1833
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1 January 1833 Concert Piece op.113 for clarinet, basset horn and piano by Felix Mendelssohn (23) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
2 January 1833 Il furioso nell’isola di San Domingo, a melodramma by Gaetano Donizetti (35) to words of Ferretti after an anonymous play on the Don Quixote story, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Valle, Rome. It is an immediate success.
3 January 1833 Great Britain seizes control of the Falkland Islands, landing troops and ejecting the Argentine administration.
5 January 1833 Johann Nepomuk Hummel (54) petitions his employers in Weimar that he be absolved of the requirement to wear a servant’s uniform. They will agree, but it will be applicable only when he gives performances outside Weimar.
7 January 1833 Tänze für den Berliner Künstlerball for orchestra by Otto Nicolai (22) are performed for the first time, in Berlin.
8 January 1833 The Boston Academy of Music is organized on the 41st birthday of its inspiration, Lowell Mason.
A month of voting in the British general elections concludes. It is the first British election since electoral reform. The Whig government of Earl Grey continues its large majority, winning 441 of 658 seats.
10 January 1833 Die erste Walpurgisnacht, a cantata for chorus and orchestra by Felix Mendelssohn (23) to words of Goethe, is performed publicly for the first time, in Berlin. The press is mixed. See 11 October 1832.
13 January 1833 Clara Wieck (13) plays her Caprices en forme de valse pour le piano op.2 for the first time, in a private concert given in her father’s house. She also plays what might be the first performance of any solo piano music by Robert Schumann (22), two of the op.3 studies after Paganini (50). See 27 January 1835.
17 January 1833 Michael Faraday reads his paper Relation by Measure of Common and Voltaic Electricity to the Royal Society in London. In it, he announces the basic laws of electrolysis.
Richard Wagner (19) moves from Leipzig to Würzburg to work as a chorus director and coach for his brother Albert.
19 January 1833 Ferdinand Hérold dies of tuberculosis in Paris, aged 41 years, eleven months and 22 days.
20 January 1833 Today’s performance of Ferdinand Hérold’s still running successful opera Le pré aux clercs is cancelled. The composer died yesterday.
22 January 1833 A vote taken by the Berlin Singakademie elects Karl Rungenhagen director by 148-88 over a reluctant Felix Mendelssohn (23). Presumably Mendelssohn’s age and ethnic origin are held against him.
30 January 1833 Prince Otto, son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, arrives off Nafplio in a British warship. He is there to take the throne of Greece.
3 February 1833 Hector Berlioz (29) writes to his father asking permission to marry Harriet Smithson. It will be refused.
John Field (50) gives his last concert in Paris, at Salon Pape.
5 February 1833 Queen Marie Amalie of France receives Vincenzo Bellini (31) in audience.
6 February 1833 18-year-old Prince Otto, son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, steps ashore and becomes King Othon I of Greece under regency. Spyridon Ioannou Trikoupis becomes President of the Ministerial Council of Greece.
12 February 1833 The revised and completed Symphony in g minor by Robert Schumann (22) is performed completely for the first time, in Schneeberg, 20 km southeast of Zwickau.
13 February 1833 Responding to a request from the music critic Ludwig Rellstab for a biographical sketch, Felix Mendelssohn (24) replies that nothing noteworthy has happened in his life other than his birth.
17 February 1833 Mehmed Emin Rauf Pasha replaces Resid Mehmed Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
20 February 1833 A contingent of Russian troops arrives in Constantinople to aid the Turks against Egypt.
27 February 1833 Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué, an opéra historique by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (51) to words of Scribe, is performed for the first time, in the Paris Opéra.
Today is the day on which Joseph Smith will claim he received the word of Wisdom in Kirtland, Ohio.
1 March 1833 While descending from her cabriolet in Paris, Harriet Smithson catches her skirt, twists her foot on the step and fractures both bones in her leg, just above the ankle. Two bystanders catch her and carry her into her house. “Her cries of agony lasted for two days.”
