1796 in music

Events

• The father of Gioachino Rossini is imprisoned for collaborating with the French, and Rossini's mother takes him to Bologna.

Classical music

• Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Three Piano Sonatas, Op. 2 in F minor, A and C
  • Notturno in D major, Op.42
  • Ah! Perfido, Op.65
  • Duet mit zwei obligaten Augengläsern, WoO 32
  • Sonatina for Mandolin and Harpsichord, WoO 43a
  • Adagio for Mandolin and Harpsichord, WoO 43b
  • Allegretto, WoO 53
  • Abschiedsgesang an Wiens Bürger, WoO 121
• Francois-Adrien Boieldieu – Duo No.2 in B-flat major for Harp and Piano
• Muzio Clementi
  • Concerto for piano in C major
  • Three Piano Sonatas, Op. 35
• Johann Baptist Cramer – Piano Concerto No.2, Op. 16
• Adalbert Gyrowetz – 3 String Quartets, Op. 13
• Joseph Haydn
  • Trumpet Concerto in E Flat Major
  • Die Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob.XX:2
  • Mass in C major, Hob.XXII:9 Missa in tempore belli ("Mass in Time of War")
  • Mass in B-flat major, Hob.XXII:10
  • Guarda qui, che lo vedrai, Hob.XXVa:1
  • Saper vorrei se m'ami, Hob.XXVa:2
• Hyacinthe Jadin – 3 Piano Sonatas, Op. 5
• Rodolphe Kreutzer – Études ou caprices
• Ignaz Pleyel – 6 Duos, B.574-579
• Giovanni Punto – Horn Concerto No.6
• Jakub Jan Ryba – Missa pastoralis bohemica
• Carl Friedrich Zelter – 12 Lieder am Clavier zu singen, Z.120

Opera

• Domenico Cimarosa
  • I nemici generosi
  • Gli Orazi e i Curiazi
• Nicolas Dalayrac – Marianne
• Johann Simon Mayr – La Lodoiska
• Antonio Salieri – Il Moro
• Gaspare Spontini – Li puntigli delle donne
• Peter Winter – Das unterbrochene Opferfest

Popular music

• "It Was A' For Our Rightful King", 1796 Jacobite song with lyrics by Robert Burns

Methods and theory writings

• Charles Burney – Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Abate Metastasio
• Wenzel Hause – Méthode de contrebasse
• António da Silva Leite – Estudo de guitarra
• Bernard Viguerie – L'art de toucher le piano-forte

Births

• January 23 – Jean Reboul, librettist and poet (died 1864)
• February 17 – Giovanni Pacini, composer (died 1867)
• June 14 – Mathilda d'Orozco, composer (died 1863)
• June 25 – Ferdinando Giorgetti, Italian composer (died 1867)
• July 22 – Carlo Pepoli, librettist and politician (died 1881)
• July 23 – Franz Berwald, composer (died 1868)
• July 24 – Jan Czeczot, librettist and poet (died 1847)
• July 28 – Ignaz Bösendorfer, piano manufacturer (died 1859)
• July 29 – Christian Winther, lyricist and poet (died 1876)
• August 25 – James Lick, piano builder (died 1876)
• August 27 – Elise Barensfeld, soprano (died after 1820)
• September 3 – Henriette Widerberg, soprano (died 1872)
• September 20 – Franz Wilhelm Ferling, composer and oboist (died 1874)
• November 30 – Carl Loewe, German composer (died 1869)
• December 9 – Emilie Zumsteeg, composer and musician (died 1857)
• date unknown – Mirzə Şəfi Vazeh, lyricist and poet (died 1852)

Deaths

• January 1 – Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde, chemist and musician, 60
• February 16 (or April 16) – Caterina Gabrielli, operatic soprano, 65
• February 17 – James Macpherson, librettist and writer (born 1736)
• February 28 – Friedrich Wilhelm Rust, composer and violinist (born 1739)
• March 19 – Stephen Storace, composer, 33
• June 8 – Felice Giardini, violinist and composer, 80
• July 17 – Thomas Sanders Dupuis, English composer (born 1733)
• July 21 – Robert Burns, librettist and poet (born 1759)
• August 12 – Mary Ann Wrighten Pownall, librettist and singer (born 1751)
• October 17 – Franz Paul Rigler, composer and piano virtuoso (born c.1748)
• October 31 – Thomas Haxby, musical instrument maker, 67
• date unknown
  • Luffman Atterbury, carpenter, builder and musician
  • Samuel Green, organ builder (born 1740)
  • Nicola Sabatino, composer (born 1705)