1810
| 
| 
3 January 1810 The Prussian royal family returns to Berlin for the first time since the French occupation of 1806.
4 January 1810 Louis Spohr’s (25) concert tonight in Berlin attracts a large audience once it becomes known that the recently returned Queen of Prussia has requested tickets.
6 January 1810 By terms of the Treaty of Paris, Sweden joins the Continental System while France recognizes Sweden’s sovereignty over Pomerania.
13 January 1810 An advisory body of elder statesmen, the Council of State, is formally opened by Tsar Alyeksandr.
19 January 1810 60,000 French troops begin a major invasion of Andalucia.
23 January 1810 In the face of the French offensive, the Spanish junta abandons Seville for Cádiz.
27 January 1810 Publication of the Variations for piano op.34 by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (31) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
28 January 1810 Most of the Spanish junta reaches Cádiz and is able to set up a government.
A British invasion force lands on Guadeloupe.
29 January 1810 The Spanish junta in Cádiz gives power to a five-man regency council.
30 January 1810 Archduke Rudolph returns to Vienna. Ludwig van Beethoven (39) composes the third movement of his Piano Sonata op.81a “Les Adieux” entitled Das Wiedersehen at the occasion.
31 January 1810 A Supreme Council of Regency is set up in Spain to rule for King Fernando VII in opposition to the French. Nicolá Ambrosio de Garro y Arizcún, marques de las Hormazas replaces Francisco de Saavedra y Sangronis as First Secretary of State.
1 February 1810 French forces capture Seville without a fight.
2 February 1810 Emperor Napoléon and his Privy Council agree that he should marry the daughter of Emperor Franz of Austria, Marie Louise.
3 February 1810 Spanish forces reach Cádiz in time to protect it from the advancing French.
6 February 1810 Napoléon announces that he will marry Austrian Archduchess Marie Louise.
After a campaign of a week, French forces on Guadeloupe surrender to invading British.
8 February 1810 Napoléon places Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre and the Basque country under military rule.
9 February 1810 While conducting rehearsals for Silvanna in Stuttgart, Carl Maria von Weber (23) is arrested by the police along with his father. He will be held incommunicado in an inn for 16 days under three charges: 1. theft of silver articles, 2. embezzlement of Duke Ludwig’s money (actually done by his father--the amount was repaid but with borrowed money and the lender is demanding his money back) and 3. bribery and “association with plots for military exemption.”
10 February 1810 King Friedrich of Württemberg dismisses criminal charges against Carl Maria von Weber (23) and his father. The case is referred to a civil court where Weber’s creditors wait.
16 February 1810 The Grand Duchy of Frankfurt (Main) is created, under French control. Prince-Archbishop Karl Theodor Anton Maria, Baron von Dalberg of Regensburg becomes Grand Duke of Frankfurt.
17 February 1810 Rome is formally annexed to the French Empire.
18 February 1810 King Friedrich of Württemberg is about to banish Carl Maria von Weber (23) when 42 creditors press their cases against him, causing the duke to re-arrest the composer at the expense of the creditors. He will finish Silvana during his imprisonment.
20 February 1810 Andreas Hofer, who lead the Tyrol in uprising against France and Bavaria, is executed in Mantua (Mantova).
22 February 1810 It is determined that Carl Maria von Weber (23) owes three times his assets. Weber agrees to a debt payment arrangement to placate the creditors. They petition for his release.
The Dutch garrison of Sint Eustasius surrenders to the Royal Navy.
23 February 1810 King Friedrich of Württemberg orders the release of Carl Maria von Weber (23) as well as his banishment.
24 February 1810 Henry Cavendish dies at the age of 79.
26 February 1810 Carl Maria von Weber (23) and his father are awakened in the morning by a police officer and escorted to the border at Fürfeld. They are banished from Württemberg forever for their enormous debts. From this day, Weber keeps a diary. On the first page he writes, “Born again for the second time.”
27 February 1810 Carl Maria von Weber (23) arrives in Mannheim.
1 March 1810 Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin is born in Zelazowa Wola in the Duchy of Warsaw, 47 km west of the capital, second of four children born to Nicholas Chopin, Alsatian tutor to the children of Countess Ludvika Skarbek, and Tekla Justyna Krzyzanowska, personal attendant to and distant relative of the countess.
Hannover is made part of the Kingdom of Westphalia.