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (54) arrives in London for another few months in the city.
2 March 1833 US President Andrew Jackson signs a Force Bill, giving him the authority to intervene militarily and force South Carolina to adhere to the federal tariff, and the Tariff Compromise of 1833, slowly lowering tariffs to levels acceptable to South Carolina. South Carolina will repeal the Nullification Act.
4 March 1833 Les souvenirs de Lafleur, an opéra comique by Fromental Halévy (33) to words of Carmouche and de Courcy, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre de la Bourse, Paris.
5 March 1833 Delegates from the Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Baptist denominations in Britain move to form the United Committee of Dissenters to press for reform of laws which favor the Church of England.
7 March 1833 Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (28) arrives in Venice during his sojourn in Italy. He is very impressed.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel is appointed engineer for the soon-to-be-built Great Western Railway.
9 March 1833 Johann Nepomuk Hummel (54) meets Queen Adelaide at Windsor Castle. He plays the organ for her and plays for her and King William in the evening.
11 March 1833 John Field (50) plays a second command performance before King Leopold of Belgium in Brussels.
12 March 1833 String Quartet D.810 “Tod und das Mädchen” by Franz Schubert (†4) is performed publicly for the first time, in Berlin. See 1 February 1826.
14 March 1833 Johann Nepomuk Hummel (54) begins a new tour of London as a conductor, directing Der Freischütz at the King’s Theatre.
15 March 1833 South Carolina rescinds its Ordinance of Nullification, thus ending the constitutional crisis.
16 March 1833 Felix Mendelssohn (24) is named director of the Lower Rhine Festival.
Beatrice di Tenda, a tragedia lirica by Vincenzo Bellini (31) to words of Romani after Tedaldi-Fores, is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice. It is not successful and Bellini is faulted. Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (28) remembers “Despite all Pasta's efforts in the part of Beatrice, the work was not a success.”
17 March 1833 Gaetano Donizetti’s (35) melodramma Parisina, to words of Romani after Byron is performed for the first time, at Teatro della Pergola, Florence to an enthusiastic reception.
20 March 1833 The New Orleans Bee carries the announcement that Edward Gottschalk, father of Louis Moreau Gottschalk (3), after suffering bankruptcy, is leaving the country and is selling his house and all its contents, including seven slaves.
22 March 1833 A German Zollverein is created by Prussia, specifically excluding Austria. It will become effective on 1 January 1834.
24 March 1833 A setting of the Stabat mater D.383 (translated by Klopstock) for solo voices, chorus and orchestra by Franz Schubert (†4) is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
1 April 1833 Valentín Gómez Farías replaces Manuel Gómez Pedraza y Rodríguez as acting President of Mexico.
2 April 1833 In a program organized by Hector Berlioz (29) in Paris to benefit Harriet Smithson, Frédéric Chopin (23) and Franz Liszt (21) play Liszt’s Sonata for four hands op.22. Nicolò Paganini (50), however, refuses to take part.
3 April 1833 Pro-democracy students attack the main police station in Frankfurt-am-Main in an attempt to free political prisoners and begin a general republican uprising. Failing to attract public support, the uprising collapses.
5 April 1833 Robert Schumann (22) writes to a friend reporting “I have a numb, broken finger on my right hand…I can hardly use the hand at all for playing.” The situation has been getting worse for over a year and may be the result of using a homemade device for strengthening certain fingers, or the ingestion of mercury, the treatment for syphilis.
A setting of the Stabat mater for solo voices, chorus and orchestra, with music partly by Gioachino Rossini (41) is performed for the first time, in the Chapel of San Felipe el Real, Madrid. See 7 January 1842.
9 April 1833 The Town Meeting of Peterborough, New Hampshire votes to use tax money to buy books for the library, thus making the first state supported public library in the United States, perhaps in the world.
