1740 in music

none August 2026 thumb | right | alt=Painting of an opera house in Turin called The Teatro Regio 1740 music Events Johann Sebastian Bach begins to lose his sight. Carl Heinrich Graun becomes Kapellmeister to Frederick II of Prussia. Johann Joachim Quantz becomes Frederick's flute teacher. Ferdinando Bertoni arrives in Bologna where he becomes a pupil of Giovanni Battista Martini. December 26 – The Teatro Regio (Turin) is inaugurated with a performance of Francesco Feo's opera Arsace. Classical music Thomas Arne – Alfred (masque), including the song, "Rule Britannia" Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Concerto for 2 Harpsichords in F major, H.408 Harpsichord Concerto in A major, H.410 Flute Sonata in A minor, H.555 Christoph Graupner – Violin Sonata in G minor, GWV 711 George Frideric Handel – L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, HWV 55 Giuseppe Tartini – Violin Concerto in C major, D.1 Georg Philipp Telemann – 6 Overtures for Clavier, TWV 32:5–10 (Published ca. 1742 in Nuremberg, as VI Ouverturen nebst zween Folgesätzen) Opera Bernardo Aliprandi – Semiramide riconosciuta Vincenzo Legrenzio Ciampi – La Beatrice Baldassare Galuppi – Gustavo primo re di Svezia Maurice Greene – The Judgement of Hercules George Frideric Handel – Imeneo, HWV 41 (first performed, composed in 1738) Nicola Porpora – Il trionfo di Camilla Luca Antonio Predieri – Zenobia Publications Thomas Arne – Comus (London: William Smith). First performed 1738. Jean-Baptiste Barrière – 6 Cello Sonatas, Livre 4 (Paris: Composer) (Likely composed 1737–1740) Michel Blavet – 6 Flute Sonatas, Op. 3 Louis de Caix d'Hervelois – Pièces de viole, Livre 4 Esprit Philippe Chédeville – 6 Sonatilles galantes, Op. 6 Nicolas Chédeville – Les Deffis ou l'étude amusante, Op. 9 Antoine Dauvergne 6 Trio Sonatas, Op. 1 12 Violin Sonatas, Op. 2 Michel Richard Delalande – Noëls en Trio avec un Carillon, S.173.24 (composed 1725, published posthumously) George Frideric Handel Op. 6, 12 Concerti Grossi "A Second Set of Six Concertos" (London: John Walsh) (arranged for organ, No. 3–6 are also in Op. 6) James Oswald – A Curious Collection of Scots Tunes Johan Helmich Roman – Assaggio in G minor, BeRI 314 (Stockholm: Composer) likely composed earlier. Carlo Tessarini – 6 Allettamenti da camera, Op. 3 (there is another Op. 3 by Tessarini, a set of 10 violin concerti) Antonio Vivaldi – 6 Cello Sonatas, Le Clerc Op. 14 (Paris: Le Clerc le Cadet) Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer – Concerti Armonici (composed between 1725–1740, originally published anonymously and attributed to various composers) Methods and theory writings Michel Corrette – Méthode pour apprendre à jouër la flûtte John Frederick Lampe – The Art of Musick Johann Mattheson – Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte Births February 3 – Guillaume Lasceux (died 1831) February 4 – Carl Michael Bellman, poet and composer (died 1795)Carl Michael Bellman 18th-century Swedish, Baroque-style music, Fredman’s Epistles Britannica https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Michael-Bellman 2026-08-01 Britannica.com en February 15 – Ernst Eichner (died 1777) May 9 – Giovanni Paisiello, composer (died 1816) July 26 – Louis-Augustin Richer, classical singer, singing master and composer (died 1819) August 10 – Samuel Arnold (composer), (died 1802) October 7 – Samuel Webbe (died 1816) November 4 – Augustus Montague Toplady, hymn-writer (died 1778) December – Elisabeth Olin, operatic soprano (died 1828) unknown date John Antes, composer (died 1811) Sir Peter Beckford, English peer (died 1811), patron of Muzio Clementi Samuel Webbe, composer (died 1816) probable – Anna Bon, singer and composer Deaths January 5 – Antonio Lotti, composer (born 1667) January 13 – William Turner, singer and composer (born 1651) January 25 – Geminiano Giacomelli, composer (born 1692) February 9 – Vincent Lübeck, organist and composer (born 1654) February 25 – Dietrich Bernhard Ludewig (born 1707) October 14 – Domenico Alberti, composer (born c.1710) unknown date André Bouys, painter and copyist (born c.1656) Edward Purcell, organist (born 1689) Poul Christian Schindler, composer (born 1648) probable – François Dieupart, French composer (born after 1667) References Category:18th century in music Category:Music by year