MusicAndHistory.com

1 January 1807 After Joseph Bonaparte gathers all Neapolitan music students into the Santa Maria della Pièta dei Turchini, he turns it into a school exclusively for the study of music.  He renames it the Collegio Reale di Musica.

The lease of the Burgtheater and the Kärntnertortheater held by Baron Peter von Braun, is turned over to a group of noblemen including the Princes Esterházy, Schwarzenberg, and Lobkowitz and the Counts Palffy, Zichy, Lodron, and Franz Nicholaus Esterházy.

The Royal Navy captures Curacao from the Dutch.

7 January 1807 Great Britain declares a counter-blockade against France and its allies.

13 January 1807 Under constant attack from local guerrillas, the British abandon their base at Maldonado (Uruguay).

14 January 1807 Tsar Alyeksandr of Russia forms a committee for internal security to keep watch on suspicious persons and societies.

Emperor Napoléon creates a directorate of five Poles to administer the area of Poland under French control.

16 January 1807 The British begin landing troops ten km east of Montevideo.

19 January 1807 Spanish defenders of Montevideo assault the British advancing on them but are forced back inside the city.

20 January 1807 Another attack out of Montevideo goes badly for them and they are forced to retire.  The British attempt to besiege the city.

23 January 1807 British heavy artillery begins to bombard Montevideo.

27 January 1807 The Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld is occupied by French troops.

28 January 1807 Publication of the Piano Sonata op.20, the Piano Trio op.22, Twelve Dances for piano op.24 and the Twelve Dances for piano op.25 by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (28) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.

29 January 1807 The Ottoman Empire extends its declaration of war on Russia to include Great Britain.

3 February 1807 The French army attempts to trap the Russian army at Ionkovo.  They defeat the Russians but, during the night, the Tsar’s forces escape.

British forces assault and capture Montevideo.

5 February 1807 French forces catch up to the Russian rear guard at Hoff (near Górowo Ilaweckie), 63 km south of Königsberg (Kaliningrad) causing 4,200 total casualties.  The Russians retreat to Eylau (Bagrationovsk), 14 km to the northeast.

7 February 1807 A skirmish between French and Russian outposts escalates into a major engagement at Eylau (Bagrationovsk), 37 km south of Könisgsberg (Kaliningrad).  After eight hours of heavy fighting and 8,000 casualties, the forces part for the night.

8 February 1807 Dawn on the second day at Eylau (Bagrationovsk) finds bitter cold and constant snow.  Russian advances are countered by French cavalry which in turn are countered by the arrival of the last Prussian troops which are in turn stalemated by French reinforcements.  After two days of fighting, no strategic result is produced.  Casualties are unknown but could be as high as 40,000.  Russia quits the field.

13 February 1807 Former US Vice President Aaron Burr is captured near New Orleans and charged with treason.  He will be transported to Richmond, Virginia to stand trial.

17 February 1807 Joseph, a drame mêlé de chants by Étienne Nicolas Méhul (43) to words of Duval after the Bible, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.  It will be performed 50 times during the composer’s life, and revived for the next 100 years.

19 February 1807 Attempting to bring Turkey into the alliance against France, a British fleet forces the Dardanelles and sinks five Turkish ships.

21 February 1807 Publication of the Piano Sonata “Appassionata” op.57 by Ludwig van Beethoven (36) is announced.

23 February 1807 Carl Maria von Weber (20) leaves Carlsruhe for an extended tour to the west.

3 March 1807 A British fleet again forces the Dardanelles hoping to intimidate Turkey into the war.  The Turks, their defenses newly strengthened, sink two ships and kill 600 men.  They are not intimidated.

11 March 1807 Three Piano Sonatas op.51 by Leopold Kozeluch (59) are entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.

16 March 1807 Publication of Prelude and Air for the Piano Forte by William Crotch is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.

18 March 1807 5,000 British troops land in Egypt, intent for a third time on intimidating the Ottoman Sultan Selim III.  They capture Alexandria (El Iskandariya) but nothing else.

French troops begin to surround Danzig (Gdansk).

23 March 1807 French siege guns open fire on the Prussians and Russians in Danzig.

25 March 1807 The Slave Trade Act receives royal assent.  It outlaws the slave trade in the British Empire.

29 March 1807 German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Obers discovers the only asteroid visible with the naked eye, Vesta.  It is the fourth asteroid to be viewed from Earth.

Responses to the Litany for chorus by Samuel Wesley (41) is performed for the first time, in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.  They were intended for last Christmas but were postponed until Easter, today.