Two choruses for male voices for Immermann’s (after Calderón de la Barca) play Der standhafte Prinz by Felix Mendelssohn (24) are performed for the first time, in Düsseldorf.
10 April 1833 Vincenzo Bellini (31) departs Milan to produce his operas in London.
13 April 1833 Otto Nicolai (22) gives his first concert in Berlin as composer, singer and pianist. Several works are premiered, including the Symphony no.1, Variationen über Webers “Schlaf Herzenssöhnchen” op.19 for soprano and piano, and his scene and aria Tell auf der Strasse nach Küssnacht op.22.
14 April 1833 Sergei Uvarov, Russian Minister of Education, publishes the Doctrine of Official Nationality. All Russians must agree to three ideas: orthodoxy, autocracy and nationality.
Hector Berlioz’ (29) Intrata di Rob-Roy Macgregor for orchestra is performed for the first time, in the Paris Conservatoire. It fails.
18 April 1833 Hymnus zum Dürerfest for chorus and brass by Otto Nicolai (22) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
25 April 1833 Felix Mendelssohn (24) arrives in London for a third time.
29 April 1833 Don Carlos, brother of King Fernando of Spain, refuses to acknowledge Fernando’s daughter Isabella as heir.
1 May 1833 Variations brillantes on a march from Carl Maria von Weber’s (†6) Preciosa for two pianos by Felix Mendelssohn (24) and Ignaz Moscheles is performed for the first time, in London by the composers. The composition was completed only two days ago.
2 May 1833 Giacomo Meyerbeer (41) is made a member of the Senate of the Prussian Academy of Arts. The letter officially informing him of this will not be sent until 18 February 1834.
L’Europe Littéraire, a newly founded magazine organized to foster the ideals of Romanticism, sponsors the first of a series of concerts in Paris showcasing the Romantic movement in music. Six of the eight works programmed are by Hector Berlioz (29).
6 May 1833 Faced with Russian intervention, Egypt accedes to the Peace of Kütahya (200 km southeast of Constantinople) with the Sultan. Turkey cedes Syria and Aden to Egypt along with an acceptance of Egyptian independence.
7 May 1833 Johannes Brahms is born in a tenement apartment in Hamburg, second of three children born to Johann Jakob Brahms, a professional musician, and Johanna Henrika Christiane Nissen, a seamstress, the daughter of a tailor.
12 May 1833 Trio concertante for viola, guitar and cello by Nicolò Paganini (50) is performed for the first time, in London.
13 May 1833 Symphony no.4 “Italian” by Felix Mendelssohn (24) is performed for the first time, in London, directed by the composer. Nicolò Paganini (50) is among the listeners. He asks Mendelssohn to play Beethoven (†6) sonatas with him. Vincenzo Bellini (31) is also there and the two composers meet. Although the London public is growing increasingly fond of Mendelssohn, the criticisms of the symphony are mixed.
16 May 1833 Ludovic, an opéra comique by Ferdinand Hérold (†0) to words of Saint-Georges, is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre de la Bourse, Paris. The work was completed by Fromental Halévy (33).
Antonio López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón replaces Valentín Gómez Farías as President of Mexico.
Rondo Chromatique op.12 for piano by Charles-Valentin Alkan (19) is performed for the first time, by the composer in Paris.
17 May 1833 In response to queries about the remaining concerts this season, the directors of the Philharmonic Society, London write to Johann Nepomuk Hummel (54) that “they cannot avail themselves of your assistance.”
In London, Felix Mendelssohn (24) learns from his publisher, Novello, that his Lieder ohne Worte has sold 50 copies.
18 May 1833 Felix Mendelssohn (24) departs London on his third trip to England, making for Düsseldorf.
21 May 1833 An armistice is concluded between the Netherlands and Belgium.
The directors of the Philharmonic Society, London change their decision of four days ago and invite Johann Nepomuk Hummel (54) to perform at an upcoming concert.
