1811
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1 January 1811 The Grand Duchy of Berg is annexed by France.
New Russian tariffs go into effect. They cover luxury items and wine, in other words, French goods.
4 January 1811 Mexican revolutionaries defeat a royalist force three times their size this night at Tres Palos near Acapulco.
6 January 1811 Rien de trop ou Les deux paravents, an opéra comique by Adrien Boieldieu (35) to words of Pain, is performed for the first time, in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg.
8 January 1811 Over the next three days, United States troops put down slave revolts in two Louisiana parishes 50 km upriver from New Orleans. In one clash, 68 slaves are killed. Over the next week the rebels will be hunted and killed. 16 leaders will be executed, their heads displayed on poles.
17 January 1811 35,000 poorly equipped Mexican revolutionaries are defeated by a smaller Spanish force at Calderón Bridge near Guadalajara. The battle is sealed when a hand grenade lands in the insurgents’ ammunition storage area.
21 January 1811 The royalist army occupies Guadalajara, Mexico.
22 January 1811 Napoléon annexes the Duchy of Oldenburg to France, in violation of the Peace of Tilsit.
28 January 1811 German immigrant to the US John Jacob Astor creates the Southwest Fur Company.
2 February 1811 Publication of the Twelve Dances for piano op.40 by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (32) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
US President James Madison restores the embargo on British trade after Napoléon promises normal trade relations.
5 February 1811 George, Prince of Wales signs documents making him regent for his father King George III. The King became permanently deranged last October.
6 February 1811 Carl Maria von Weber (24) performs a farewell concert in Darmstadt at the palace of Grand Duke Ludwig. In need of funds, he is leaving the tutelage of Georg Joseph Vogler (61).
9 February 1811 Publication of the Concerto for piano and orchestra op.34a and the Twelve Dances op.39 by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (32) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
10 February 1811 Russian troops capture Belgrade and the Turkish army defending it.
13 February 1811 The publication of Jan Ladislav Dussek’s (51) Three Piano Sonatas C.240-242 is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
14 February 1811 Carl Maria von Weber (24) leaves Darmstadt, intending to engage in a long concert tour.
17 February 1811 Royalist forces reoccupy Zacatecas, Mexico.
18 February 1811 Volume III of Clementi’s Practical Harmony by Muzio Clementi (59) is published in London.
French forces attack across the Guadiana forcing many Spanish defenders to flee before Badajoz
20 February 1811 Austria declares state bankruptcy and is forced to devalue its currency at a rate of five to one. This will cause Beethoven (40) to request that his annuity from his three wealthy benefactors be continued at the same value as before the devaluation. Archduke Rudolph agrees. Prince Lobkowitz is in serious financial difficulties and his fortune is in the hands of a financial manager. He is forced to suspend payment for four years. Prince Kinsky will agree next year. See 18 January 1815.
21 February 1811 Humphry Davy reads his paper On a Combination of Oxymuriatic Gas and Oxygene Gas to the Royal Society, London. He provides proof that chlorine is an element, not a compound.
22 February 1811 The publication of Jan Ladislav Dussek’s (51) Three Duos concertantes C.243 is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
28 February 1811 Emperor Napoléon writes to Tsar Alyeksandr of Russia that since he has opened his ports to British ships and raised duties on French imports, the Tsar may consider the alliance between the two countries to be ended.
Several Uruguayans declare support for the Argentine revolutionaries at Ascanio.
1 March 1811 Muhammad Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, ceremonially murders 500 leaders of the Mamelukes, rulers of Egypt for five centuries. He emerges as the undisputed power in Egypt.
3 March 1811 In Bamberg, Carl Maria von Weber (24) meets the music director and scene painter of the local theatre, ETA Hoffmann for the first time.
5 March 1811 The French force in Portugal begins a retreat to Spain.
Royalist forces reconquer San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
11 March 1811 Skilled craftsmen in Nottinghamshire attack a knitting factory in Arnold. They are upset that the new industrial technology is taking their livelihoods. This is the first time that knitting frames are actually destroyed and the first time their leader identifies himself by the name Ned Ludd. This begins several weeks of like attacks in Nottinghamshire and the group comes to be known as Luddites.