31 March 1807 Because Lord Grenville’s government would not desist from furthering the assimilation of Catholics into British society, King George asks for their resignation.  William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of Portland replaces William Wyndham Grenville, Baron Grenville as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

11 April 1807 Spanish soprano Isabella Angela Colbran (22) performs in Bologna.  It is the first time that Gioachino Rossini (15) sets eyes on his future mistress and wife.

18 April 1807 The Principality of Anhalt-Dessau becomes the Duchy of Anhalt-Dessau.  Prince Leopold III becomes Duke Leopold III.

The County of Schaumburg-Lippe becomes a principality under Prince Georg I Wilhelm.

20 April 1807 Ludwig van Beethoven (36) signs a contract with Muzio Clementi (55) in Vienna giving Clementi sole printing rights in Britain for the Rassumovsky Quartets, the Symphony no.4, the Coriolanus Overture, the Piano Concerto no.4, and the Violin Concerto.

26 April 1807 Russia and Prussia sign a treaty of alliance at Bartenstein, Prussia (Bartoszyce, Poland) against France.

27 April 1807 On the Feast of Peregrino Laziosi, Franz Joseph Haydn (75) is carried to the Servite Monastery, Vienna.  There is a chapel in the monastery dedicated to that saint, and the composer is hoping for a cure for his swollen legs.

28 April 1807 14-year-old Friedrich Günther replaces Ludwig Friedrich II as Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt under regency.

29 April 1807 The French complete their fortifications surrounding Danzig (Gdansk).

4 May 1807 The Treaty of Finkenstein forces Persia to join France against Britain.

10 May 1807 Russian troops disembark at Neufahrwasser (Sopot) to reinforce the defenders at Danzig (Gdansk).

15 May 1807 Russian troops attempt to break through to the defenders of Danzig (Gdansk) but are beaten back with heavy casualties.

22 May 1807 The trial of former Vice-President Aaron Burr begins in Richmond, Virginia.  He is charged with “assembling an armed force...to seize the city of New Orleans...and to separate the western from the Atlantic states,” that is, treason.

24 May 1807 After Napoléon places his brother on the Spanish throne, Spaniards rise in revolt throughout the country.

27 May 1807 Prussia surrenders Danzig (Gdansk) to the encircling French.

29 May 1807 The Ottoman Sultan Selim III is deposed by Mustafa IV, son of Abdulhamid I.

1 June 1807 The Principality of Anhalt-Köthen becomes the Duchy of Anhalt-Köthen.  Prince August Christian Friedrich becomes Duke August Christian Friedrich.

3 June 1807 Çelebi Mustafa Pasha replaces Hilmi Ibrahim Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.

6 June 1807 Envoys from the rebel Spanish government in Asturias land in England requesting assistance.

7 June 1807 British marching west from Colonia de Sacramento (Uruguay) encounter a superior Spanish force at San Pedro and subdue it.

9 June 1807 A month of voting in the British general election concludes with a strengthening of the Tory ministry of the Duke of Portland.

10 June 1807 French forces attack the Russians at Heilsberg (Lidzbark Warminski) but are repulsed with heavy losses.  Total casualties are 18,000 people.

11 June 1807 Bayreuth passes from French to Austrian administration.

12 June 1807 As the Russian army retreats, the French take control of the field at Heilsberg.

15 June 1807 Cheered by the news from Spain, Foreign Secretary George Canning tells the House of Commons that “any nation in Europe that starts up with a determination to oppose…the common enemy…becomes instantly our essential ally.”

14 June 1807 A combined force of French, Poles, Saxons, Dutch and Italians attacks the Russian defenders of Friedland (Pravdinsk), 43 km southeast of Kaliningrad (Königsberg) with disastrous and costly consequences for the Russians.  Total casualties number 26,000 to 28,000.

16 June 1807 French forces occupy East Prussia.

17 June 1807 With a treaty signed in London, Great Britain adheres to the Convention of Bartenstein, joining Russia, Prussia, and Sweden against France.

20 June 1807 A Piano Sonata in G by Leopold Kozeluch (59) is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.

22 June 1807 HMS Leopard demands the return of four British “deserters” off the USS Chesapeake, 16 km off the Virginia coast.  When the Chesapeake refuses, Leopard opens fire, killing three people, wounding 18 and thereupon kidnaps the four sailors.  The act almost leads to war between Great Britain and the United States.

23 June 1807 An armistice between France and Russia goes into effect.

25 June 1807 Emperor Napoléon and Tsar Alyeksandr meet for the first time on a raft in the River Nieman (Nemunas) at Tilsit (Sovetsk, Russia), 100 km northeast of Königsberg (Kaliningrad).