22 May 1833 A conservative constitution in Chile establishes Roman Catholicism as the state religion.
23 May 1833 The Weihnachts-Ouverture über den Choral “Vom Himmel hoch, da komm’ ich her” for chorus orchestra and organ by Otto Nicolai (22) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
24 May 1833 Hans Heiling, a grosse romantische Oper by Heinrich August Marschner (37) to words of Devrient, is performed for the first time, in the Berlin Hofoper, the composer conducting. It is an overwhelming success.
25 May 1833 Turkey, under pressure from Russia, acknowledges an autonomous status for Serbia with a hereditary prince.
26 May 1833 Johannes Brahms (†0) is christened in St. Michael’s Church, Hamburg.
Felix Mendelssohn (24) conducts Handel’s (†74) Israel in Egypt at Düsseldorf, the first of a series of Handel oratorio performances in Mendelssohn’s arrangements. These will greatly advance the popularity of Handel’s music in Germany.
3 June 1833 The first clipper ship, the Ann Mckinn, is launched in Baltimore.
5 June 1833 Felix Mendelssohn (24) arrives in London from Düsseldorf accompanied by his father. It is Felix’s fourth visit to England.
13 June 1833 Il fato, a cantata by Gaetano Donizetti (35) to words of Ferretti composed for the name day of Count Lozano, is performed for the first time, in Rome.
16 June 1833 Johann Nepomuk Hummel (54) arrives at Ostende, having departed England for the last time.
20 June 1833 Frédéric Chopin (21) writes to Ferdinand Hiller, “at this moment Liszt (21) is playing my Studies, and putting honest thoughts out of my head: I should like to rob him of the way to play my own Studies.”
23 June 1833 Johann Nepomuk Hummel (54) ends his last tour to northern climes on his return to Weimar.
1 July 1833 While visiting Portsmouth with his son Felix (24), Abraham Mendelssohn injures his leg. It will take a month for him to recover enough to return to Berlin.
5 July 1833 Naval forces of Portuguese absolutists are defeated by liberals off Cape St. Vincent.
8 July 1833 Russia and Turkey conclude the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi (the summer residence of the Sultans near Constantinople). Turkey is required to close the straits if requested by Russia, in return for Russian military intervention on behalf of Turkey if needed.
13 July 1833 The first mention of an emotional bond between Robert Schumann (23) and Clara Wieck (13) comes today when Schumann writes to her, “a chain of sparks now attracts us or reminds us of one another.”
22 July 1833 Ali-Baba, ou Les quarantes voleurs, an opéra by Luigi Cherubini (72) to words of Scribe and Mélesville (pseud. of Duveyrier), is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra. During the first act, one audience member, Hector Berlioz (29), shouts “Ten francs for an idea!” In each subsequent act he raises his bid.
23 July 1833 The British Parliament passes the Jewish Civil Disabilities Act, lifting restrictions on Jews to vote and hold public office. Felix Mendelssohn (24) is present for the debate and vote.
24 July 1833 The army of Portuguese liberals enters Lisbon.
26 July 1833 A cantata for the name day of Anna Carnevali by Gaetano Donizetti (35) is performed for the first time, in Rome.
28 July 1833 Dom Pedro, leader of the liberal cause, enters Lisbon.
Through the efforts of Minister of Public Instruction François Pierre Guillaume Guizot, the Primary Education Law is enacted. It requires every municipality to maintain a primary school.
2 August 1833 Pedro de Alcântara (Dom Pedro) replaces José António de Oliveira Leite de Barros, conde de Basto as Prime Minister of Portugal.
4 August 1833 The Orthodox Church of Greece declares unilateral autocephaly. This will not be recognized by Constantinople until 1850.
5 August 1834 The Ecclesiastical Reform Commission for Portugal finds all clergymen currently absent from their churches or monasteries to be traitors.
