1788 in music

• January 9 – The elderly Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach reviews Johann Nikolaus Forkel's book Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik in the Hamburgischer unpartheyischer Correspondent. • January 22 – Composer Ignaz Pleyel marries Franziska Gabrielle Ignatia Lefebvre, daughter of a tapestry maker. • January 26 – Australia Day: leads the First Fleet into landing at Sydney Cove (which will become Sydney) to begin the settlement of Australia; it carries Surgeon George Worgan's London-made square piano which will remain in the country and be donated to the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts collection in 2016. • February 6 – The Kärntnertortheater in Vienna closes, after the German Opera Company disbands. • February 12 – Antonio Salieri is appointed Imperial Royal Kapellmeister by Emperor Joseph II of Austria, in succession to Giuseppe Bonno, who is forcibly retired. • March 6 – Domenico Cimarosa, recently invited to St Petersburg by the Empress Catherine II of Russia, premières his La felicità inaspetata, which fails to impress his new patron. • June 25 – Publication of three string quintets (K.406, 515, 516) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is postponed for a year because of a lack of take-up of subscriptions. • July 17 – Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf is officially dismissed from his post as Amtshauptmann of Freiwaldau, but actually continues in the position for another seven years. • November 25 – Three weeks before his death, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach writes his last known letter, to Johann Jacob Heinrich Westphal. ==Opera==

• Giuseppe Cambini – Le bon pére • Thomas Carter – The Constant Maid, or Poll of Plympton • Luigi Cherubini – Ifigenia in Aulide • Domenico Cimarosa • La felicità inaspettata • La vergine del sole • Franz Danzi – Die Mitternachtsstunde • Giovanni Paisiello • ''L'Amor Contrastato'' • Fedra, premiered Jan. 1 in Naples • Antonio Sacchini – Arvire et Évélina (posthumous "tragédie lyrique", finished by Jean-Baptiste Rey), premiered April 29. • Antonio Salieri • ''Axur, Re d'Ormus'' (libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte after Beaumarchais) • Il Talismano (libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte after Goldoni) • Joseph Weigl – Il pazzo per forza ==Classical music==

• William Billings – The Singing Master’s Assistant (including "Vermont" and "Washington") • Henry Bishop – Six New Minuets and Twelve Country Dances (including "Knoll Park") • Domenico Cimarosa – Atene edificata (cantata) • Muzio Clementi • 3 Piano Trios, Op.21 • 3 Piano Trios, Op.22 • Keyboard sonata op.24/1 • Michel Corrette – Messe pour le tems de Noël • Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf – 6 String Quartets • Jan Ladislav Dussek • 3 Sonatas for Keyboard with Violin, Op.5 • Three piano sonatas C.41–43 • Joseph-Francois Garnier – Simphonie Concertante for 2 Oboes • Joseph Haydn • 8 Nocturnes, Hob.II:25–32 • String Quartet in C major, Hob.III:57 • String Quartet in G major, Hob.III:58 • String Quartet in E major, Hob.III:59 • String Quartet in A major, Hob.III:60 • String Quartet in F minor, Hob.III:61 • String Quartet in B-flat major, Hob.III:62 • Baryton Trio in A major, Hob.XI:6 • Baryton Trio in A major, Hob.XI:8 • Symphony No.90 in C major, Hob.I:90 • Symphony No.91 in E-flat major, Hob.I:91 • Michael Haydn • Die Ährenleserin (singspiel) • Symphony No.37 in D major, MH 476 • Pelham Humfrey – O Lord, My God • Frantisek Kotzwara – The Battle of Prague (piano with commentary) • Leopold Kozeluch – Piano Sonata, Op.26 No.3 • Anton Kraft – 3 Cello Sonatas, Op. 1 • Rodolphe Kreutzer – Violin Concerto No.6 in E minor • Jean-Baptiste Krumpholz – 6 Harp Sonatas, Opp. 13–14 • Vicente Martín y Soler – 12 Canzonette Italiane • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart • 6 German Dances, K.536 • Ein deutsches Kriegslied, K.539 • Adagio in B minor, K.540 (dated March 19) • Un bacio di mano, K.541 (dated May) • Piano Trio in E major, K.542 • Symphony No. 39 in E flat major, K.543 • Piano Trio in C major, K.548 • Più non si trovano, K.549 • Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550 • Symphony No. 41 in C major, K.551, "Jupiter" • Canon for 3 Voices in A major (''Caro bell'idol mio''), K.562 • Divertimento in E-flat major, K.563 • Piano Trio in G major, K.564 • 6 German Dances, K.567 • 12 Minuets, K.568 • Giovanni Paisiello – Duet for two violins • Ignaz Pleyel • Violin Concerto in D major, B.103A • 3 Quintets, B.280–282 • 6 Keyboard Trios, B.431–436 • Alexander Reinagle – Federal March • Giuseppe Sarti – 3 Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin, Op. 4 • Giovanni Battista Viotti • Violin Concerto No.13 in A major • Violin Concerto No.14 in A minor • 6 Violin Sonatas, W 5.1–6 (Op. 4) == Methods and theory writings ==

• Johann Nikolaus Forkel – Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik • Ferdinand Kauer – Kurzgefaßte Anweisung das Violoncell zu spielen • Vincenzo Manfredini – ''Difesa della musica moderna e de' suoi celebri esecutori'' • Ernst Wilhelm Wolf – Musikalischer Unterricht ==Births==

• January 5 – Caspar Ett, composer and musician (died 1847) • January 8 • Erzherzog Rudolph, composer and archduke (died 1831) • Duke Eugen of Württemberg, composer and general (died 1857) • January 22 – George Gordon Byron, lyricist and poet (died 1824) • January 31 – Felice Romani, librettist and writer (died 1865) • February 10 – Johann Peter Pixis, composer (died 1874) • March 10 – Joseph von Eichendorff, lyricist and poet (died 1857) • May 16 – Friedrich Rückert, librettist and poet (died 1866) • August 20 – José Bernardo Alcedo, composer (died 1878) • August 26 – Aloys Schmitt, composer (died 1866) • September 5 – George Macfarren, lyricist (died 1843) • September 28 – Karl Christian Philipp Reichel composer (died 1857) • October 11 – Simon Sechter, composer (died 1867) • October 20 – Philip Knapton, composer (died 1833) • November 6 – Giuseppe Donizetti, composer (died 1856) • November 11 – Michał Wielhorski, Russian composer (died 1856) • December 18 – Camille Pleyel, musician (died 1855) • December 21 – Charles Chaulieu Sr., composer (died 1849) • December 26 – Carl Anton Philipp Braun, composer (died 1835) • date unknown • Brita Catharina Lidbeck, Swedish concert singer and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (died 1864) • John David Loder, composer and violinist (died 1846) ==Deaths==

• January 15 – Gaetano Latilla, composer (b. 1711) • March 2 – Salomon Gessner, lyricist and poet (born 1730) • March 29 – Charles Wesley, hymn-writer (b. 1707) • April 12 • Carlo Antonio Campioni, composer (b. 1720) • Carl Joseph Toeschi, composer (born 1731) • April 15 – Giuseppe Bonno, composer (b. 1711) • May 17 – Dorothea Biehl, librettist (born 1731) • June 28 – Johann Christoph Vogel, composer • July 14 – Johann Gottfried Müthel, composer (b. 1728) • November 2 – Johann Samuel Schröter, German composer (born 1753) • December 12 – Joseph Gibbs, composer (b. 1699) • December 14 – Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, composer (b. 1714) ==References==