794 In the 48 days since the Law of 22 Prairial, 1,376 people have been guillotined in Paris. Opponents of Maximilien de Robespierre win the day in the National Convention. His younger brother, Augustin, dies from defenestration. Joseph Le Bas shoots himself. Robespierre presumably attempts to do the same, but he survives, his jaw shattered by the blast. Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just is arrested. The action will be known by this date in the new calendar: The Revolution of 9 Thermidor.
28 July 1794 17 Robespierristes are guillotined in the Place de la Revolution, followed by 83 radicals over the next two days. Among the dead are Georges Couthon, Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just, and Maximilien de Robespierre himself.
1 August 1794 The Imperial government leases the Burgtheater and the Kärntnertortheater to Baron Peter von Braun. The court continues to subsidize the theatres and exert nominal control but all decisions are now taken by Baron von Braun.
2 August 1794 Joseph Haydn (62), with two companions, travels from London to Bath, which he will visit until 5 August.
3 August 1794 Philippe Antoine Merlin, dit Merlin de Douai replaces Jean-Marie Collot, dit Collot d’Herbois as President of the National Convention of France.
7 August 1794 The name of the Opéra National is changed to the Théâtre des Arts and it sets up operation in the Salle Montansier.
President Washington orders out the Pennsylvania militia to put down the Whiskey Rebellion.
12 August 1794 Polish rebels in Wilno (Vilnius) surrender to the besieging Russians.
16 August 1794 Das Gespenst mit der Trommel, a singspiel by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (54) to his own words after Goldoni, is performed for the first time, at the Herzogliches Hoftheater, Oels.
18 August 1794 Antoine Christopher Merlin, dit Merlin de Thionville replaces Philippe Antoine Merlin, dit Merlin de Douai as President of the National Convention of France.
20 August 1794 The Polish uprising spreads to the western part of the country and Prussian troops are dispatched from Warsaw to deal with it.
United States troops defeat a combined Indian force of Ottawa, Shawnee, Miami, and Iroquois at Fallen Timbers on the Maumee River, Northwest Territory (near Toledo, Ohio).
21 August 1794 France surrenders Corsica to the British.
23 August 1794 André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s (53) opéra Denys le tyran, maître d’école à Corinthe, to words of Maréchal, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
24 August 1794 The National Convention restricts the Committee of Public Safety to war and foreign affairs.
26 August 1794 Le astuzie femminili, a commedia per musica by Domenico Cimarosa (44) to words of Palomba, is performed for the first time, in Teatro dei Fiorentini, Naples.
2 September 1794 La rosière républicaine ou La fète de la vertu, an opéra by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (53) to words of Maréchal, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
3 September 1794 André Antoine Bernard des Jeuzines, dit Bernard de Saintes replaces Antoine Christopher Merlin, dit Merlin de Thionville as President of the National Convention of France.
5 September 1794 Russian forces lift the siege of Warsaw and retreat east.
11 September 1794 Incidental music to Chénier’s play Timoléon by Etienne-Nicolas Méhul (31) is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre de la République, Paris.
19 September 1794 French forces attack into the Bormida Valley against Austrians who are surprised and retreat.
André-Ernest-Modest Grétry’s (53) opéra Callias, ou Nature et patrie to words of Hoffman is performed for the first time, at the Opéra-Comique, Paris.
21 September 1794 French and Austrian troops battle at Dego, 70 km west of Genoa. The fight is inconclusive, but the Austrians quit the field.
For the ceremony at the interment of the earthly remains of Jean Paul Marat in the Panthéon (replacing those of Mirabeau), two works by Luigi Cherubini (34) are given their first performance: Hymne au Panthéon for chorus and orchestra to words of Chénier, and Hymne à la fraternité for solo voice, chorus and orchestra to words of Desorgues.
22 September 1794 André Dumont replaces André Antoine Bernard des Jeuzines, dit Bernard de Saintes as President of the National Convention of France.
24 September 1794 French forces in Italy fall back to a line from Ormea to Monte San Bernardo to Vado for the winter.
28 September 1794 The Alliance of St. Petersburg unites Great Britain, Austria and Russia to oppose France.
The French National Convention creates the Central School for Public Works.
2 October 1794 French forces advance into the Rhineland.
3 October 1794 Elector Maximilian Franz of Cologne flees the city before the advancing French. This event convinces Ludwig van Beethoven (23) that he should remain in Vienna.
6 October 1794 French troops capture Aachen.
7 October 1794 Jean Jacques Régis Cambacérès replaces André Dumont as President of the National Convention of France.
9 October 1794 Russian troops defeat the main Polish army at Maciejowice, 60 km southeast of Warsaw. The Polish leader, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, is captured.
