MusicAndHistory.com

5 January 1824 George Gordon, Lord Byron arrives in Missolonghi to fight for the independence of Greece.

7 January 1824 The first issue of the Berliner allgemeine musikalische Zeitung goes on sale.

8 January 1824 Ludwig van Beethoven (53) writes a conciliatory letter to his sister-in-law, Johanna van Beethoven, offering her financial assistance.

11 January 1824 Franz Liszt (12) improvises at the piano at a meeting of the Société Académique des Enfants d’Apollon in Paris.  They make him an honorary member.

12 January 1824 In Paris, Hector Berlioz (20) takes the oral examination at the Faculty of Sciences and passes, giving him the degree of Bachelier ès sciences physiques and qualifying him for advanced study in medicine.  The degree will be awarded tomorrow.

21 January 1824 A British force led by the Governor of Sierra Leone, Charles MacCarthy, is virtually wiped out by the Ashanti at Accra in the Gold Coast (Ghana).  MacCarthy is killed in the battle.

24 January 1824 Gioachino Rossini (31) conducts in London for the first time, Zelmira at the King’s Theatre.  It is not well attended and the performance is not particularly good.

26 January 1824 Théodore Gericault dies in Paris at the age of 32.

30 January 1824 Albert Lortzing (22) marries Rosina Regina Ahles, a singer and actress.

3 February 1824 In Berlin, Carl Friedrich Zelter publicly announces that his student, Felix Mendelssohn, has completed his apprenticeship and calls him to the world of independent composers.  It is Mendelssohn’s 15th birthday.

4 February 1824 L’ajo nell’imbarazzo, a melodramma giocoso by Gaetano Donizetti (26) to words of Ferretti after Giraud, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Valle, Rome.

7 February 1824 Die beiden Neffen oder Der Onkel aus Boston, a singspiel by Felix Mendelssohn (15) to words of Casper, is performed for the first time, before a small invited audience at the Mendelssohn residence in Berlin.

26 February 1824 Ludwig van Beethoven (53) receives a petition signed by 30 musicians, publishers, and other admirers, pleading with him to put on a performance of his newest works.

27 February 1824 Gioachino Rossini (31) signs a contract with the French government at the French embassy in London.  He agrees to stay in France for one year, write new operas for the Théâtre-Italien and the Opéra as well as produce his older operas.

29 February 1824 Royalist forces arrive at Callao, Peru to support an anti-Bolívar insurrection.  Bolívar and his government flee Lima for Pativilca.  Royalists enter Lima but will depart again in a few weeks.

2 March 1824 10:00  Shrove Tuesday.  Bedrich Smetana is born in Litomysl, Bohemia, 137 km east of Prague, son of Frantisek Smetana, a cooper, barrel binder and master brewer in service to several noblemen, and Barbora Lynkova, daughter of a coachman.  The child is the third of his mother’s ten children and the eleventh of his father’s eighteen children.

5 March 1824 After Burmese forces capture the Island of Shahpuri, which is claimed by the East India Company, the British Governor General of India, Lord Amherst, declares war on Burma.

6 March 1824 Maria Szymanowska (34) gives her first performance in Paris, in a private salon, on her three-year concert tour of Europe.

7 March 1824 Il crociato in Egitto, a melodramma eroico by Giacomo Meyerbeer (32) to words of Rossi, is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice.  The composer receives his most overwhelming success to date.  It is the last Italian opera he will write.

Prince Louis-Philippe sponsors a concert by Franz Liszt (12) before a large and illustrious audience in the Théâtre-Italien, Paris.  The reviewer of Le Drapeau writes, “I am convinced that the soul and spirit of Mozart have passed into the body of young Liszt.”

13 March 1824 Carlo Ludovico, son of Duchess Maria Luisa, becomes Duke of Parma.

14 March 1824 Franz Schubert’s (27) String Quartet D.804 is performed for the first time, in the Hall of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna.

