This article is about music-related events in

1840 Events January–March * January 3 – One of the predecessor papers of the ''Herald Sun'' of Melbourne, Australia, ''The Port Phillip Herald'', is founded. * January 10 – Uniform Penny Post is introduced in the United Kingdom. * Janua ...

Events

February 11 Events Pre-1600 *660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. * 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...

–

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

's opera '' La Fille du Regiment'' premieres in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. *

April 2 Events Pre-1600 *1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Jo ...

– Première of Ferdinand Hiller's

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

, '' Die Zerstörung Jerusalems'', at the

Leipzig Gewandhaus Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, the home of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. History The first Gewandhaus (''Altes Gewandhaus'') The fi ...

;

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

is in the audience. * June 9 –

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

gives the first piano

recital A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety an ...

, in London's Hanover Square Rooms. *c.

June June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in ...

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

releases his score for String Quartet No. 3 in D Major. *

August 6 Events Pre-1600 *1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean. * 1538 – Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada ...

– First major public performance since the death of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 for organ attributed to him, given by

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

;

is in the audience. *c. October –

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

is committed to debtors' prison in France while completing his opera ''

Rienzi ' (''Rienzi, the last of the tribunes''; WWV 49) is an early opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name (1835). The title is commonly shortened to ''Rienzi ...

''. *

's "year of song", in which he writes the two '' Liederkreis'', ''

Frauenliebe und -leben ''Frauen-Liebe und Leben'' (''A Woman's Love and Life'') is a cycle of poems by Adelbert von Chamisso, written in 1830. They describe the course of a woman's love for her man, from her point of view, from first meeting through marriage to his dea ...

'' and '' Dichterliebe''. He also marries

Clara Wieck Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...

. *The first harmonium is built. * Anton Schindler's biography of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

is published. * Michele Carafa becomes Professor of Counterpoint at the Paris Conservatoire. *

Édouard Batiste Édouard Batiste (28 March 1820 – 9 November 1876) was a French composer and organist. Career Batiste was born in Paris and studied at the Conservatory as a teenager, winning prizes in solfège, harmony and accompaniment, counterpoint and fug ...

and François Bazin share the Prix de Rome.

Popular music

* Henry Russell (music) & Eliza Cook (lyrics) – "The Old Arm Chair" * Robert Lucas de Pearsall – "

Lay a garland "Lay a garland" is a popular English poem from the play ''The Maid's Tragedy'' (Act II, Scene I) written in 1608-11. The poem was famously set to music by Robert Lucas de Pearsall on 4 June 1840, scored for SSAATTBB in Eb. In 1854, Pearsall produce ...

Classical music

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

- '' Grande symphonie funebre et triomphale'' 26 July * Johannes Bernards van Bree - String Quartet No. 2 *

Johanna Kinkel Johanna Kinkel (8 July 1810 – 15 November 1858), born Maria Johanna Mockel, was a German composer, writer, pedagogue, and revolutionary. Biography Kinkel was born in Bonn to Catholic parents Marianna and Peter Joseph Mockel, a school teacher ...

- ''Don Ramiro'', Op. 13 *

– ''

Lobgesang ''Lobgesang'' (''Hymn of Praise''), Op. 52 ( MWV A 18), is an 11-movement "Symphony-Cantata on Words of the Holy Bible for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra" by Felix Mendelssohn. After the composer's death it was published as his Symphony No. 2 in ...

'' (Symphony No. 2 in B-flat Major) *

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le di ...

- ''Nella'' *

** ''Liederkreis'', Op. 24 **'' Myrthen'', Op. 25 **''Lieder und Gesänge volume'', Op. 27 **''3 Gedichte'', Op. 29 **''3 Gedichte'', Op. 30 **''3 Gesänge'', Op. 31 **''6 Lieder'', Op. 33 **''4 Duets'', Op. 34 **''12 Gedichte'', Op. 35 **''6 Gedichte'', Op. 36 ** ''Liederkreis'', Op. 39 **''5 Lieder'', Op. 40 ** ''Frauenliebe und -leben'', Op. 42 **''3 Duets'', Op. 43 **''Romanzen & Balladen volume I'', Op. 45 ** ''Dichterliebe'', Op. 48 **''Romanzen & Balladen volume II'', Op. 49 **''Romanzen & Balladen volume III'', Op. 53 **''Belsatzar, ballad'', Op. 57 * Louis Spohr – Symphony no 6 in G major, Op. 116 "Historical"