3 March 1810 France annexes Dalmatia and attaches the Tyrol to the Kingdom of Italy.
9 March 1810 The publication of Jan Ladislav Dussek’s (50) Three Duos concertantes for piano and harp C.234 is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria renounces all claims to the imperial throne and swears allegiance to France. A marriage contract is signed at Schönbrunn Palace.
11 March 1810 Emperor Napoléon, by proxy, marries Archduchess Marie Louise, daughter of the Emperor Franz I of Austria, in Vienna.
Simon Mayr’s (46) Cantata per le nozze di Napoléone con Maria Luisa d’Austria to words of Count Carrara-Spinelli is performed for the first time, in Bergamo. Ferramondo, another cantata by Mayr to words of Carrara-Spinelli, is performed for the first time, for the marriage of Napoléon and Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.
20 March 1810 Eusebio Bardaji y Azara replaces Nicolá Ambrosio de Garro y Arizcún, marques de las Hormazas as First Secretary of State of the resistance government of Spain.
22 March 1810 Jan Ladislav Dussek’s (50) three sets of variations for piano C.235-237 are performed for the first time, in the Odéon, Paris by the composer.
23 March 1810 In the Rambouillet Decree, Emperor Napoléon orders the seizure of all ships of the United States entering French ports. It is made retroactive to last 20 May.
25 March 1810 The Commercial Bank of Scotland is founded in Edinburgh.
26 March 1810 Mathilde von Guise, an opera by Johan Nepomuk Hummel (31) after Mercier-Dupaty is performed for the first time, in the Kärntnertortheater, Vienna.
Der Fischer und das Milchmädchen, oder Viel Lärm um einen Kuss, a divertissement by Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (18) to words of Lauchery, is performed for the first time, at the Royal Theatre, Berlin.
27 March 1810 Publication of three works by William Crotch (34) is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London: the glees Hail all the dear Delights, on Returning to Heathfield Park, Sweet Sylvan Scenes, and the air with variations for piano Milton Oysters or, Yeo, Yeo.
1 April 1810 Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (18) goes to Darmstadt to study with Georg Joseph Vogler (60) accompanied by his brother and tutor.
Emperor Napoléon, in person, marries Archduchess Marie Louise, daughter of the Emperor Franz I of Austria, in a civil ceremony at Saint Çloud. A cantata for the occasion by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (31) is performed.
2 April 1810 Emperor Napoléon marries Archduchess Marie Louise, daughter of the Emperor Franz I of Austria, in a religious ceremony at the Louvre. At night, Cantate pour le mariage de l’Empereur by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (46) to words of Arnault is performed for the first time, at the Tuileries Palace in the presence of the honorees.
4 April 1810 Carl Maria von Weber (23) arrives in Darmstadt for studies with Georg Joseph Vogler (60).
5 April 1810 Francis Burdett, radical Whig MP, is ordered arrested by a vote of the House of Commons. The charge is publishing a speech in the House, but most members dislike his advocacy of liberal ideas such as reform of Parliament, prison reform and freedom of speech. The officers sent to arrest him are unable to complete their task because the streets have been flooded with his supporters.
6 April 1810 Supporters of Francis Burdett begin rioting and attacking the residences of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval and prominent Tories.
8 April 1810 After two days of rioting, armed troops are called in to London and Francis Burdett, MP is finally arrested and transported to the Tower. He will be released in June with no charges brought.
17 April 1810 King José I reorganizes local government in Spain along the French model.
18 April 1810 Publication of Jan Ladislav Dussek’s (50) Piano concerto C.238 is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
19 April 1810 Wealthy landowners in Caracas, refusing to recognize Joseph Bonaparte, overthrow the Spanish captain-general, Vicente de Emparan y Orbe, and form a junta to rule in the name of Fernando VII.
22 April 1810 The Spanish evacuate the garrison of Matagorda near Cádiz.
23 April 1810 Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin is baptized.
3 May 1810 In emulation of Leander, George Gordon, Lord Byron swims the Hellespont.
8 May 1810 Walter Scott’s The Lady of the Lake is published.
14 May 1810 French forces attack and capture Lérida in Catalonia.
16 May 1810 The County of Hanau is annexed to Frankfurt.
17 May 1810 After 16 years of occupation, Great Britain annexes the formerly French Seychelles Islands.
19 May 1810 Two works by Samuel Wesley (44) are performed for the first time, at the Hanover Square Rooms, London: In exitu Israel for chorus and organ, and Father of Light and Life for chorus.