17 March 1824 Great Britain and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of London dividing the east indies between themselves.  The Netherlands will rule Sumatra, Java, Maluku, Irian Jaya and adjacent islands while the British take Malaya, Singapore and retain an interest in North Borneo.  Aceh is nominally independent.

The first part of Franz Schubert’s (27) song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, to words of Müller, is published.

19 March 1824 José António de Oliveira Leite de Barros, conde de Basto replaces Joaquim Pedro Gomes de Oliveira as Secretary of State (prime minister) of Portugal.

26 March 1824 Don Juan (cantos xv-xvi) by George Gordon, Lord Byron is published.

31 March 1824 Franz Schubert (27) writes to Leopold Kupelweiser that he is “the most wretched and unhappy creature in the world.”  He despairs over his health which “will never be right again,” his hopes which “have come to nothing” and his “passion for beauty” which “threatens to forsake” him.  “...every night, when I go to bed, I hope I may not wake again, and every morning only recalls yesterday’s grief.”  He also writes, “The latest news in Vienna is that Beethoven (53) is to give a concert at which he is to produce his new symphony, three movements from the new mass, and a new overture…” (Sachs, 13)

3 April 1824 Morning and Evening Service for chorus and organ by Samuel Wesley (58) is performed completely for the first time, in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.

7 April 1824 Mass in D “Missa Solemnis” for soloists, chorus and orchestra by Ludwig van Beethoven (53) is performed completely for the first time, in St. Petersburg.  See 25 October 1821.

11 April 1824 Maria Szymanowska (34) gives a very successful performance at the Paris Conservatoire, on her three-year concert tour of Europe.

17 April 1824 A treaty between Russia and the United States confines Russian claims in North America to north of 54° 40’ N latitude.

19 April 1824 On Easter Monday, George, sixth Lord Byron, volunteer in the Greek rebellion, dies at Messolongi, 200 km west of Athens, of malarial fever at the age of 36.  His heart and lungs will be buried in Greece, but his body will be laid to rest in Hucknall Torkard Church near Newstead, Nottinghamshire.

20 April 1824 After two months in the city, Maria Szymanowska (34) departs Paris for London.

27 April 1824 Les trois genres, a scène lyrique by Adrien Boieldieu (48) and Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (42) to words of Scribe, Dupaty and Pichat, is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre de l’Odéon, Paris.

30 April 1824 The garrison of Lisbon revolts in favor of the absolutist Dom Miguel, younger son of King João VI.

1 May 1824 Ludwig van Beethoven (53) takes a room for the summer in Penzing, but he will leave after three weeks claiming that people on a nearby footbridge always stare at him while he is shaving.

5 May 1824 Daniel-François-Esprit Auber’s (42) opéra comique Le concert a la cour, ou La débutante to words of Scribe and Mélesville is performed for the first time, in Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.

6 May 1824 At the last rehearsal for the premiere of his Symphony no.9, Ludwig van Beethoven (53) stands at the stage door and embraces every one of the participants as they pass.

7 May 1824 The Symphony no.9 “choral” for soloists, chorus and orchestra by Ludwig van Beethoven (53) to words of Schiller is performed for the first time, in the Kärntnertortheater, Vienna.  At the conclusion of the work, the crowd bursts into uproarious applause, including stamping of feet and waving.  Caroline Unger, the alto soloist, turns the composer around to view the spectacle because he cannot hear it.  In the audience is a very interested Franz Schubert (27).

9 May 1824 After King João VI of Portugal submits to his son, Dom Miguel, he boards a British ship and reasserts his authority.  Miguel is sacked as commander of the army and sent into exile.

10 May 1824 The National Gallery opens to the public in London.  The 38 paintings are the collection of banker John Julius Angerstein, bought by the government, and are exhibited at his house until a permanent building can be constructed. 

11 May 1824 British forces capture Rangoon (Yangon).

12 May 1824 Marianne Wieck leaves her husband Friedrich in Leipzig and, taking her infant son Victor and her daughter Clara (4), goes to her father’s house in Plauen to arrange a legal separation.