Opera

– " La Favorite" and ''La Fille du Régiment (

The Daughter of the Regiment ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

)'' * Albert Lortzing – ''Hans Sachs'' * Temistocle Solera – ''Ildegonda'' *

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

– ''Un giorno di regno''

Births

January 18 Events Pre-1600 * 474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later. * 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail. * 1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chi ...

– Ernst Rudorff, composer and music teacher (d. 1918) *

February 2 Events Pre-1600 * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...

– Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray, pianist and composer (d. 1910) *

February 12 Events Pre-1600 *1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sophie performed the first post-mortem autopsy for the purposes of teaching and demonstration at the Heiligen–Geist Spital in Vienna. *1429 – English forces under ...

– Philippe Decker, conductor and composer (d. 1881) *

February 22 Events Pre-1600 * 1076 – Having received a letter during the Lenten synod of 14–20 February demanding that he abdicate, Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. * 1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdina ...

- Samuel de Lange, composer and educator (d. 1911) *

February 24 Events Pre-1600 * 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica. * 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence. * 13 ...

–

Auguste Götze Auguste Götze (or Goetze) (24 February 1840 – 29 April 1908) was a German classical singer, actress, playwright, and a distinguished voice teacher. Götze was born in Weimar where she initially trained in music with her father, the tenor Fran ...

, German classical singer and vocal pedagogue (d. 1908) * March 8 –

Franco Faccio Francesco (Franco) Antonio Faccio (8 March 1840 – 21 July 1891) was an Italian composer and conductor. Born in Verona, he studied music at the Milan Conservatory from 1855 where he was a pupil of Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti and, as scholar Will ...

, conductor and composer (d. 1891) * April 12 –

Franz Xaver Haberl Franz Xaver Haberl (12 April 1840, in Oberellenbach (today Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg), Lower Bavaria – 5 September 1910, in Ratisbon) was a German musicologist, friend of Liszt, Perosi, and Singenberger, cleric, and student of Proske. He m ...

, musicologist (d. 1910) * May 7 –

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

, composer (d. 1893) *

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 ...

–

Blanche d'Antigny Blanche d'Antigny (May 9, 1840 – June 30, 1874) was a French singer, actress and courtesan whose fame today rests chiefly on the fact that Émile Zola used her as the principal model for his novel ''Nana''. Life Blanche d'Antigny was born Marie ...

, singer and actress (d. 1874) * August 1 –

Franz Simandl Franz Simandl (August 1, 1840 – December 15, 1912) was a Czech double-bassist and pedagogue most remembered for his book ''New Method for the Double Bass,'' known as the "Simandl book", which is to this day used as a standard study of doubl ...

, double-bassist and teacher (d. 1912) *

August 28 Events Pre-1600 * 475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna. * 489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way ...

–

Ira D. Sankey Ira David Sankey (August 28, 1840 – August 13, 1908) was an American gospel singer and composer, known for his long association with Dwight L. Moody in a series of religious revival campaigns in America and Britain during the closing decades o ...

, gospel singer and composer (d. 1908) * September 14 –

George Whiting George Elbridge Whiting (September 14, 1840 – October 14, 1923) was an American composer of classical music. Early life and career George Whiting was born in Holliston, Massachusetts on September 14, 1840. He founded the Beethoven Society i ...

, composer (d. 1923) *

September 30 Events Pre-1600 * 489 – The Ostrogoths under Theoderic the Great defeat the forces of Odoacer for the second time. * 737 – The Turgesh drive back an Umayyad invasion of Khuttal, follow them south of the Oxus, and capture their b ...

–

Johan Svendsen Johan Severin Svendsen (30 September 184014 June 1911) was a Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist. Born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway, he lived most his life in Copenhagen, Denmark. Svendsen's output includes two symphonies, a violin ...