10 August 1833 A small settlement on the southern end of Lake Michigan is incorporated as a village. It is called Chicago.
18 August 1833 Robert Schumann (23) presents his teacher, Friedrich Wieck, with Impromptus sur un thème de Clara Wieck op.5 on Wieck’s birthday.
20 August 1833 Vincenzo Bellini (31) arrives in Paris with the hope of producing an opera there.
5 August 1833 Felix Mendelssohn (24) and his father depart England for Rotterdam after a stay of six weeks. It is Felix’s fourth trip to England.
28 August 1833 Slavery is abolished in the British Empire, effective 1 August 1834.
The Government of India Act receives Royal Assent. The British East India Company ceases to be a commercial entity but retains its government and administrative functions.
29 August 1833 The British Factory Act passes Parliament. It forbids children under nine years of age from working in factories and limits children aged 9-13 to a nine hour day.
Hector Berlioz (29) writes to Harriet Smithson telling her that he will call on her in two days and that they will go to be married. If she refuses, he will leave within the week for Berlin.
4 September 1833 Publication of the Fantasia op.123 for piano and the Fantasia on Themes from Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” op.124 for piano by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (54) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
5 September 1833 I wish to tune my quiv’ring lyre, a glee by Samuel Sebastian Wesley (23) to words of Anacreon translated by Byron, is performed for the first time, in a contest by the Manchester Gentlemen’s Glee Club. Wesley will win the contest.
7 September 1833 The Royal William arrives in Gravesend from Pictou, Nova Scotia and becomes the first ship to cross the Atlantic almost entirely under steam power. It carries coal and seven passengers.
9 September 1833 Torquato Tasso, a melodramma by Gaetano Donizetti (35) to words of Ferretti, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Valle, Rome to a warm reception.
18 September 1833 Meeting in Münchengrätz, Bohemia (Mnichovo Hradište, Czech Republic), Tsar Nikolay of Russia and Prince von Metternich of Austria agree to prop up the Ottoman Empire, or if it collapses, to partition it.
19 September 1833 Publication of 24 Etudes op.125 for piano by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (54) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
22 September 1833 Queen Maria of Portugal returns to Lisbon.
23 September 1833 Maria II is once again proclaimed Queen of Portugal under the regency of her father, Dom Pedro.
25 September 1833 Felix Mendelssohn (24) arrives in Düsseldorf to take up his position as music director.
26 September 1833 A liberal constitution is granted to Hannover by King Wilhelm (William IV of Britain).
29 September 1833 King Fernando VII of Spain dies in Madrid and is succeeded by his three-year-old daughter Isabella II under the regency of Queen María Cristina. An ideological civil war begins in Spain with liberals taking control of the government and the Carlists beginning to organize an armed revolt.
1 October 1833 Felix Mendelssohn (24) enters upon duties as the director of music in Düsseldorf. His duties include directing the choral and orchestral societies of the city and music for Catholic services.
3 October 1833 Hector Berlioz (29) marries Harriet Constance Smithson, an actress, in the chapel of the British embassy in Paris. Franz Liszt (21) is a witness as are Ferdinand Hiller and Heinrich Heine. The service is in both English and French to accommodate the happy couple who still lack fluency in each other’s language.
7 October 1833 George Stephenson files the first patent for a high-speed steam locomotive.
13 October 1833 Felix Mendelssohn (24) performs his first official duty as music director in Düsseldorf, conducting a mass by Franz Joseph Haydn (†24).
15 October 1833 Meeting in Berlin, Emperor Franz of Austria, King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and Tsar Nikolay of Russia agree to the principle of intervention to support absolutism, mutual aid in the event of war, and preservation of the Ottoman Empire.
17 October 1833 The death of Robert Schumann’s (23) sister-in-law Rosalie precipitates an acute anxiety attack through this night. “I was seized by an idee fixe: the fear of losing my mind.” Later, when seeking medical advice, he will be told “Find yourself a woman; she’ll cure you in no time.”