The Spanish defenders of Badajoz surrender the city to the French.
13 March 1811 British ships defeat a French/Venetian squadron off Lissa (Vis).
14 March 1811 Carl Maria von Weber (24) reaches Munich.
15 March 1811 The Austrian currency is devalued by a factor of five.
17 March 1811 A setting of the 98th Psalm for chorus by Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (19) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
18 March 1811 Johann Friedrich Reichardt’s (58) singspiel Der Taucher, to words of Bürde after Schiller, is performed for the first time, in the Nationaltheater, Berlin.
19 March 1811 Paraguayans surprise the Argentine revolutionary army under General Belgrano at the confluence of the Tacuari and Paraná Rivers. The Paraguayans do serious damage but are eventually thrown back. The Argentines then move south.
20 March 1811 Empress Marie Louise presents Emperor Napoléon with his first and only child, Napoléon François Charles Joseph, King of Rome, in Paris.
22 March 1811 French forces retreating from Portugal begin to reach Spain. They leave behind them the most brutal atrocities, bringing torture and death to thousands of Portuguese civilians.
30 March 1811 Franz Schubert (14) completes his earliest extant work, the song Hagars Klage to words of Schücking.
3 April 1811 A combined British-Portuguese force defeats the French at Sabugal, 25 km southeast of Guarda. This will compel the French to completely leave Portugal.
4 April 1811 The Spanish Viceroy of New Granada (Colombia) is overthrown by citizens acting in the name of King Fernando VII.
5 April 1811 Heinrich Baermann performs the premiere of Carl Maria von Weber’s (24) Clarinet Concerto J.109 in Munich. It is well received and King Maximilian, in attendance, orders two clarinet concertos from the composer.
12 April 1811 Ludwig van Beethoven (40) writes to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe for the first time.
Colonists from New York land at Cape Disappointment (Washington state) after a voyage around Cape Horn. It is the first white settlement in the Pacific northwest.
14 April 1811 Pierre Bruno, comte Daru replaces Hugues Bernard Maret, duc de Bassano as Secretary of State (chief minister) of France.
19 April 1811 Paris newspapers note the presence in the city of Adrien Boieldieu (35), home on leave from St. Petersburg.
The City Council of Caracas deposes the Spanish governor and rules in the name of King Fernando VII.
27 April 1811 The County of Wallmoden-Gimborn is annexed by France.
Two new works by Samuel Wesley (45) are performed for the first time, at a concert for his benefit at Hanover Square Rooms, London: Trio for three pianofortes and the glee O Delia, every charm is thine to words of Pindar. The composer plays one part in the trio.
3 May 1811 British and Portuguese forces throw back the French at Fuentes de Oñoro, just inside Spain, 105 km southwest of Salamanca.
French forces lay siege to Tarragona in Catalonia.
5 May 1811 French forces trying to relieve the garrison at Almeida are thwarted once again by the British and Portuguese at Fuentes de Oñoro.
8 May 1811 Meyer Beer’s (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (19) oratorio Gott und der Natur to words of Schreiber is performed for the first time, at the Berlin Singakademie.
10 May 1811 The Accademia dei Concordi performs The Seasons by Franz Joseph Haydn (†1) conducted by its musical director Gioachino Rossini (19).
14 May 1811 Paraguay declares itself independent of Spain under a five-man junta.
16 May 1811 Allied (Great Britain, Spain, Portugal) forces defeat the French at Albuera near Badajoz. At least 13,000 men are killed or wounded.
The USS President defeats HMS Little Belt off the coast of North Carolina. The President attacked the Little Belt because of the impressment of an American sailor by the Royal Navy two weeks ago off New Jersey.
18 May 1811 Having been sacked once before and reinstated, Johann Nepomuk Hummel is finally dismissed by Prince Nikolas Esterházy. See 25 December 1808.