, violinist, conductor and composer (d. 1911) *

October 18 Events Pre-1600 * 33 – Heartbroken by the deaths of her sons Nero and Drusus, and banished to the island of Pandateria by Tiberius, Agrippina the Elder dies of self-inflicted starvation. * 320 – Pappus of Alexandria, Greek philos ...

–

Roberto Stagno Roberto Stagno (; 18 October 1840 ome sources give 1836 as his birth year – 26 April 1897) was a prominent Italian opera tenor. He became an important interpreter of verismo music when it burst on to the operatic scene during the 1890s; ...

, operatic tenor (d. 1897) * December 7 –

Hermann Goetz Hermann Gustav Goetz (7 December 1840 – 3 December 1876) was a German composer who spent much of his career in Switzerland. He is best known for his 1872 opera '' Der Widerspänstigen Zähmung'', based on Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shre ...

, composer (d. 1876) *

December 17 Events Pre-1600 * 497 BC – The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome. * 546 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoths under king Totila plunder the city, by bribing the Byzantine garrison. * 920 – Romanos I Lekap ...

–

C. F. E. Horneman Christian Frederik Emil Horneman (December 17, 1840 – June 8, 1906) was a Denmark, Danish composer, conductor, music publisher, and music instructor. Biography C. F. E. Horneman was born in Copenhagen, the son of the composer Emil Horneman ...

, composer (d. 1906)

Deaths

* March 20 –

Anton Friedrich Justus Thibaut Anton Friedrich Justus Thibaut (4 January 1772Garratt, James. (2002) ''Palestrina and the German Romantic Imagination'', Cambridge University Press. p.40. .20 March 1840), was a German jurist and musician. Early life He was born at Hamelin, in Ha ...

, lawyer and musician, 68 * May 1 –

Giuditta Grisi Giuditta Grisi (28 July 1805 – 1 May 1840) was an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano, sister of soprano Giulia Grisi and cousin of ballerina Carlotta Grisi. She was born and studied in Milan, and made her debut in Vienna, as Faliero in '' Bianca ...

, operatic mezzo-soprano, 34 *

May 10 Events Pre-1600 * 28 BC – A sunspot is observed by Han dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China. *1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority of Edw ...

– Catterino Cavos, organist, conductor and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, 64 * May 25 –

Nikolai Lavrov Lavrov, Nikolai Vladimirovich (russian: Лавро́в, Никола́й Влади́мирович) (1802–1840) was a well-known Russian baritone opera singer. He sang in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre. He possessed a voice of beautiful timbr ...

, operatic baritone, 37 *

May 27 Events Pre-1600 * 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed. * 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death. * 1153 &ndash ...

– Niccolò Paganini,

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist and composer, 57 *

June 5 Events Pre-1600 *1257 – Kraków, in Poland, receives city rights. *1283 – Battle of the Gulf of Naples: Roger of Lauria, admiral to King Peter III of Aragon, destroys the Neapolitan fleet and captures Charles II of Naples, Charles ...

–

William Dance William Dance (20 December 1755 – 5 June 1840) was an English pianist and violinist. Life William Dance was the grandson of the architect George Dance (c.1694–1768). His father was the actor James Dance (1721–1774) and his mother may have ...

, pianist and violinist, 84 * June 16 –

Joseph Kreutzer Joseph Kreutzer (11 November 1790 – 16 June 1840) was a German composer, conductor, guitarist, and violinist. Kreutzer was born in Aachen, the son of a local music teacher. He lived in Düsseldorf from about 1805, where he established himself amo ...

, violinist, conductor and composer, 49 *

September 15 Events Pre-1600 * 994 – Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes. *1440 – Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by ...

- Franz Pecháček, violinist and composer, 47 *

November 19 Events Pre-1600 * 461 – Libius Severus is declared emperor of the Western Roman Empire. The real power is in the hands of the ''magister militum'' Ricimer. * 636 – The Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire at the Battle o ...

– Johann Michael Vogl, baritone and composer, 72

References

{{Reflist 19th century in music Music by year