13 May 1824 The absolutist son of King João, Dom Miguel, flees Portugal, his revolt having failed.

14 May 1824 Pedro de Sousa Holstein, marques e conde de Palmela replaces José António de Oliveira Leite de Barros, conde de Basto as Secretary of State (prime minister) of Portugal.

18 May 1824 Maria Szymanowska (34) performs for the Royal Philharmonic Society in London.

19 May 1824 Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (19) begins his duties as an under-secretary in the office of the Council of Communications, St. Petersburg.  “I had to be in the office only five to six hours per day, I was not assigned work at home, and I had no real duties or responsibilities.  Consequently, all the rest of my time I could devote to my favorite activities, especially music.”

20 May 1824 Samuel Wesley (58) is appointed organist of Camden Chapel.

23 May 1824 Shortly after Antonio Salieri (73) cuts his own throat in a suicide attempt, Calisto Bassi begins passing out printed copies of his poem “A Lodovico van Beethoven Ode Alcaica.”  In it, Bassi makes the first claim that Salieri poisoned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (†32).  Vienna police quickly confiscate as many copies as they can find.

25 May 1824 Franz Schubert (27) leaves Vienna for Zseliz to take up the position of music master to the Esterházy family.

26 May 1824 The United States recognizes the Empire of Brazil.

30 May 1824 Heinrich August Marschner’s (28) duties as assistant to Carl Maria von Weber (37) begin as he conducts Päer’s Wie gerufen in Dresden.

31 May 1824 The Cathedral of the Assumption is consecrated in Baltimore.  It is the first Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States.

1 June 1824 Gustaf af Wetterstedt replaces Lars von Engeström as Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden.

5 June 1824 Franz Liszt (12) plays his London debut, in a semi-private setting at the Argyll Rooms.

11 June 1824 Maria Szymanowska (34) gives a performance in the Hanover Square rooms, London in the presence of members of the royal family.

Gioachino Rossini’s (32) canzone Il pianto delle muse in morte di Lord Byron is performed for the first time, in Almack’s Assembly Rooms, London.

12 June 1824 Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot publishes Reflctions on the Motive Power of Fire.  He makes important discoveries about the steam engine.  The book is seen as the beginning of thermodynamics.

15 June 1824 The Emperor of Austria grants Antonio Salieri’s (73) petition to be relieved of his duties at full salary.  “In the service of four monarchs of the imperial house you have proved an incorruptible truth and devotion, and a perfect self-negation, which have never for a moment wavered, even in the most diverse and, for less magnanimous persons than you, tempting relations.”  He has held court positions since the death of Gluck (†37).  The letter is dated today but the Emperor actually made the decision in Prague on 6 June.

16 June 1824 Evening.  22 men, led by Richard Martin, MP, meet in Old Slaughter’s Coffee House near Covent Garden in London.  They desire to enforce regulations on the humane treatment of animals passed by Parliament in 1822 and thereby organize themselves into a group they call the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  Among their number is William Wilberforce.  In 1840, Queen Victoria will allow them to add “Royal” to their title.

18 June 1824 Grand Duke Ferdinando III of Tuscany dies in Florence and is succeeded by his son Leopoldo II.

21 June 1824 The Egyptian fleet captures the island of Psara for Sultan Mahmut II.

The British Parliament repeals the Combinations Acts of 1799-1800, thus allowing British workers to organize.

Franz Liszt (12) plays his first public concert in London, at the Argyll Rooms.  Among the attenders are Muzio Clementi (72) and Frédéric Kalkbrenner (38).  The room is full and the performance goes very well.

25 June 1824 Two nurses who have attended Antonio Salieri (73) since the winter of 1823 sign a declaration that at no time did their patient confess to killing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (†32).

26 June 1824 An den Tod D.518, a song by Franz Schubert (27) to words of Schubart, is published in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, Vienna.

8 July 1824 Carl Maria von Weber (37) visits Marienbad seeking a cure for his malady.

Hector Berlioz (20) arrives home in La Côte-St.-André for a stay of two and a half weeks.

