The year 1661 in

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

involved some significant events.

Events

April 19 Events Pre-1600 *AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested. * 531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at ...

–

Maria Cattarina Calegari Cornelia Calegari aria Cattarina (also known as Maria Caterina)'' (1644 – after 1675), was an Italian composer, singer, organist, and nun. She was revered for her singing talents in her home city and became a published composer in 1659, at th ...

takes her final vows and becomes a nun at the Benedictine Convent of Santa Margherita in Milan. *

November 4 Events Pre-1600 *1429 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier. * 1493 – Christopher Columbus reaches Leeward Island and Puerto Rico. * 1501 – Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's ...

–

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

' diary records a visit to the opera. *King

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

creates the Académie Royale de Danse. *

Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...

becomes a French subject. *First public opera performances in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, on the stage of the ''Schouwburgh van de Oude Voetboog''.

Classical music

* Thomas Gobert – Pseaume XVIII *

Matthew Locke Matthew Locke may refer to: * Matthew Locke (administrator) (fl. 1660–1683), English Secretary at War from 1666 to 1683 * Matthew Locke (composer) (c. 1621–1677), English Baroque composer and music theorist * Matthew Locke (soldier) (1974–2007 ...

– Flatt Consort * Heinrich Schütz – '' Becker Psalter'' (revised and enlarged edition) *

Gaspar de Verlit Gaspar de Verlit or Gaspar Verlit (1622–1682) was a Flemish Baroque composer active in Brussels. Life He was first chorister and later also a singer at the court chapel in Brussels, choirmaster at St. Vincent's Church in Soignies ( Zinnik) an ...

– , vol. 1

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

Antonio Bertali Antonio Bertali (March 1605–17 April 1669) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. He was born in Verona and received early music education there from Stefano Bernardi. Probably from 1624, he was employed as court music ...

– ''Il Ciro crescente'' *

Jacopo Melani Jacopo Melani (6 July 1623 – 18 August 1676) was an Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era. He was born and died in Pistoia, and was the brother of composer Alessandro Melani and singer Atto Melani. Works *1655-6: Intermedi (with ...

– ''Ercole in Tebe'' *

Antonio Sartorio Antonio Sartorio (1630 – 30 December 1680) was an Italian composer active mainly in Venice, Italy, and in Hanover, Germany. He was a leading composer of operas in his native Venice in the 1660s and 1670s and was also known for composing in o ...

– ''Gl'amori infruttuosi di Pirro''

Births

*February –

Henri Desmarets Henri Desmarets (February 1661 – 7 September 1741) was a French composer of the Baroque period primarily known for his stage works, although he also composed sacred music as well as secular cantatas, songs and instrumental works. Biogr ...

, composer (died 1741) *February 5 – Barbara Kluntz, composer (died 1730) *

June 6 Events Pre-1600 * 913 – Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed b ...

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Giacomo Antonio Perti Giacomo Antonio Perti (6 June 1661 – 10 April 1756) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. He was mainly active at Bologna, where he was ''Maestro di Cappella'' for sixty years. He was the teacher of Giuseppe Torelli and Giovanni Bat ...

, composer (died 1756) *

September 2 Events Pre-1600 *44 BC – Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. * 44 BC – Cicero launches the first of his ''Philippicae'' (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them ...

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Georg Böhm Georg Böhm (2 September 1661 – 18 May 1733) was a German Baroque organist and composer. He is notable for his development of the chorale partita and for his influence on the young J. S. Bach. Life Böhm was born in 1661 in Hohenkirchen. He ...

, organist and composer (died 1733) *

November 1 Events Pre-1600 * 365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities. * 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freising, ...

– Florent Carton (Dancourt), librettist (died 1725) *''date unknown'' –

Francesco Gasparini Francesco Gasparini (19 March 1661 – 22 March 1727) was an Italian Baroque composer and teacher whose works were performed throughout Italy, and also on occasion in Germany and England. Biography Born in Camaiore, near Lucca, he studied in ...

, composer (died 1727)

Deaths

* May 4 –

Jean de Cambefort Jean de Cambefort ( – 4 May 1661) was a French Baroque singer and composer of ballets and liturgical music. He died in Paris, France. He is now mostly remembered for composing six airs (''recits'') for the '' Ballet de la Nuit'', performed in ...

, composer (born 1605) *

May 9 Events Pre-1600 * 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria. *1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy. *1386 – England and Portugal formally rati ...

– Alberich Mazak, composer (born 1609) *

June 3 Events Pre-1600 * 350 – The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators. * 713 – The Byzantine Empire, Byzantine emperor Philippikos Ba ...

– Gottfried Scheidt, organist and composer (born 1593) * August 29 – Louis Couperin, harpsichordist and composer (born c.1626) *

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôct ...

–

Germain Pinel Germain Pinel (Paris, c.1600 – October 1661) was a French lutenist and composer. Biography His father Pierre Pinel was himself a lutenist, like several other members of the family (especially his younger brother François Pinel) and his thre ...

, harpsichordist and composer (born c. 1600) * November 16 –

João Lourenço Rebelo João Lourenço Rebelo, or João Soares Rebelo (1610 – 16 November 1661) was the only Portuguese composer to adopt the Venetian polychoral style.Paul van Nevel, ''João Lourenço Rebelo and the Portuguese Polyphony of the first half of the seve ...

, composer (born 1610) * December 29 – Antoine Girard, librettist (born 1594) {{DEFAULTSORT:1661 In Music

Music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

17th century in music Music by year