22 May 1810 The Principality of Regensburg is annexed by Bavaria.
23 May 1810 The Kingdom of Imeret’i (in Georgia) is annexed by Russia.
25 May 1810 Following Napoléon’s conquest of Spain, an assembly in Buenos Aires votes to create “a provisional junta of the Provinces of the Rio de la Plata,” (present Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay) governing for Fernando VII. Cornelio Saavedra is named president.
Three Chilean revolutionary leaders are captured by Spanish authorities in Santiago before their plan can be hatched.
30 May 1810 The Turkish garrison at Silistria (Silistra, Romania) surrenders to the Russians.
Variations for cello J.94 by Carl Maria von Weber (23) is performed for the first time, in Heidelberg.
31 May 1810 John Field (27) marries Adelaide Percheron, his mistress and one of his pupils, in the French Catholic Church, Moscow.
1 June 1810 Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (18) arrives in Darmstadt with his brother Heinrich, his tutor Aron Wolfssohn and a servant. He has come to study with Georg Joseph Vogler (60). One of his fellow students is Carl Maria von Weber (23).
4 June 1810 Karl August von Hardenberg replaces Karl Friedrich Ferdinand Alexander, Count von Dohna-Schlobitten as Chancellor of Prussia.
8 June 1810 22:30 Robert Schumann is born in Zwickau, Saxony, 30 km southwest of Chemnitz, fifth and last child of August Schumann, a bookseller, publisher and author, and Johanna Christiane Schnabel, daughter of the chief surgeon to the city of Zeitz.
Persée et Andromède, a ballet-pantomime with music by Franz Joseph Haydn (†1), Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (46) and others, to a scenario by Gardel, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
9 June 1810 Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai is born in Königsberg (Kaliningrad), only child of the union of Carl Ernst Daniel Nicolai, a composer, and Christiane Wilhelmine Lauber. The marriage of his parents will end in a few months owing to the physical and mental condition of his mother. He will grow up with foster parents until age 10.
10 June 1810 Du trône ou jusqua’à Toi, a cantata by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (46) to words of Arnault, is performed for the first time, in Paris to celebrate the marriage of Emperor Napoléon to Marie-Louise of Austria.
12 June 1810 Mequínenza, southwest of Lérida, surrenders to the French.
15 June 1810 Incidental music for Goethe’s play Egmont by Ludwig van Beethoven (39) is performed for the first time, in the Hofburg Theater, Vienna. The play was produced on 24 May but Beethoven’s music was not ready at that time.
Zur Feier des 15ten Juni for solo voice, chorus and piano by Giacomo Meyerbeer (19) to words of Carl Maria von Weber (23) is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt. The work celebrates the birthday today of their teacher, Georg Joseph Vogler (61).
22 June 1810 Russian forces occupy Sukumi. They declare a protectorate over Abkhazia.
The Clarinet Concerto no.2 by Louis Spohr (26) is performed for the first time, in Frankenhausen.
23 June 1810 John Jacob Astor founds the Pacific Fur Company to begin to exploit the Pacific coast.
25 June 1810 Fredrik Gyllenborg replaces Carl Axel Trolle-Wachtmeister as Prime Minister for Justice of Sweden.
French forces laying siege to Ciudad Rodrigo in León begin a bombardment of the town.
30 June 1810 Bayreuth is annexed by Bavaria.
3 July 1810 Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, abdicates his throne in favor of either of his sons, Napoléon Louis or Louis Napoléon and protests actions by the Emperor. This night he flees to Germany, making for Austria.
4 July 1810 In his critique of Beethoven’s (39) Symphony no.5 in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, ETA Hoffmann says that Beethoven’s instrumental music “opens up to us the kingdom of the gigantic and the immeasurable. Glowing beams shoot through this kingdom’s deep night, and we become aware of gigantic shadows that surge up and down, enclosing us more and more narrowly and annihilating everything within us, leaving only the pain of that interminable longing, in which every pleasure that had quickly arisen with sounds of rejoicing sinks away and founders, and we live on, rapturously beholding the spirits themselves, only in this pain, which, consuming love, hope, and joy within itself, seeks to burst our breast asunder with a full voiced consonance of all the passions.”
9 July 1810 Napoléon annexes Holland to France, along with its overseas colonies.
The Spanish defenders of Ciudad Rodrigo in León surrender to the besieging French.