28 June 1807 A British force from Montevideo is landed at Ensenada de Barragán, southeast of Buenos Aires.

2 July 1807 After the events of 22 June, US President Thomas Jefferson institutes punitive measures against Great Britain.  He orders all British ships out of US waters and sends a ship to England to demand satisfaction.

5 July 1807 The British landing force assaults Buenos Aires.  In street by street fighting they are defeated by Spanish regulars and local militia.

7 July 1807 The Peace of Tilsit is signed by the Emperors Napoléon and Alyeksandr.  In secret agreements, Russia is given a free hand against European Turkey and Finland.  Russia joins the Continental System against Britain and pledges support of France against Gibraltar.

9 July 1807 A treaty is signed between France and Prussia at Tilsit.  Prussia is restored to its 1772 borders but Hesse-Kassel and all Prussian possessions west of the Elbe are incorporated into the new Kingdom of Westphalia.  Prussian possessions in Poland are joined into the Duchy of Warsaw in personal union with Saxony.  Danzig (Gdansk) is declared a free city with a French garrison.

10 July 1807 Serbian revolutionaries sign an alliance with Russia.  They agree to support the Russians in return for money, guns, medical supplies and personnel.

12 July 1807 The British force sent to capture Buenos Aires takes ship and sails away.

17 July 1807 Bayreuth passes from Austrian to French administration.

Carl Maria von Weber (20) arrives in Stuttgart where a position awaits him.  He has been spending the last five months since leaving Carlsruhe on an impromptu concert tour.

19 July 1807 France demands that Portugal adhere to the continental blockade and close its ports to British ships, arrest British subjects, seize British property and declare war.

22 July 1807 In the Royal Palace, Dresden, Emperor Napoléon approves the constitution for the Duchy of Warsaw.

23 July 1807 General Bennigsen’s March for piano or harp by Leopold Kozeluch (60) is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.

1 August 1807 Georg Joseph Vogler (58) is appointed Hofkapellmeister and Privy Councillor for Ecclesastical Affairs to Grand Duke Ludwig I of Hesse-Darmstadt.

9 August 1807 Robert Fulton tests his steamboat Clermont on the East River, New York.

12 August 1807 France makes the demand of 19 July an ultimatum.  Portugal must also declare war on Great Britain, arrest all British subjects in the country and confiscate all British assets.

16 August 1807 British troops land near Copenhagen to prevent Napoléon from taking the Danish fleet.

17 August 1807 Carl Maria von Weber (20) is appointed “Geheimer Sekretär” to Duke Ludwig Friedrich Alexander in Württemberg, the brother of King Friedrich.  He is responsible to administer the Duke’s affairs and instruct his children in music.

Robert Fulton leaves New York aboard his steamboat Clermont.  He will arrive in Albany, 240 km upstream, in 32 hours.  The journey proves the practicality of motorized water transport.

Nè l’un, nè l’altro, a dramma giocoso by Simon Mayr (44) to words of Anelli, is performed for the first time, at Teatro alla Scala, Milan.

19 August 1807 Emperor Napoléon suppresses the Tribunate, making his control of policy easier.

24 August 1807 Russia and Turkey agree to an armistice.

25 August 1807 Nicolò Paganini’s (24) Napoleon Sonata, composed in honor of the birthday of the Emperor of the French and King of Italy (which is actually 15 August), is performed for the first time, by the composer.

28 August 1807 Brunswick, Hildesheim and Hesse are joined to become the Kingdom of Westphalia under King Jérôme Bonaparte.  He will not arrive in his kingdom until 7 December.  A regency council rules until then.

30 August 1807 Theresia Helferstorfer, wife of Antonio Salieri (57) and mother of his eight children, dies in Vienna.

1 September 1807 In a circuit court in Richmond, Virginia, former Vice-President Aaron Burr is acquitted of treason because the act could not be attested to by two witnesses.  He will immediately leave for Europe to avoid prosecution for murdering Alexander Hamilton.

2 September 1807 This day marks the first mention of Jan Ladislav Dussek (47) in the service of Charles Maurice de Talleyrand.

British ships begin a bombardment of Copenhagen to preempt the use of the Danish fleet by Napoléon.

5 September 1807 After four days bombardment of Copenhagen, a British naval force captures the Danish fleet.  Most of the city is destroyed.

British forces occupy Heligoland.

7 September 1807 Under threat from France, Swedish King Gustaf IV Adolf cedes Pomerania to the French.

Denmark surrenders to the British fleet.

