1820 in music

Events

• Pietro Raimondi returns to Naples and begins his career as an opera composer.

Classical music

• Franz Schubert – Lazarus (oratorio)

Opera

• Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga – Los Esclavos Felices

Published popular music

• "Hail to the Chief" – words, Sir Walter Scott; music James Sanderson
• "D'ye Ken John Peel" – words, John Woodcock Graves. music traditional.

Births

• January 9 – Pavel Křížkovský, conductor and composer (d. 1885)
• February 10 – Cornelius Gurlitt, composer (d. 1901)
• February 17 – Henri Vieuxtemps, violinist and composer (d. 1881)
• March 24 – Fanny Crosby, American lyricist (d. 1915)
• May 21 – Michel Lentz, lyricist of the Luxembourg national anthem (d. 1893)
• August 13 – George Grove, music writer (d. 1900)
• August 30 – George Frederick Root, songwriter (d. 1895)
• September 5 – Louis Köhler, pianist, composer and conductor (d. 1886)
• October 6 – Jenny Lind, Swedish singer (d. 1887)
• December 17 – Karl Anton Eckert, conductor and composer (d. 1879)
• date unknown – Maria Severa Onofriana, fado singer (d. 1846)
• date unknown – Anna-Kajsa Norman, Swedish folk musician (d. 1903)

Deaths

• February 2 – Peder Schall, composer (b. 1762)
• March 26 – Jean-Étienne Despréaux, French dancer, choreographer and composer (b. 1748)
• August 6 – Antonín Vranický, Bohemian violinist and composer (b. 1761)
• ?August 28 – Antonín Kraft, cellist and composer (b. 1749)
• October 3 – Ludwig Wenzel Lachnith, horn player and composer (b. 1746)
• date unknown – Marie Bigot, piano teacher (b. 1786)
• probable
  • Mikhail Matinsky, scientist, writer and composer (b. 1750)
  • Louis Joseph Saint-Amans, composer (b. 1749)