10 July 1810 British forces capture Réunion and Mauritius.
11 July 1810 Macquarie Island is claimed by Great Britain and annexed to New South Wales.
The populace of Santiago, Chile rises in armed revolt against the Spanish governor who ordered the exile of the three revolutionary leaders captured 25 May.
16 July 1810 The Governor of Chile, Francisco Antonio García Carrasco, resigns his post.
19 July 1810 The 34-year-old Queen Louise of Prussia dies at her father’s estate near Strelitz, attended by her husband King Friedrich Wilhelm III.
20 July 1810 Anti-royalist mobs begin an uprising in Bogotá, surround troops in their barracks, and force the signature of Viceroy Antonio José de Amar y Borbón Arguedas y Vallejo de Santacruz on a document allowing a governing council to be set up.
21 July 1810 French troops once again cross from Spain into Portugal, making for Almeida.
24 July 1810 At the Bridge of Côa, near Almeida, British and Portuguese troops delay the French advance into Portugal, causing heavy casualties.
5 August 1810 Napoléon announces the Trianon Decree, placing heavy tariffs on colonial materials.
14 August 1810 Samuel Sebastian Wesley is born at No.1 Great Woodstock Street in London, first of seven illegitimate children born to Samuel Wesley (44), musician and composer, and his housekeeper, Sarah Suter. Wesley also has three legitimate children by Charlotte Louisa Martin from whom he is now estranged.
15 August 1810 French forces lay siege to Almeida, Portugal.
King Carl XIII of Sweden adopts the Frenchman Jean Bernadotte as his heir.
22 August 1810 Publication of the Violin Sonata op.37a by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (31) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
24 August 1810 Two works for wind band by Ludwig van Beethoven (39) are performed for the first time, in Vienna: Marsch für böhmische Landwehr and Marsch für Erzherzog Anton.
26 August 1810 Besieging French begin to bombard the fortress of Almeida, Portugal.
Leaders of a counterrevolutionary group, including former Viceroy Santiago Antonio María de Liniers y Bremont, are executed by firing squad at Cabeza de Tigre in Córdoba (Argentina).
27 August 1810 In the midst of the French bombardment, the main powder magazine of Almeida explodes, killing 500 Portuguese soldiers.
28 August 1810 The British and Portuguese defenders of Almeida are forced to surrender to the French.
1 September 1810 Le crescendo, an opéra bouffon by Luigi Cherubini (49) to words of Sewrin (pseud. of de Bassompierre), is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris. It is not well received due to the libretto.
12 September 1810 The Duchy of Salzburg is incorporated into Bavaria.
13 September 1810 Grand Duchess Elise suppresses over 100 religious houses in Tuscany.
16 September 1810 Silvana, a romantic opera by Carl Maria von Weber (23) to words of Heimer after Steinsberg, is performed for the first time, in Frankfurt-am-Main, conducted by the composer. The work is a moderate success but is overshadowed by a balloon ascent made today by Mme Madeleine-Sophie Blanchard, first female professional balloonist and widow of balloon pioneer Jean-Pierre Blanchard. Everyone at the theatre, including the singers, can talk of nothing else.
Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla places himself at the head of a band of laborers, Indians, and prisoners in Dolores, 270 km northwest of Ciudad México, to resist Spanish rule in Mexico. He inspires them with the cry “Long live religion! Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe! Long live the Americas and death to the corrupt government!” The act is seen as the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.
17 September 1810 The royal government of New Spain places a price on the head of Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and three other revolutionary leaders. On the same day, the rebels form their first rudimentary government, in San Miguel el Grande (San Miguel de Allende).
Samuel Wesley’s (44) edition of the first twelve preludes and fugues from Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach (†60) is published. The entire collection eventually will be published over the next three years.
18 September 1810 A Chilean assembly in Santiago creates a national government for the first time. This is celebrated as Chile’s independence day.
23 September 1810 US settlers subdue the Spanish garrison at Baton Rouge, proclaiming the Republic of West Florida.
24 September 1810 The Cortes of Cadiz meets at Isla de Léon. It recognizes Fernando VII as king and will draw up the credo of Spanish liberalism, the constitution of 1812.
27 September 1810 French troops attack a combined British-Portuguese force at Buçaco but are repulsed with great losses.
28 September 1810 Now over 20,000 strong, Padre Hidalgo’s and his followers reach Guanajuato and swarm through the town. Some loyal troops manage to put up a fight but are eventually overrun. All royalists in the town are killed.
