Around this time, Kassia died on the Greek island of Kasos, leaving behind dozens of musical compositions for liturgical use in the Eastern Orthodox church.
After leaving the convent where she grew up, Hildegard von Bingen purchased land and started her own convent in Rupertsberg, near Bingen.
The collection of motets attributed to Leonora d’Este, Musica quinque vocum motteta materna lingua vocata, is published.
Around this time, Vicente Lusitano began writing a theoretical treatise in Rome which has been recognized as the most important and thorough study of improvised counterpoint from the era.
Maddalena Casulana published Primo libro de madrigali a quattro voci in Venice. This was the first book of madrigals by a woman to be printed.
Hernando Franco was appointed maestro de capilla (chapelmaster) at the Cathedral of Mexico.
Vittoria Aleotti published Ghirlanda de madrigali a quattro voci, the first collection of music by an Italian nun to be published. Raffaella Aleotti also published Sacrae cantiones quinque, septem, octo et decem vocibus decantande in the same year.
The first opera that survives today, Euridice by Jacopo Peri, was composed.
Caterina Assandra published her Motetti à due, & tre voci, op. 2, a collection of eighteen original motets.
José de Cascante became maestro de capilla (Chapelmaster) of the cathedral in Bogotá (modern-day Colombia).
Leonora Duarte, a Flemish-Jewish converso, was baptized in Antwerp.
Sulpitia Cesis published Motetti spirituali, a collection of twenty-three compositions influenced by the Venetian polychoral style.
Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana published Componenti musicali, a collection of twenty sacred motets which are today the only surviving music by a Bolognese nun.
Francesca Caccini wrote La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’ isola d’Alcina, the first opera composed by a woman.
Barbara Strozzi published her first book of madrigals in Venice. This would be the first of eight collections published under her name during her life.
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Germany.
Isabella Leonarda published the collection 12 Sonatas, op. 16, the first collection of instrumental sonatas published by a woman.
Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre composed Céphale et Procris, the first opera composed by a woman in France.
Manuel de Zumaya’s Partenope, the first opera composed in the western hemisphere by an American composer, was premiered in Mexico City.
Wilhelmine von Bayreuth composed the opera Argenore, which likely premiered in the famous opera house at Bayreuth.
Maria Teresa Agnesi’s opera Ciro in Armenia was performed at the Regio Ducale in Milan.
Anna Bon published her Flute Sonatas, op. 1, at the contemporarily-woman-run firm Schmid in Nuremberg.
Esteban Salas y Castro began working at the Cathedral in Santiago de Cuba, which he helped transform into one of the earliest and most important music education centers in Cuba.
Elisabetta de Gambarini sponsored a benefit concert in London’s Great Room, where she performed several of her own compositions.
Maddalena Sirmen began her first concert tour of Europe. On her numerous tours, Sirmen sang, played violin, and performed her own compositions.
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges made his first concert appearance as the solo violinist with the Concert des Amateurs in Paris. Saint-Georges performed two of his own violin concertos.
Maria Rosa Coccia became a maestra di cappella in Rome, likely the first woman to receive this prestigious title.
Marianna Martines became the first woman to be inducted into the prestigious Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna.
The opera house La Scala in Milan was inaugurated.
Corona Schröter published 25 Lieder in Musik gesetzt, a collection of 25 songs, in Weimar.
Mozart’s opera Le Nozze di Figaro premiered in Vienna.
Violinist George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower gave his debut performance in Paris.
The Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, an important choral society, was founded in Berlin.
The Conservatoire de Paris, an important institution for music education, was founded.
By this year, José Maurício Nunes Garcia had become the chapel master of the Rio de Janeiro Cathedral in modern-day Brazil.
José Joaquim Emerico Lobo de Mesquita moved to Rio de Janeiro where he continued his career as a celebrated church organist and composer.
Maria Theresia von Paradis founded her own music school in Vienna where she taught piano, singing, and theory to primarily young girls.
A Collection of New Cotillions, the work that made Francis Johnson famous, was published by George Willig.
Maria Szymanowska published Vingt exercices et préludes, a collection of twenty exercises and preludes for the piano, in Leipzig. Chopin later used many of these pieces as inspiration for his piano music.
Hélène de Montgeroult published Cours complet pour l’enseignement du forte-piano, a three-volume treatise containing 972 exercises and 114 études for solo piano.
Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 in D Minor premiered in Vienna.
Pedro Ximénez Abrill Tirado moved from his native Peru to Sucre, Bolivia after being appointed kapellmeister at the National Cathedral.
Johanna Kinkel moved to Berlin, beginning the most productive era of her career.
Pauline Viardot embarked on a concert tour to Germany where she performed her own songs, accompanied herself on the piano, and met Clara Wieck Schumann in Leipzig.
Fanny Hensel published Sechs Lieder für eine Stimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, op. 1, in Berlin. This was the first time that Hensel’s music had been published under her own name.
The premiere of Louise Farrenc’s Nonet in E-flat Major, op. 38 was so popular that Farrenc demanded (and received) equal pay from the Paris Conservatoire.
Agathe Backer Grøndahl was elected a member of the Swedish Musical Academy.
Palais Garnier, the home of the Paris Opéra, hosted its first musical performance.
Clara Schumann became the principal piano teacher at Dr. Hoch’s Konservatorium in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. She was the first woman to teach at this renowned conservatory.
German publishers Breitkopf & Härtel issued a posthumous collection of 40 lieder by Josephine Lang, in recognition of her important contribution to the genre.