1771
Publication of British parliamentary speeches is permitted for the first time • French parlements are abolished in favour of a simpler system of courts • King Adoif Fredrik of Sweden dies, is succeeded by his son, Gustav III • Austria and Turkey make pact to force Russian withdrawal from Moldavia and Wallachia • Russians seize Crimea from Turks • Benjamin West (N Amer) paints The Death of General Wolfe • Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (Fr): Voyage Around the World, an account of his journey of 1766-69 • Henry Mackenzie (Scot): The Man of Feeling • First bound edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica is published in Edinburgh
1772
Rhode Island colonists burn a British revenue boat • American statesman Samuel Adams forms Committees of Correspondence in Massachusetts, for action against the British • Gustav III of Sweden, fearing Austrian and Russian aggression, seizes absolute power by military coup d’etat and begins a programme of social reform and religious tolerance • First Partition of Poland: 30 percent of its territory is taken by Russia, Austria and Prussia • Chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele (Swe) isolates oxygen, but does not publish the fact • David Garrick (Eng): farce The Irish Widow • Gotthold Lessing (Ger): tragedy Emilia Galotti
1773
‘Boston Tea Party’: colonists, in protest of tea duty, dump cargo of tea into Boston harbour (Mass) • King Jose I of Portugal becomes insane; his wife, Maria Anna, is made regent • Cossack Pugachev leads peasant uprising in south-east Russia • Captain Cook in HMS Resolution crosses Antarctic Circle • Oliver Goldsmith (Ire): She Stoops to Conquer
1774
British parliament passes 'Coercive Acts’ against American colonies • First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia to protest against the Acts • King Louis XV of France dies; is succeeded by his grandson, Louis XVI • Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji ends Russo-Turkish War • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Ger): The Sorrows of Young Werther
1775
British fail to conciliate American colonists and Revolutionary War breaks out; American forces capture Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga, NY • Second Continental Congress meets at Philadelphia; George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of its forces • Pierre de Beaumarchais (Fr): The Barber of Seville • Richard Sheridan (Ire): The Rivals

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German writer and statesman. His works include four novels; epic and lyric poetry; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; and treatises on botany, anatomy, and color.
1771
Chamber composer to the Infante Don Luis in Aranjuez, Luigi Boccherini completes his first collections of string quintets, Opp. 10 & 11, the latter containing his famous minuet, from Quintet No. 5. The works evolve from Boccherini's playing of an additional cello with the prince s quartet ensemble.
This year he also completes his Six symphonies Op. 12 and the popular Cello Concerto in B flat major.
Boccherini: String Quintets, op. 10, La Magnifica
Quintet I in A Major G.265
Quintet II in E Flat Major G.266
Quintet III in C Minor G.267
Quintet IV in C Major G.268
Quintet V in E Flat Major
Quintet VI in D Major G.270
Luigi Boccherini - Minuetto
String Quintet in E major, Op.11, No.5 (G 275)
Luigi Rodolfo Boccherini. Symphony in D major, Op. 12, Nr. 1, G. 503
Luigi Rodolfo Boccherini. Symphony in E flat major, Op. 12, Nr. 2, G. 504
Luigi Rodolfo Boccherini. Symphony in C major, Op. 12, No. 3, G. 505
Boccherini '' La casa del Diavolo'' Sinfonia in Re minore Op.12 No. 4 G 506
Boccherini: Symphony in B flat major, Op.12-5, G 507
Luigi Rodolfo Boccherini. Symphony in A major. Op. 12, Nr. 6, G 508, Johannes Goritzki, conductor
Boccherini, Cello Concerto In B Flat Major , Du Pre, Cello
Johann Baptist Vanhal’s Sturm und Drang style Symphony in G minor is published by Breitkopf & Hartel in Leipzig.
Jan Baptist Vanhal : Symphony in G minor
28 March
Leopold Mozart and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart arrive a 15-month tour of Italy. A second Italian trip, based in Milan, begins in the summer.
Jan Baptist Vanhal : String Quartet F Major Op. 6, No.1
Ferdinando Paer, Italian composer, born.
