1771 in music

Events

• Foundation of the Royal Theatre Ballet School in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• The Chevalier de Saint-Georges is appointed maestro of the Concert des Amateurs in Paris.
• Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf becomes Hoffkomponist (court composer) to Philipp Gotthard von Schaffgotsch, Prince-Bishop of Breslau, at château Jánský Vrch (Johannesberg) in Javorník.

Classical music

• Luigi Boccherini
  • String Quintet in E, Op. 11, No. 5 (G 275) (with the famous minuet)
  • Symphony in D major, Op. 12 no 1/G 503
  • Symphony in E flat major, Op. 12 no 2/G 504
  • Symphony in C major, Op. 12 no 3/G 505
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Symphonies no 12, 13 and 14
• Josef Mysliveček – Veni sponsa Christi

Opera

• Pasquale Anfossi – Quinto Fabio; Lucio Papirio; I visionari
• André Grétry – Zémire et Azor
• Johann Adolph Hasse – Ruggiero
• Giovanni Paisiello – Annibale in Torino
• Antonio Salieri – Armida

Births

• February 9 – Daniel Belknap, composer (d. 1815)
• February 24 – Johann Baptist Cramer, pianist (d. 1858)
• March 21 – Thomas John Dibdin, dramatist and songwriter (d. 1841)
• September 17 – Johann August Apel, librettist (d. 1816)
• October 1 – Pierre Baillot, violinist and composer (d. 1842)
• October 29 – Anna Leonore König, member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (d. 1854)
• November 17 – Jonathan Huntington, composer (d. 1838)
• date unknown – Marie Antoinette Petersén, singer and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (d. 1855)

Deaths

• March 30 – Anton Joseph Hampel, horn player (b. 1710)
• May 21 – Christopher Smart, poet and hymn-writer (b. 1722)
• May 29 – Johann Adolph Hass, clavichord and harpsichord maker (b. 1713)
• October 14 – Frantisek Brixi, composer (b. 1732)
• October 27 – Johann Gottlieb Graun, composer (b. 1703)