11 July 1824 Luis María de Salazar y Salazar replaces Narciso de Heredia y Begines, Conde de Ofalia as First Secretary of State of Spain.

14 July 1824 King Kamehameha II of Hawaii dies of measles while visiting London.

15 July 1824 Camden Chapel is dedicated by the Bishop of London, with music provided by its organist, Samuel Wesley (58).

17 July 1824 After ten weeks in London, Maria Szymanowska (34) departs the city, heading for Paris.

21 July 1824 Nangklao (Rama III) replaces Buddha Loetla (Rama II) as King of Krung Thep (Thailand).

25 July 1824 At the request of the Ottoman Sultan Mahmut II, an Egyptian fleet and army sail from Alexandria (El Iskandariya) to aid in subduing Greek insurgents.

After two and a half weeks at home in La Côte-St.-André, in increasing conflict with his father and family over his chosen vocation, Hector Berlioz (20) leaves to return to Paris.

Gioachino Rossini (32) and his wife leave London for Paris.

27 July 1824 Franz Liszt (12) and his father are presented to King George IV at Windsor.  He plays for the King and a small private gathering for two hours.

28 July 1824 Gaetano Donizetti’s (26) dramma semiseria Emiliá di Liverpool after Scatizzi is performed for the first time, in Teatro Nuovo, Naples.

1 August 1824 Gioachino Rossini (32) arrives in Paris under contract to the Ministry of the Royal Household to write two new operas and produce one of his already existing works.  He also agrees to become director of the Théâtre-Italien.

2 August 1824 A referendum in the State of Illinois abolishes slavery.

3 August 1824 Singapore is ceded to Great Britain by the Sultan of Johore.

4 August 1824 Franz Liszt (12) plays the first of two concerts at the Theatre-Royal in Manchester.

The United States recognizes the United Provinces of Central America.

6 August 1824 South Americans cavalry under Simón Bolívar defeat the Spanish at Junín, 150 km northeast of Lima.

12 August 1824 Adam and Franz Liszt (12) arrive in Calais from England.

15 August 1824 The Cape Mesurado Colony, founded by the American Colonization Society for the repatriation of American slaves, is expanded into the Colony of Liberia.

18 August 1824 Carl Maria von Weber (37) receives an offer from Charles Kemble for a new opera for Covent Garden.  The Englishman would also like Weber to come to London to produce Der Freischütz and Preciosa.

21 August 1824 Carl Maria von Weber (37) decides to accept the offer by Charles Kemble he received three days ago.

Mexico gives up its claim to Guatemala.

24 August 1824 Greeks fighting for their independence ask Great Britain to intervene against the Turks.  The British government will refuse.

Le roi René, ou La Provence au XVe siècle, an opéra comique by Ferdinand Hérold (33) to words of Belle and Sewrin, is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.

31 August 1824 Hector Berlioz (20) writes from Paris, replying to a scornful letter from his father:  “I am driven involuntarily towards a magnificent career--no other adjective can be applied to the career of artist--and not towards my doom.  For I believe I shall succeed; yes, I believe it...I wish to make a name for myself, I wish to leave some trace of my existence on this earth; and so strong is the feeling--which is an entirely honorable one--that I would rather be Gluck or Méhul dead than what I am in the flower of my age.”

4 September 1824 Joseph Anton Bruckner is born in Ansfelden near Linz the eldest of eleven children (only five surviving infancy) born to Anton Bruckner, schoolmaster and organist, and Therese Helm, daughter of a civil servant and innkeeper.

Gioachino Rossini (32) departs Paris for Bologna.

10 September 1824 Greeks defeat Ottoman naval forces off Bodrum, Turkey.

11 September 1824 Due to Carl Maria von Weber’s (37) increasing debilitation from tuberculosis, Heinrich August Marschner (29) is appointed director of the German and Italian opera companies in Dresden.

14 September 1824 Following a referendum on the matter, Chiapas is incorporated into Mexico.

15 September 1824 Benderli Selim Sirri Pasha replaces Mehmed Said Galip Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.