Franz Joseph Haydn composes his Op. 17 string quartets (maturing the genre yet further), the Salve Regina in G minor and one of his greatest keyboard works, the Piano Sonata No. 33 in C minor. Around this time he also completes his Symphony No. 44, nicknamed Trauersinfonie (Mourning Symphony).
J. Haydn - Hob III:25 - String Quartet Op. 17 No. 1 in E major
J. Haydn - Hob III:26 - String Quartet Op. 17 No. 2 in F major
J. Haydn - Hob III:27 - String Quartet Op. 17 No. 3 in E flat major
J. Haydn - Hob III:28 - String Quartet Op. 17 No. 4 in C minor
J. Haydn - Hob III:29 - String Quartet Op. 17 No. 5 in G major
J. Haydn - Hob III:30 - String Quartet Op. 17 No. 6 in D major
J. Haydn - Hob XXIIIb:2 - Salve Regina in G minor
- Coro (Adagio) Salve Regina (0:00)
- Coro (Allegro) Eia ergo (9:44)
- Coro (Largo - Allegretto) Et Jesum...O clemens (13:50)
Haydn - Piano Sonata no. 33, Hob. XVI/20 - Sviatoslav Richter (1991)
Haydn - Symphony No. 44 'Trauer'
Orchestra of St. John's, Smith Square, London - John Lubbock, conductor
1. Allegro con brio
2. Menuetto - Allegretto 9:35
3. Adagio 15:10
4. Presto 22:38
16 October
Johann Adolph Hasse and Pietro Metastasio present the opera Il Ruggiero (their final collaboration) at the Regio Ducal Teatro, Milan. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's serenata Ascanio in Alba is staged there the next day. Leopold Mozart reports that his son’s work has outshone that of Hasse. The 15-year-old Mozart, in awe of Hasse, has nothing but praise for him.
For Hasse, one of the most famous opera composers of the century, the feeling is mutual—he remarks portentously,
"This boy will cause us all to be forgotten".
Johann Adolph Hasse - Ruggiero - Ouverture
Ferdinando Paer
Ferdinando Paer, (born June 1, 1771, Parma, duchy of Parma [Italy]—died May 3, 1839, Paris, France), Italian composer who, with Domenico Cimarosa and Nicola Antonio Zingarelli, was one of the principal composers of opera buffa of his period.
Paer produced his first opera, Orphée et Euridice, in Parma in 1791 and achieved even more success in Venice the following year with Circe. From 1797 to 1802 he was musical director of the Kärntnertor Theatre in Vienna, where his most successful opera, Camilla, was produced in 1799. A C-minor funeral march in Achille (1801) impressed Beethoven and may have helped inspire the second movement of the Eroica symphony a few years later. Paer was in Dresden from 1802 to 1806, where his Leonore (1804) would prove a more direct influence on Beethoven. In 1805 Paer first crossed paths with Gioachino Rossini, who as a boy made his debut in Paer’s Camilla. In 1807 he went to Paris, where he became chapelmaster to Napoleon, conducted at the Opéra-Comique, and (1812–27) directed the Théâtre Italien; he was accused during his later tenure there of intrigue against Rossini, who succeeded him as director. Paer’s most successful opera of this period was Le Maître de chapelle (1821; The Chapelmaster). In addition to 43 operas he also composed religious and chamber music and secular cantatas.

Ferdinando Paër - Organ Concerto in D-major
Mov.I: Allegro spiritoso 00:00
Mov.II: Andante sostenuto 15:11
Mov.III: Rondò allegretto 19:20
Organist: Stefano Innocenti
Orchestra: I Pomeriggi Musicali - Marco Balderi
Ferdinand Paer "Beatus Vir"Psalm 112 für Sopran, Klarinette und Orgel
Emmy Abo, Sopran; Yoko Koyama, Klarinette;
Dr. Florian Wilkes
Ferdinando Paër - Leonora or Conjugal Love - 1979
Leonora : Ursula Koszut, Marcellina : Krisztina Laki,
Florestano: Renzo Casellato, Pizzarro :Tullio Pane,
Fernando : Ezio Di Cesare, Rocco : Giorgio Tadeo,
Giachino : Giancarlo Luccardi
Orchestra Sinfonica e coro della Rai di Milano
Direttore Peter Maag
1772
Domenico Cimarosa, aged 22, gains international attention with the comedy Le stravaganze del conte, his first work for the stage.