9 October 1810 The British-Portuguese retreat in Portugal ends as they dig in at Torres Vedras, 43 km north of Lisbon.
14 October 1810 Two vocal trios by Luigi Cherubini (50) are performed for the first time, at Chimay.
15 October 1810 Cantate auf die Einweihung der Berliner Universität by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (57) to words of Brentano is performed for the first time, at the opening of Berlin University founded by Wilhelm von Humboldt.
17 October 1810 Padre Hidalgo and his followers take Valladolid (Morelia) without a fight.
19 October 1810 Mexican revolutionary leader Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla proclaims the end of slavery in the country.
27 October 1810 The Prussian government issues a Finanzedikt promising certain liberal reforms such as equalization of the tax burden, freedom to start businesses, tariff reform, secularization of Church lands and sale of state owned lands.
President Madison annexes the western part of West Florida (between the Perdido and Mississippi Rivers) to the United States.
28 October 1810 A second regency is set up in Spain to rule for King Fernando VII in opposition to the French.
The first recorded performance of Polacca con variazione for violin and orchestra by Nicolò Paganini (28) takes place in the Teatro del Pubblico, Rimini, the composer as soloist.
29 October 1810 Radicals from Argentina meet royalists at Cotagaita in Upper Peru (Bolivia). The battle forces the radicals to withdraw south.
30 October 1810 The Prussian government nationalizes both Catholic and Protestant lands and assumes control over them.
Mexican revolutionaries, now 80,000 strong, overwhelm Spanish troops at Monte de las Cruces between Toluca and Mexico City.
1 November 1810 Nicholas Chopin begins duties as a French teacher at the Warsaw Gymnasium. To do so, he has moved his family, including Fryderyk (0), to the city.
As of this date, Napoléon’s Berlin and Milan decrees are revoked for the United States. Normal commerce between the two countries is hereby resumed.
2 November 1810 Friedrich Hermann Otto replaces Hermann Friedrich Otto as Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen.
The Prussian government issues an edict ending the restriction of certain trades to guild members.
US President Madison orders that trade with France be restored and trade with Great Britain be ended as of 2 February of next year.
3 November 1810 La cambiale di matrimonio, a farsa comica by Gioachino Rossini (18) to words of Rossi after Federici and Checcherini, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Moisè, Venice. It is Rossini’s first work to be staged.
7 November 1810 Going north into Queretaro, Mexican revolutionaries meet a force of loyalists at Aculco who give battle and do great damage. Casualties favor the loyalists at a rate of 12-1.
A force of royalists catches up to the radicals retreating from Cotagaita at Suipacha (southern Bolivia). The radicals triumph. The royalist general, José de Córdoba, and two royal governors are executed after the battle.
14 November 1810 French forces withdraw from Torres Vedras without attacking the British-Portuguese defenses.
15 November 1810 Gaetano Donizetti (12) learns that he has been accepted to the Bergamo art school, Accademia Carrara. He applied because he fears he will be unsuccessful in music.
Humphry Davy informs the Royal Society that oxidized muriatic acid produced by Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1774 is in fact a new element which he calls Chlorine.
19 November 1810 Piano Concerto no.1 by Carl Maria von Weber is performed for the first time, in Mannheim, the composer at the keyboard, on what might be his 24th birthday.
25 November 1810 A royalist army retakes Guanajuato, Mexico from revolutionaries.
30 November 1810 Carl Maria von Weber (24) draws up statutes for the Harmonische Verein in Darmstadt, an organization to promote new musical works.
1 December 1810 Mexican revolutionaries capture the Pacific port of San Blas.
10 December 1810 Bentheim and Holstein-Oldenburg are annexed by France.
Lüneburg is attached to the Kingdom of Westphalia.
12 December 1810 Lucien Bonaparte, brother of the French emperor, and his wife arrive in Plymouth, having been captured by the British trying to escape to the United States.
13 December 1810 Napoléon annexes the north coast of Germany (Bremen, Hamburg, Lübeck, Aremberg, Münster) to France in an attempt to tighten the blockade against Britain. Parts of the Kingdom of Westphalia are annexed by France.
26 December 1810 Raùl di Créqui, a melodramma serio by Simon Mayr (47) to words of Romanelli, is performed for the first time, in Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
28 December 1810 A royalist army retakes Valladolid (Morelia, Mexico).
30 December 1810 A private musical association called the Harmonischer Verein is founded in Darmstadt by Carl Maria von Weber (24), Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (19), and three others.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
6 July 2012
Last Updated (Friday, 06 July 2012 05:46)