Revolutionaries defeat royalist troops 20 km north of Montevideo.
26 May 1811 Revolutionaries defeat royalists at Tixtla (Ciudad Guerrero) and take the town.
29 May 1811 French troops storm and capture Fort Olivo at Tarragona in Catalonia.
The Duke of York is restored as Commander-in-chief of the British Army after is mistress and accuser is found to have been paid for her accusations.
30 May 1811 Kantate zum Geburtstag von Jacob Beer by Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (19) to words of Wolfssohn, is performed for the first time.
1 June 1811 The Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, the new Austrian Civil Code, is announced. It will go into effect next 1 January.
2 June 1811 Cantata per la nascità del re di Roma by Simon Mayr (47) to words of Muletti is performed for the first time, in Bergamo for the benefit of the Pio Instituto Musicale. On the same day, Mayr’s cantata Numa Pompilio to words of Carrara-Spinelli is performed for the first time, in Bergamo for the christening of the King of Rome.
4 June 1811 Abu Hassan, a singspiel by Carl Maria von Weber (24) to words of Heimer after A Thousand and One Nights, is performed for the first time, at the Residenz, Munich. The work enjoys a good success in spite of the fact that a fire alarm is sounded during the first act, requiring the hall to be emptied.
9 June 1811 Carl Maria von Weber’s (24) four guitar songs (J.110-113) for Kotzebue’s stage play Der arme Minnesinger are performed for the first time, in Munich.
Componimento sagro musicale by Giovanni Paisiello (71) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
11 June 1811 Grand Duke Karl Friedrich of Baden dies and is succeeded by his grandson, Karl Ludwig Friedrich.
12 June 1811 Spanish forces are able to retake Astorga in León.
13 June 1811 Clarinet Concerto no.1 J.114 by Carl Maria von Weber (24) is performed for the first time, in Munich along with the premiere of Weber’s Adagio and Rondo for harmonichord and orchestra J.115.
20 June 1811 A royalist army virtually wipes out an Argentine revolutionary force and their Indian allies at Huaqui (Guaqui, Bolivia) on the shore of Lake Titicaca.
21 June 1811 After a siege of six weeks, French forces begin the final assault on Tarragona.
22 June 1811 The United States and Portugal enter the opium trade when the American brig Sylph docks at Macao with a cargo of opium from Turkey.
Emperor Napoléon decrees that all members of his family currently reigning as kings are reduced to princes of France.
28 June 1811 French forces conclude a week of assaults with the final capture of Tarragona. The French engage in atrocities, including the killing of 2,000 civilians. Tarragona was the last port in Catalonia to fall to the French.
30 June 1811 Cantate sur la naissance de S.M. le Roi de Rome by Luigi Cherubini (50), Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (48) and Castel to words of Arnault is performed for the first time, at the ceremonies for the new Salle des Concerts de Conservatoire, Paris.
4 July 1811 The first national congress of Chile opens in Santiago.
5 July 1811 A revolutionary congress in Caracas declares Venezuela a republic independent of Spain.
6 July 1811 Muzio Clementi (59) marries his second wife, Emma Gisborne (26), family unknown, at St. Pancras’ Church, London.
8 July 1811 Josef von Spaun takes Franz Schubert (14) to see his first opera, Weigl’s Die Schweizerfamilie, at the Kärntnertortheater, Vienna.
10 July 1811 Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s (32) pantomime Der Zauberring, oder Harlekin als Spinne to words of Angiolini, is performed for the first time, in the Theater-an-der-Wien, Vienna.
17 July 1811 At the request of Spanish Viceroy Francisco Javier de Elío, 5,000 Portuguese troops march from Rio Grande do Sul into Banda Oriental (Uruguay) to stop the uprising.
30 July 1811 After having been captured and tried by Spanish authorities, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican rebellion, and several of his subordinates, are executed by a firing squad in the city of Chihuahua. Their heads are sent to Guanajuato to be put on public view.