The string quartet comes of age in Franz Joseph Haydn’s Op. 20 (Nos. 23-28). The collection features idiomatic string writing and increased equality among the parts. Its expressive range is striking, from the reflective intimacy of Quartet No. 1 in E flat major through to the sunny temperament of No. 4 in D major. Quartet No. 5 in F minor—its ’Adagio’ especially—offers a rare glimpse of Haydn in sombre mood.
J. Haydn - Hob III:31 - String Quartet Op. 20 No. 1 in E flat major
1. Allegro moderato (0:00)
2. Menuetto: Un poco allegretto (9:54)
3. Affettuoso e sostenuto (13:59)
4. Finale: Presto (21:15)
J. Haydn - Hob III:32 - String Quartet Op. 20 No. 2 in C major
1. Moderato (0:00)
2. Capriccio: Adagio - Cantabile (10:13)
3. Menuetto: Allegretto (17:36)
4. Fuga a 4 soggetti: Allegro (21:28)
J. Haydn - Hob III:33 - String Quartet Op. 20 No. 3 in G minor
1. Allegro con spirito (0:00)
2. Menuetto: Allegretto (6:28)
3. Poco adagio (11:40)
4. Allegro di molto (21:21)
J. Haydn - Hob III:34 - String Quartet Op. 20 No. 4 in D major
1. Allegro di molto (0:00)
2. Un poco adagio e affettuoso (7:46)
3. Menuetto: Allegretto alla Zingarese (19:08)
4. Presto scherzando (20:51)
J. Haydn - Hob III:35 - String Quartet Op. 20 No. 5 in F minor
1. Moderato (0:00)
2. Menuetto (10:32)
3. Adagio (15:35)
4. Finale: Fuga a 2 soggetti (21:25)
J. Haydn - Hob III:36 - String Quartet Op. 20 No. 6 in A major
1. Allegro di molto e scherzando (0:00)
2. Adagio cantabile (5:34)
3. Menuetto: Allegretto (11:29)
4. Fuga a 3 soggetti: Allegro (13:38)
2 January
Michael Haydn's Requiem Pro Defuncto Archiepiscopo Sigismundo is performed in memory of his former patron, Achbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach, in Salzburg.
Michael Haydn - Requiem in C minor, MH 155 [Bolton, Mozarteum Orchester Saltzburg]
May
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, aged 16, presents his dramatic serenade Il sogno di Scipione (Scipio’s Dream) in honour of the new Archbishop of Salzburg, Hieronymus Colloredo.
Summer
Prince Esterhazy announces his intention to prolong his summer retreat at Esterhaza by several weeks. Members of his orchestra, eager to return to their wives in Eisenstadt, implore Franz Joseph Haydn to intervene. The composer responds with a new symphony: No. 45. Quickly arranged for performance, the work ends with an Adagio during which musicians are in turn directed to pack up, snuff out their candles and leave. With the orchestra finally whittled down to Haydn and the principal violinist, the prince takes the hint: the next day he orders the departure from Esterhaza. The symphony gains the nickname Farewell.
Joseph Haydn / Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor "Farewell"
00:00 - Allegro assai
07:08 - Adagio
21:36 - Menuet: Allegretto; Trio
26:22 - Finale: Presto; Adagio
Performed by Charles Mackerras and the Orchestra of St. Luke's (1989).
11 November
Tommasso Traetta's finest opera, Antigona, is premiered at the Court of Catherine the Great in St Petersburg.
Tommaso Traetta - Antigona 1-2
Tommaso Traetta - Antigona 2-2
Antigona (Antigone) is an opera in three acts in Italian by the composer Tommaso Traetta. The libretto, by Marco Coltellini, is based on the tragedy Antigone by Sophocles. But there is also an opera Antigona by Josef Mysliveček.