9 September 1807 Great Britain ends its eight-month occupation of Montevideo.

10 September 1807 Andrew Law (58) receives a US copyright for his Harmonic Companion.

13 September 1807 On the Sunday after the name day of Princess Esterházy, Ludwig van Beethoven (36) directs the first performance of his Mass in C at Eisenstadt.  The music is not a success.

25 September 1807 The British evacuate Egypt.

1 October 1807 When Portugal declines the French ultimatum of 12 August, the French and Spanish ambassadors are withdrawn.

3 October 1807 Heinrich Friedrich Karl, Baron vom und zum Stein becomes Minister of State of Prussia.

6 October 1807 28-year-old Humphry Davy first produces and discovers potassium working in his own laboratory in the Royal Institution, London.  By chance, Davy passes an electric current through molten potash.  Potassium is released, contacts the air and appears as a lavender flame.

8 October 1807 Andrew Law (58) receives a US copyright for his Choice Collection of Church Music for the Methodist Church.

9 October 1807 An edict by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia ends serfdom in that country.

12 October 1807 Louis Spohr (23) is admitted to the newly reconstituted Masonic lodge “Ernst zum Kompass” in Gotha.

13 October 1807 Humphry Davy repeats his experiment of 6 October but uses soda instead of potash.  He produces Sodium.

18 October 1807 French troops enter Spain, making for Portugal.

26 October 1807 The Tenth Congress of the United States convenes in Washington.  Voting for the House of Representatives took place from April 1806 to August 1807.  Republicans increase their seat total to 116 to 26 for the Federalists.  In the Senate, the seats are 28-6 Republican.

27 October 1807 France and Spain sign the Treaty of Fontainebleau.  Spain agrees to cooperate with French troops in the conquest of Portugal and allow French garrisons along their supply route.  France grants Spain the southern third of Portugal in return.

Meanwhile, Spanish King Carlos IV and Queen María Luisa detain Prince Fernando in the royal palace and launch an investigation into his affairs fearful he is leading a plot against them.

29 October 1807 Denmark allies with France against Britain.

7 November 1807 Angered by the British attack on Copenhagen in September, and in accordance with the Treaty of Tilsit, Russia breaks relations with Great Britain.

11 November 1807 East Frisia, Knyphausen and Jever are attached to the Kingdom of Holland.

The British government forbids all trade with France and orders a blockade of all French ports and the ports of those allied to France.

12 November 1807 French troops reach Salamanca.

13 November 1807 Emperor Napoléon orders his reserves at Bayonne, 25,000 men, to march into Spain.

16 November 1807 A British fleet arrives at the mouth of the River Tejo, Portugal.

17 November 1807 50,000 French troops invade Portugal from Spain.

19 November 1807 Invading French troops arrive at Lisbon.

Humphry Davy reads his paper announcing the discovery of potassium and sodium before the Royal Society in London.

21 November 1807 The first installment of “Perish Commerce!” by William Cobbett appears in Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register.  He attacks the social cost of free trade.

29 November 1807 The Portuguese royal family, court and government leave Lisbon for Brazil under British escort.  They take with them most of the national treasury and national archives.  Miguel Pereira Forjaz, conde de Feira becomes acting head of government in Lisbon.

30 November 1807 After a forced march of 480 km in 14 days and with less than 10% of their original number, French forces enter Lisbon.  They proceed to ransack the town.

Kunst und Liebe, a liederspiel by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (55) to his own words, is performed for the first time, at the Nationaltheater, Berlin.

7 December 1807 Jérôme Bonaparte arrives at Kassel to accept the throne as King Hieronymus Napoleon of Westphalia.

10 December 1807 The Kingdom of Etruria (Tuscany) is annexed by France.

13 December 1807 Spanish troops occupy Oporto.

14 December 1807 A great fireball sails over New England and crashes to Earth near Weston, Connecticut.  The remnants will be collected and studied by Yale College.

15 December 1807 La vestale, a tragédie lyrique by Gaspare Spontini (33) to words of Jouy, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.  The performance came to fruition only through the patronage of Empress Josephine.  It is an enormous success and will run 200 performances.

17 December 1807 Napoléon issues the Milan Decrees.  All neutral shipping which submits to British search or visits British ports is banned from continental ports.

22 December 1807 The US Congress passes the Embargo Act of 1807, halting commercial shipping to any other nation without the specific authority of the president.

British forces take the Danish island of Saint Thomas (US Virgin Islands).

25 December 1807 British forces take the Danish island of Saint Croix (US Virgin Islands).

26 December 1807 British forces occupy Madeira.

©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger

6 July 2012