3 August 1811 British forces land on Java to attack the French-controlled government of the Dutch East Indies.
Gaspare Spontini (36) marries Maria Caterina Celeste Erard, daughter of the Erard manufacturers of pianos and harps.
Carl Maria von Weber (24), in Munich, hears from Wiesbaden that the salary he proposed for the post of Kapellmeister is too high. He decides against pursuing the position.
5 August 1811 Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas is born in Metz, the son of music teachers.
9 August 1811 Carl Maria von Weber (24) leaves Munich for Switzerland.
11 August 1811 As Carl Maria von Weber (24) travels to Switzerland from Munich, he passes through the Kingdom of Württemberg from which he was banished in 1810. He is discovered at the border and arrested.
The Paris music publishing firm of Cherubini (50), Méhul (48), Kreutzer, Rode et Boieldieu (35) sell the rights to all works other than their own music to Jacques-Joseph-Désiré Frey.
15 August 1811 Instructions from the Württemberg capital Stuttgart are that Carl Maria von Weber (24) is to be deported, placed on a boat for Constanz. This was his original plan.
At a diplomatic reception in Paris, Emperor Napoléon makes a scathing verbal attack on the person of Tsar Alyeksandr.
A Mass in G by Giovanni Paisiello (71) is performed for the first time, in Paris. This is a different setting than the one premiered on this date two years ago.
A royalist attempt to retake Tixtla (Ciudad Guerrero, Mexico) fails miserably.
17 August 1811 After a siege of four months, and with all their food gone, the Spanish defenders of Figueras in Catalonia surrender to the French.
19 August 1811 Carl Maria von Weber (24) reaches Schaffhausen in Switzerland to attend the music festival.
26 August 1811 British forces take Batavia (Djakarta) while the Dutch defenders retreat to Semarang.
4 September 1811 Radical patriots in Chile stage a coup d’etat and take over the government.
14 September 1811 The Prussian government abolishes serfdom in Pomerania and grants peasants freedom of movement, of occupation, and marriage. They may also own land.
15 September 1811 A French army begins a major offensive into Valencia.
18 September 1811 Dutch forces on Java surrender to the British at Salatiga. The British begin to administer the Dutch East Indies.
23 September 1811 A major French relief force lifts the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo.
25 September 1811 French cavalry attack out of Ciudad Rodrigo and defeat the British at El Bodón.
28 September 1811 A French attempt to take a Spanish fort at Sagunto is pushed back.
11 October 1811 The first steam powered ferry boat is put into service between New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey.
12 October 1811 Paraguay declares itself independent of Buenos Aires.
16 October 1811 The National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church is created by the Church of England.
20 October 1811 Jeshwant Rao Holkar of Indore dies suddenly in Bhanpura, perhaps of a brain tumor.
The first Mississippi steamboat, the New Orleans, departs Pittsburgh (where it was built) on its maiden voyage. It is a joint venture between Robert Fulton, Robert Livingston, and Nicholas Roosevelt.
21 October 1811 Argentine revolutionaries come to an agreement with Viceroy Francisco Javier de Elío in Banda Oriental (Uruguay). They agree to leave the province in return for the removal of Portuguese troops from Brazil. This forces the local leader, José Gervasio Artigas to lead his 16,000 men north of Concordia to continue the fight. In light of this, Portuguese troops remain.
22 October 1811 Franciscus Liszt is born at Raiding (Doborján) near Sopron, 60 km south of Vienna, the only child of Adam Liszt, a sheep inspector and steward in the service of Prince Nicholas Esterházy, and Maria Anna Lager, daughter of a baker.
24 October 1811 Carl Maria von Weber (24) returns to Munich from Switzerland.
25 October 1811 A Spanish attempt to attack the French army at Sagunto dissolves into chaos. The Spaniards flee in panic.
26 October 1811 The Spanish garrison at Sagunto surrenders to the French.
L’equivoco stravagante, a dramma giocoso by Gioachino Rossini (19) to words of Gasparri, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro del Corso, Bologna. The work is warmly received but after the third performance the city fathers will close the show due to the “impure” nature of the story.