Synopsis
Background
The background to the opera is the myth of Oedipus. Oedipus has been expelled from Thebes, the city where he was king, after it was revealed he had killed his father and married his mother. He left four children: Eteocles, Polynices, Antigone and Ismene. Creon, Oedipus' brother-in-law, declares that the vacant throne of Thebes will now be shared by the two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, ruling alternately, but the two have quarrelled. To prevent a war, Creon decrees the two should fight in single combat to decide who will be king.
Act One
Eteocles and Polynices (played by ballet dancers) fight the single combat and kill each other. Adrastus now offers the crown to Creon, who declares that Eteocles shall be buried with full honours. Polynices, however, will be left unburied because he started a war on Thebes when he did not get his way. Polynices' sisters, Antigone and Ismene, are distraught. Antigone resolves to bury her brother in defiance of Creon's decree. Ismene hopes that Creon's son Haemon (who is in love with Antigone) will be able to persuade his father to show mercy to the dead Polynices.
Act Two
Antigone cremates Polynices by night. Haemon comes to warn her just before Adrastus and his guards arrive. Adrastus realises Creon's orders have been disobeyed. He believes Haemon is the culprit and arrests him. Creon sentences him to death, but Antigone arrives to explain that the cremation is all her own work. Creon condemns her to be walled up alive in a cave.
Act Three
Creon and the Thebans watch as Antigone is walled up in the cave. Adrastus brings news that Haemon has apparently committed suicide. Creon hurries back to Thebes. But Haemon has survived and reaches the cave where he intends to die with Antigone. He manages to reach her through a fissure in the rock. He shows the dagger he has brought which will enable them both to have a quick death and avoid slow starvation. At that moment there is a noise as soldiers break down the wall. Creon has repented his action and repealed the death sentence. He asks Antigone and Haemon to forgive his harshness. The opera ends with a marriage ceremony for the two rescued lovers.
26 December
Now on his third Italian tour, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart directs his opera Lucio Silla at the Teatro Regio Ducal in Milan. The opera seria is a huge success, achieving 25 further performances during Carnival season.
1773
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach composes six string symphonies (Wq. 182) for Baron Gottfried van Swieten, the Austrian ambassador to Berlin.
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Symphony in G major, Wq 182 - 1
C. Ph. E. Bach: Sinfonia for strings & b.c. in B flat major Wq 182 - 2
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Symphony in C major, Wq 182 - 3
CPE Bach - Symphony in A major Wq.182 - 4
C.P.E. Bach Symphony For Strings in B Minor Wq. 182 - 5
C.P.E. Bach - Symphony in E Major WQ182 - 6
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composes his symphonies Nos. 22-27. Symphony No. 25 in G minor is conspicuous for its dramatic syncopations, arresting dynamic contrasts and agitated tremolando effects, all characteristic of the Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) style.
W. A. Mozart - Complete Symphonies Vol.3 [ K.Böhm Berlin-PO ]
1. Symphony #18 (0:00)
2. Symphony #19 (18:35)
3. Symphony #20 (42:54)
4. Symphony #21 (1:02:20)
5. Symphony #22 (1:22:21)
6. Symphony #23 (1:31:36)
7. Symphony #24 (1:42:40)
8. Symphony #25 (1:52:37)
9. Symphony #26 (2:16:42)
3 March
Le magnifique (The Magnifico) is a French-language opéra comique in three acts by André Grétry to a libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine, after Jean de La Fontaine; it was first performed on 4 March 1773 at Comédie-Italienne, Paris.
André-Ernest Modeste Grétry (1773) Le Magnifique
Synopsis
The opera opens as a gaggle of captives is processed past the home of Clémentine and her servant, Alix. The master of the house, Clémentine's father Horace, a wealthy merchant of Florence, had been shipwrecked nine years earlier alongside his servant Laurence, Alix's husband. They were taken by pirates and sold into slavery. As Clémentine and Alix watch the captives from their windows, Alix recognizes her husband, Laurence, among them ("C'est lui, c'est lui, c'est lui!"). She suggests that Horace might be with them, telling Clémentine of how they had been freed by Octave (Le Magnifique). As Alix leaves to investigate, she mentions that Clémentine's tutor, Aldorandin, who had been her caretaker in her father's absence, would like to marry her. Clémentine wonders why this proposition does not give her the same joy as the mention of Le Magnifique ("Pourquoi donc ce Magnifique").