16 September 1824 King Louis XVIII of France dies in Paris and is succeeded by his brother, Charles X.

17 September 1824 After spending the summer with her mother, Clara Wieck (5) is legally given into the custody of her father in Leipzig.

3 October 1824 The first constitution of the United States of Mexico goes into effect, having been approved yesterday.

10 October 1824 (Manuel Felix Fernández) Guadelupe Victoria becomes the first President of Mexico under the new constitution.

11 October 1824 The Times of London runs an article about the newly published biographical dictionary of musicians from Sainsbury and Co.  Their article on Samuel Wesley (58) states that he died in 1815.  The Times points out that Wesley is very much alive.

16 October 1824 Franz Schubert (27) departs Zseliz, where he has been music tutor to the Esterházy family, to return to Vienna, in the company of Baron Schönstein.

21 October 1824 Joseph Aspdin, a mason, receives a British patent for Portland Cement.  It is the first improvement on the cement used by the ancient Romans.

27 October 1824 Clara Wieck (5) begins taking piano lessons with her father, in Leipzig.

4 November 1824 Léocadie, a drame lyrique by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (42) to words of Scribe and Mélesville after Cervantes, is performed for the first time, in Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.

14 November 1824 The Symphony no.1 op.11 by Felix Mendelssohn (15) is performed for the first time, in the Mendelssohn home, Berlin on the occasion of his sister Fanny’s 19th birthday.

15 November 1824 Fire breaks out in Edinburgh.

17 November 1824 Publication of the Two Piano Pieces op.109a by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (46) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.

The Great Fire of Edinburgh comes to an end after destroying large parts of the city including Parliament Hill and the High Street.

19 November 1824 When a brief stint of warm weather breaks an ice jam on the Neva River, the water building up behind it inundates St. Petersburg in a catastrophic flood.  Some estimates put the death toll as high as 10,000.

22 November 1824 In Berlin for a stay of six weeks, Ignaz Moscheles writes in his diary, “This afternoon...I gave Felix (Mendelssohn) (15) his first lesson, never for a moment forgetting that I was sitting beside a master, not a pupil.

24 November 1824 A Credo in D for chorus and orchestra by Gaetano Donizetti (26) is performed for the first time.

25 November 1824 Gioachino Rossini (32) signs a contract with the Théâtre-Italien, Paris to become directeur de la musique et de la scène.

28 November 1824 At the invitation of Lea Mendelssohn, Ignaz Moscheles visits the Mendelssohn home in Berlin and hears Fanny (19) and Felix (15) play.  She is hoping that Moscheles will consent to teach the two children.

29 November 1824 Ludwig van Beethoven (53) is elected to honorary membership in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna.

2 December 1824 Six weeks of voting in the US Presidential election leaves the result in doubt.  There is no clear winner between General Andrew Jackson, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, Secretary of the Treasury William Crawford and Speaker of the House Henry Clay.

7 December 1824 After traveling for a month, Andrew Jackson arrives in Washington to await the outcome of the hung presidential election of 1824.

A hack version of Carl Maria von Weber’s (38) Der Freischütz called Robin des bois ou les trois balles opens at the Théâtre de l’Odéon in Paris.  It will run for over 300 performances.

9 December 1824 South American troops under Antonio José de Sucre defeat Spanish and Loyalist forces on the plateau of Ayacucho, 325 km southeast of Lima, thus ending Spanish power in South America.

11 December 1824 Die Erscheinung D.229, a song by Franz Schubert (27) to words of Kosegarten, is published in the Album musicale, Vienna.

24 December 1824 Carl August Peter Cornelius is born in Mainz, fourth of six children born to Carl Joseph Gerhard Cornelius and Friederike Schradtke, both actors.

27 December 1824 Hector Berlioz’ (21) Messe en Grande Symphonie is rehearsed in the Church of St. Roch.  The parts prepared by the children of the choir are riddled with errors causing the musicians to give up.  A performance planned for tomorrow is cancelled.

31 December 1824 Great Britain recognizes the independence of Buenos Aires, Mexico and Colombia.

©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger

8 July 2012