1720 in music

This article lists the most significant events and works of the year 1720 in music.

Events

 * April – The Royal Academy of Music, a company formed for Handel in London, begins to produce operas.
 * Giovanni Bononcini arrives in London, his home until 1732, and becomes one of Handel's most notable rivals.
 * Benedetto Marcello's satirical attack on opera, Il teatro alla moda, is published anonymously in Venice.
 * Domenico Scarlatti arrives in Lisbon.

Publications

 * Jan Josef Ignác Brentner – Horae Pomeridianae
 * George Frideric Handel - Suite de Pièces pour le clavecin, a work including the famous set of variations known as The Harmonious Blacksmith.
 * Marin Marais – Sonnerie de Ste-Geneviève du Mont-de-Paris
 * James Paisible – Six setts of aires for two flutes & a bass...
 * Alessandro Scarlatti – Messa di Santa Cecilia

Classical music

 * Johann Sebastian Bach
 * Prelude for Lute in C minor
 * Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin

Opera

 * Antonio Maria Bononcini – Nino
 * George Frideric Handel – Radamisto
 * Johann David Heinichen – Flavio Crispo
 * Leonardo Leo – Caio Gracco
 * Giovanni Porta – Numitore
 * Antonio Vivaldi – La verità in cimento

Births

 * January 1 – Johann Christoph Altnickol, composer (baptized January 1, 1720)
 * January 4 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, composer (died 1774)
 * August 20 – Bernard de Bury, court musician and composer (died 1785)
 * October 17 – Maria Teresa Agnesi, singer and composer (died 1795)
 * November 16 – Carlo Antonio Campioni, composer (died 1788)
 * date unknown
 * Henry Hargrave, composer (died 1780)
 * William Savage, singer, organist and composer (died 1789)
 * probable
 * Gioacchino Cocchi, composer (died 1804)
 * Bernhard Joachim Hagen, composer (died 1787)
 * Joan Baptista Pla, oboist and composer (died 1773)
 * Johann Georg Schürer, composer (died 1786)

Deaths

 * July 7 – Maria Barbara Bach, first wife of Johann Sebastian Bach (born 1684)
 * July 27 – Johann Samuel Welter, composer
 * date unknown
 * Sridhara Venkatesa Ayyaval, Hindu saint and composer (born 1635)
 * Jean Hotteterre, musician and composer
 * José Peyró, composer (born c.1670)
 * Demoiselle Conradi, German opera singer
 * probable
 * Antonia Bembo, singer and composer (born c. 1640)
 * Jean Baptiste Loeillet of Ghent, composer (born 1688)
 * Guillaume Minoret, composer (born c.1650)
 * Johann Speth, organist and composer (born 1664)