At that moment Aldorandin enters the house, declaring his love for Clémentine and asking for her hand. Clémentine refuses, stating that she is too young yet for marriage ("Ma chere enfant"). Aldorandin sends her to her room to reconsider. Meanwhile, Fabio, Aldorandin's conniving servant, arrives to report that Le Magnifique will exchange his best race horse in exchange for fifteen minutes of private discourse with Clémentine. While Fabio praises the horses ("Ah c'est un superbe cheval!"), Aldorandin reflects on his suspicions of Le Magnifiques's intentions. As if his ears were burning, Le Magnifique enters the house to close the deal, and the three men leave together to go see the horse ("Vous m'étonnez, vous badinez").
Once they have left Alix returns, this time with Laurence, who sings of his desire to stay with his wife and never return to the sea ("Ah! si jamas je cours les mers"). Alix leaves to gather food and wine and returns with Clémentine. Laurence tells them how Le Magnifique rescued him and Horace and brought them home, but asked that the men tell no one, especially Aldorandin, of their return. Alix remarks that with the return of Horace, Clémentine will be able to get her father's blessing to marry Aldorandin. Clémentine begins to cry, and tells Alix that she does not wish to marry Aldorandin, but cannot tell her why ("Je ne sais pourquoi je pleure"). Alix offers her support, and she and Laurence leave Clémentine to her thoughts.
When Aldorandin returns with Le Magnifique, he tells Clémentine that she will meet with Le Magnifique in exchange for the horse. He warns her that Le Magnifique will try to seduce her and advises that she remain silent throughout his advances. When Aldorandin leaves her to fetch Le Magnifique, Clémentine sings of her fear of hurting the man she secretly loves, Le Magnifique, with the silence she is forced to keep to assuage Aldorandin ("Quelle contrainte"). Aldorandin and Le Magnifique return and Aldorandin places his rival and Clémentine at one side of the stage while he and Fabio observe from the other, out of earshot. Le Magnifique professes his love for Clémentine, and, realizing her forced silence, tells her to drop the rose she is holding if she would be willing to marry him. She complies and he bows to pick up the rose, then departs to the sounds of Aldorandin's and Fabio's mockery.
Back in her room, Clémentine admonishes herself for her acceptance of Le Magnifique's offer ("Ah! que je me sens coupable!") and recounts the events to Alix. Laurence returns and informs them that Le Magnifique is on his way back to the house and is bringing Horace with him. Clémentine leaves the room while Alix and Laurence sing of their joy of being together again ("Te voilá donc"). As they finish their duet, Fabio enters to tell Alix that Aldorandin has gone to get a notary so he might marry Clémentine without further delay, but when he sees Laurence he suddenly runs away with Laurence following in hot pursuit. Alix, frustrated with her husband's sudden and unexplained departure, attributes it to jealously ("O ciel! Quel air de couroux"). She goes out to look for him while Clémentine sings of her excitement for being reunited with her father and her hopes that he will give her his blessing to marry Le Magnifique ("Jour heureux!"). Alix returns and tells Clémentine to go to her room and wait to be called by her father.
Horace returns with Le Magnifique and sends for his daughter. The two joyously reunite, and Horace promises Clémentine that they will never be parted again. When Aldorandin returns with the notary, he attempts to embrace Horace, but is rebuked as Horace demands to know why Aldorandin never responded to the letters he sent during his captivity. Aldorandin claims to have received none and insists that the care he provided to Horace's daughter and estate should be proof enough of his loyalty. At that moment, Laurence returns, dragging Fabio in by the scruff of the neck ("Ne me bats pas"). He forces Fabio to admit that, on the orders of Aldorandin, he sold Horace and Laurence into slavery. Aldorandin is dismissed from the house and Horace gives his blessing to the marriage of Clémentine and Le Magnifique. The opera ends with everyone singing of the joys of bing a reunited family, with the exception of Fabio who sings of his intentions to flee.
Thamos, King of Egypt ( in German, Thamos, König in Ägypten) is a play by Tobias Philipp, baron von Gebler, for which, between 1773 and 1780, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote incidental music, K. 345/336a, of an operatic character.