28 October 1811 An allied (Great Britain-Portugal-Spain) force attacks the French at Arroyomolinos de Montáchez in Extremadura, defeating them soundly.
30 October 1811 Sense and Sensibility: A Novel, Jane Austen’s first novel, is published. The by-line reads simply “a Lady” and she goes to great lengths to conceal the fact from her acquaintances.
Publication of a Piano Trio op.35 and the Piano Variations op.40a by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (32) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
4 November 1811 The Twelfth Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. Voting for the House of Representatives took place between April 1810 and August 1811. The Republicans gained 15 more seats over the Federalists and the parties stand at 107-36. In the Senate, Republicans dominate 30-6.
7 November 1811 United States forces under William Henry Harrison defeat Native Americans led by Tecumseh at Tippecanoe Creek (near Prophetstown, Indiana). The white men destroy a Shawnee village. This defeat breaks native resistance in the Northwest Territory.
11 November 1811 Two works by Carl Maria von Weber (24) are performed for the first time, at his farewell concert in Munich: The overture Der Beherrscher der Geister J.122 and the concert aria Misera me! J.121.
12 November 1811 US Secretary of State James Monroe and British Minister A. J. Foster reach agreement of the Chesapeake affair of 1807. Two of the four seized sailors will be returned, the other two having died. Reparation is paid to survivors of those killed in the action.
15 November 1811 Der Zweikampf mit der Geliebten, an opera by Louis Spohr (27) to words of Schink, is performed for the first time, in Hamburg to great success.
A military coup again installs a new government in Chile.
21 November 1811 At Wannsee, German Romantic author Heinrich von Kleist kills his terminally ill female companion, and them himself.
25 November 1811 Two works by Carl Maria von Weber (25) are performed for the first time, in Munich: The Clarinet Concerto no.2 J.118 and the concert aria Qual altro attendi J.126.
27 November 1811 The Federated Provinces of New Granada (Colombia) is created.
28 November 1811 Piano Concerto no.5 “Emperor” by Ludwig van Beethoven (40) is performed, probably for the first time, in the Leipzig Gewandhaus.
1 December 1811 Carl Maria von Weber (25), dissatisfied with his situation in Munich, leaves on a concert tour with the clarinetist Heinrich Baermann.
2 December 1811 José Miguel Carrera declares himself dictator of Chile.
4 December 1811 Carl Maria von Weber (25) and Heinrich Baermann reach Prague.
9 December 1811 Englishman Thomas Manning, a private explorer, becomes the first European in a hundred years to enter Lhasa.
14 December 1811 Carl Maria von Weber (25) and Heinrich Baermann perform the premiere of Weber’s Seven Variations on a Theme from Silvanna J.128 at the home of Count Firmian in Prague.
15 December 1811 Seraphine, an opera by Jan Vaclav Tomásek (37) to words of Dambek, is performed for the first time, in the Prague Estates Theatre. It is well received.
16 December 1811 Two major earthquakes occur, centered in what is now northeast Arkansas. Damage is reported over 600,000 sq km and shaking can be felt over 5,000,000 sq km.
17 December 1811 John Antes dies at his home in Bristol, England, aged 71 years, eight months and 23 days.
Amphion, an opéra by Étienne-Nicholas Méhul (48) to words of de Jouy, is performed for the first time, in the Paris Opéra. It will later be called Les Amazones, ou La fondation de Thèbes. The response is disappointing, largely due to the libretto.
21 December 1811 A constitution of the first republic of Venezuela is adopted in Caracas.
22 December 1811 After a successful concert last night, in spite of a blizzard, Carl Maria von Weber (25) and Heinrich Baermann leave Prague for Dresden.
25 December 1811 French troops defeat the Spanish defenders of Valencia and lay siege to the city.
27 December 1811 Heinrich Baermann and Carl Maria von Weber (25) arrive in Leipzig having passed up Dresden. The Saxon court is absent.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
7 June 2012
Last Updated (Thursday, 07 June 2012 04:43)