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (29) and Fyodor Gedeonov depart Vienna for Prague.
20 October 1833 Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (29) and Fyodor Gedeonov depart Prague for Berlin where they will arrive in a few days.
24 October 1833 Alexandros Nikolaou Mavrokordatos replaces Spyridon Ioannou Trikoupis as President of the Ministerial Council of Greece.
8 November 1833 Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (29) begins his studies with the theorist Siegfried Dehn in Berlin. “There is no doubt that I am more indebted to Dehn than to any other of my masters.”
12 November 1833 Alyeksandr Porfiryevich Borodin is born in St. Petersburg, the illegitimate son of Prince Luka Stepanovich Gedianov (Gedianishvili) by Avdotya Konstantinovna Antonova, daughter of a soldier from Narva. According to common practice, the child is registered as the son of one of the Prince’s serfs, Porfiry Ionovich Borodin.
18 November 1833 A newly constructed Italian Opera House at Leonard and Church Streets in Lower Manhattan is opened. It is run by Lorenzo da Ponte.
20 November 1833 St. Vladimir University opens in Kiev as part of a general policy of Russification.
22 November 1833 At his first concert as music director in Düsseldorf, Felix Mendelssohn (24) directs a performance of George Frideric Handel’s (†74) Alexander’s Feast.
Valentin Alkan (19) plays the piano solo in Beethoven’s (†6) Triple Concerto with the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra.
24 November 1833 A concert for the benefit of Hector Berlioz (29) and Harriet Smithson, to help pay off their (mostly her) debts, takes place at the Théâtre-Italien. Financially a success, artistically it is a fiasco. It begins an hour late. Scenes from Shakespeare and Dumas are acted by Smithson and others and the performance of (mostly) Berlioz’ music does not begin until 23:30. Franz Liszt’s (22) rendition of Weber’s (†7) Concertstück is the one bright spot of the evening. By his own admission, Berlioz conducts badly. The hour is so late, some orchestra musicians go home, as do many of the audience.
30 November 1833 Jacques Offenbach (14) is enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire.
2 December 1833 César Franck (10) begins harmony lessons with Joseph Daussoigne at the Royal Conservatory of Liège.
The Twenty-third Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. With the House of Representatives increased by 27 seats following the 1830 census, Democrats gain 17 seats to hold on to their majority. National Republicans gain control of the Senate.
6 December 1833 Riots against Catholics begin after a WASP man is beaten to death by Irish immigrants in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Many Catholic homes are destroyed.
7 December 1833 The first installment of a three part article called Der Davidsbündler appears in Der Komet. It is written by Robert Schumann (23) and includes his cast of fictional characters personifying different ideas about art, Florestan, Eusebius, Raro et.al.
11 December 1833 Auf zum Sitz der Geister for chorus by Otto Nicolai (23) to words of Ribbeck is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
12 December 1833 Selections from Richard Wagner’s (20) romantic opera Die Feen WWV 32 are performed for the first time, in Munich. See 10 January 1835 and 29 June 1888.
15 December 1833 Frédéric Chopin (23), Franz Liszt (22), and Ferdinand Hiller perform JS Bach’s (†82) Concerto for three keyboards, at the Paris Conservatoire.
22 December 1833 Le roi Lear, a grand ouverture by Hector Berlioz (30) is performed for the first time, in the Paris Conservatoire. On the same program are the premieres of his songs Le jeune Pâtre Breton to words of Brizeux and Romance de Marie Tudor to words of Hugo. Nicolò Paganini (51) attends and later asks Berlioz to compose a work for him to play on the viola.
26 December 1833 Gaetano Donizetti’s (36) melodramma Lucrezia Borgia to words of Romani after Hugo is performed for the first time, at Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Both audience and critics give the work lukewarm approval.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
9 July 2012
Last Updated (Monday, 09 July 2012 05:47)