10 October 1794 The National Convention creates the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers.
14 October 1794 Günther Friedrich Karl I replaces Christian Günther III as Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.
18 October 1794 Russian forces reach Praga, across the Vistula from Warsaw.
20 October 1794 Federal troops sent by President Washington enter western Pennsylvania to put down the Whiskey Rebellion.
21 October 1794 Izzet Mehmed Pasha replaces Damad Melek Mehmed Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
22 October 1794 Pierre Louis Prieur, dit Prieur de la Marne replaces Jean Jacques Régis Cambacérès as President of the National Convention of France.
24 October 1794 The Committee of Public Safety orders the release of Joseph Boulogne de Saint Georges (48) from detention in Houdainville, near Clermont-sur-Oise. The order will not be carried out for several months.
25 October 1794 Prussia denounces the Treaty of the Hague of 19 April and withdraws its troops.
30 October 1794 The National Convention creates the École Normale to create a body of teachers for citizens of the new Republic.
31 October 1794 John Dalton reads a paper to the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society describing in detail the condition known as color blindness. He suffers from it himself.
4 November 1794 Russian forces demolish all Polish resistance in the “Massacre at Praga.” Somewhere between 10,000-15,000 Polish civilians are killed by the Russians.
Maastricht surrenders to the French.
Giovanni Paisiello’s (54) dramma per musica Didone abbandonata to words of Metastasio is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
5 November 1794 After a nine-day trial, radical reformer Thomas Hardy is found not guilty of high treason in London. The jury deliberated for three hours.
6 November 1794 Louis Legendre replaces Pierre Louis Prieur, dit Prieur de la Marne as President of the National Convention of France.
8 November 1794 French forces occupy Nijmegen.
9 November 1794 Warsaw surrenders to the Russians. Revolutionary leaders are captured, including King Stanislas II.
12 November 1794 The Paris Jacobin Club is ordered closed.
13 November 1794 Hundreds of suspected rebels are rounded up in western Pennsylvania without warrant or due process. They will be interned, exposed to the elements, and many will die.
14 November 1794 Polish leader Tadeusz Kosciuszko arrives under guard in St. Petersburg.
16 November 1794 The final Polish troops in the field surrender to the Russians near Radoszyce, thus ending the Polish uprising.
19 November 1794 A treaty is signed in London between representatives of Great Britain and the United States (the Jay Treaty). It avoids war between the two countries by allowing for the removal of British troops from western outposts in North America, establishes the US claim for damages by British seizure of ships, and allows for US trade with the West Indies.
22 November 1794 After a six-day trial and deliberating for eight minutes, a London jury finds radical reformer John Horne Tooke not guilty of high treason.
24 November 1794 Jean-Baptiste Clauzel replaces Louis Legendre as President of the National Convention of France.
25 November 1794 Publication of Joseph Haydn’s (62) three Piano Trios XV: 18-20, is announced in The Sun, London.
1 December 1794 The London Morning Chronicle publishes the poem “To Erskine” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Whig lawyer Thomas Erskine defended Hardy, Thelwall, and Tooke in their recent treason trials.
5 December 1794 After a five-day trial, radical reformer John Thelwall is found not guilty of high treason in London in London. The jury deliberated for two hours.
6 December 1794 Jean-François Reubell replaces Jean-Baptiste Clauzel as President of the National Convention of France.
8 December 1794 A great fire in New Orleans destroys over 200 buildings.
10 December 1794 After six months of fighting, the last British fort on Guadeloupe is evacuated, leaving the island once again in French hands.
13 December 1794 Luigi Cherubini’s (34) opéra comique Eliza, ou Le voyage aux glaciers du Mont St. Bernard, to words of Saint-Cyr, is performed for the first time, in Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.
16 December 1794 Publication of Jan Ladislav Dussek’s (34) Piano Concerto C.104 is announced in The Times of London.
21 December 1794 Pierre Louis Bentabole replaces Jean-François Reubell as President of the National Convention of France.
26 December 1794 Penelope, a dramma per musica by Domenico Cimarosa (44) to words of Diodati, is performed for the first time, in Teatro del Fondo, Naples.
27 December 1794 French forces invade the Netherlands.
28 December 1794 Sorge-sange da Prindsesse Sophie Frederike bisattes, a cantata by Johann Peter Schulz (47) to words of Thaarup, is performed for the first time, in Roskilde Cathedral.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
5 July 2012
Last Updated (Thursday, 05 July 2012 05:46)