1721 in music

• December 3 – Johann Sebastian Bach marries his second wife, Anna Magdalena. • Antonio Maria Bononcini becomes maestro di cappella in his native city of Modena. • Georg Philipp Telemann becomes director of music in Hamburg. == Classical music ==

• Johann Sebastian Bach • Brandenburg Concertos, a collection of five concerti grossi and one ripieno concerto presented to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. • Capriccio in E major, BWV 993 • Giovanni Bononcini – Cantate e Duetti • Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco – 6 Concerti à più istrumenti, Op. 5 • Christoph Graupner – Sonata in G minor, GWV 724 • George Frideric Handel • Crudel tiranno amor, HWV 97 • Keyboard Sonatina in G minor, HWV 583 • Pietro Locatelli – 12 Concerti grossi à 4 e à 5, Op. 1 (including concerto in F minor "Christmas Concerto") • Jean-Philippe Rameau – Orphée, RCT 27 • Valentin Rathgeber – Octava musica clavium octo musicarum, R 295 • Georg Philipp Telemann • Ich halte aber dafür, TWV 1:840 • Ich hoffe darauf daß du so gnädig bist, TWV 1:847 • Francesco Maria Veracini – 12 Violin Sonatas, Op. 1 • Silvius Leopold Weiss – Tombeau sur la mort de M. Comte de Logy arrivée, WSW 20 ==Opera==

• Filippo Amadei, Giovanni Bononcini & George Frideric Handel – Muzio Scevola • Giovanni Bononcini – Crispo • George Frideric Handel – Floridante, HWV 14 • Michel Richard de Lalande – Les élémens, S.153 (composed with André Cardinal Destouches) • Giuseppe Maria Orlandini – Nerone • Nicola Porpora • Eumene • Gli orti esperidi • Alessandro Scarlatti – La Griselda • Georg Philipp Telemann – Der Geduldige Socrates • Antonio Vivaldi – La Silvia, RV 734 • Johann Adolph Hasse – Antioco == Theoretical Writings ==

• Alexander Malcolm – A Treatise of Musick • Johann Mattheson – Das forschende Orchestre • Franz Xaver Murschhauser – Academia Musico-Poetica Bipartita • Thomas Walter – The Grounds and Rules of Musick Explained == Births ==

• April 1 – Pieter Hellendaal, organist, violinist and composer (died 1799) • April 7 – Matthias Vanden Gheyn, composer (died 1785) • December 9 – Peter Pelham, organist, harpsichordist and composer (d. 1805) • December 27 (bapt.) – John Garth, composer (died 1810) • date unknown • Barbara Campanini, dancer • Quirino Gasparini, composer (died 1778) • Giovanni Battista Lorenzi, Italian librettist (died 1807) == Deaths ==

• February 22 – Johann Christoph Bach, organist, elder brother of Johann Sebastian (born 1642) • September 3 – Jan Antonín Losy, lute player and composer (born c. 1643) • date unknown • Jacques Paisible, recorder virtuoso and composer (born c. 1656) • Jerónimo de Carrión, composer (b. 1660)