1744 in music

Events

 * March 27 Johann Sebastian Bach revives his St Mark Passion with some textual changes and two new arias inserted at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig.
 * Castrato Giovanni Carestini goes to work for Maria Theresa of Austria.

Classical music

 * Thomas Arne
 * The Death of Abel (oratorio)
 * Judith (first performed, published 1761)
 * Johann Sebastian Bach – Das wohltemperierte Klavier, part 2
 * Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
 * Keyboard Sonata in E major, H.39
 * Harpsichord Concerto in F major, H.415
 * Harpsichord Concerto in E major, H.417
 * Michele Blavet – Premier recueil de pieces
 * Michael Christian Festing – 6 Violin Sonatas, Op.7
 * Christoph Graupner
 * Trio Sonata in C minor, GWV 203
 * Trio Sonata in D major, GWV 204
 * Sonata in G major, GWV 212
 * Trio Sonata in B minor, GWV 219
 * Concerto for 2 Flutes in E minor, GWV 322
 * Concerto for 2 Horns in G major, GWV 332
 * Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major, GWV 340
 * Johann Adolph Hasse – 6 Flute Sonatas, Op. 5
 * Johann Ludwig Krebs
 * Clavier-Übung I, Krebs-WV 500-512
 * Clavier-Übung II, Krebs-WV 800
 * Clavier-Übung III, Krebs-WV 801-806
 * Etienne Mangean – 6 Sonatas for 2 Violins, Op. 3
 * Niccolò Pasquali – 6 Sonatas for Violin, Op. 1
 * John Frederick Ranish – 12 Flute Sonatas, Op. 2
 * Johan Helmich Roman – Drottningholm Music (Music for a Royal Wedding)
 * Domenico Natale Sarro – Recorder Sonata in F major
 * Georg Phillip Telemann – Jauchzet, ihr Himmel, TWV 1:957
 * Francesco Maria Veracini
 * L'errore di Salomone (oratorio)
 * 12 Sonate accademiche, Op. 2 (for violin)
 * Jan Dismas Zelenka
 * Litaniae Lauretanae, ZWV 151
 * Litaniae Lauretanae, ZWV 152

Opera

 * Daniele Dal Barba – Il Tigrane
 * Christoph Willibald Gluck
 * La Sofonisba, Wq.5
 * Ipermestra, Wq. 7
 * George Frideric Handel – Semele
 * Johann Adolph Hasse
 * Antigono
 * Semiramide riconosciuta
 * John Frederick Lampe – The Kiss Accepted and Returned

Publications

 * Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – 6 Harpsichord Sonatas, Wq.49 (Nuremberg: Johann Ulrich Haffner) (composed 1742-44)
 * Delphin Strungk (some copies were made in this year, though the composer died in 1694)
 * Lass mich dein sein und bleiben
 * Meine Seele erhebt den Herren

Methods and theory writings

 * Johan Daniel Berlin – Musicaliske Elementer (Trondheim: Jens Christ)

Births

 * May 3 – Friedrich Wilhelm Weis, composer
 * May 4 – Marianna Martines, singer, pianist and composer (d. 1812)
 * May 18 – Joseph Beer, composer and clarinetist (died 1812)
 * May 19 – Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, regular patron of Mozart's (died 1818)
 * August 4 – Julije Bajamonti (died 1800)
 * August 25 – Johann Gottfried Herder, librettist and philosopher (died 1803)
 * November 26 – Karl Siegmund von Seckendorff (died 1785)
 * December 8 – Pierre-Joseph Candeille, French composer (died 1827)
 * date unknown
 * Marie Barch, first native Danish ballerina (d. 1827)
 * Gaetano Brunetti, Italian composer (died 1798)
 * Francesco Petrini, composer and musician (died 1819)
 * Charles le Picq, French dancer and choreographer (d. 1806)

Deaths

 * January 14 – Charles-Hubert Gervais, composer (born 1671)
 * January 20 – Richard Jones, violinist and composer
 * February 15 – František Václav Míča, conductor and composer (born 1694)
 * March 22 – Georg Lenck, German musician (born 1685)
 * April 26 – Domenico Sarro, Italian composer (born 1679)
 * May 9 – Johann Samuel Beyer (born 1669)
 * May 30 – Alexander Pope, English poet (born 1688)
 * June 29 – André Campra, composer (born 1660)
 * August 19 – Carlo Arrigoni (born 1697)
 * October 17 – Giuseppe Guarneri, violin-maker (born 1698)
 * October 23 – Pierre-Charles Roy, librettist and poet (born 1683)
 * October 31 – Leonardo Leo, composer (born 1694)
 * December 29 – Pompeo Cannicciari (born 1670)
 * date unknown
 * Claude Balon, dancer and choreographer
 * Gennaro Antonio Federico, Italian librettist
 * James Miller, librettist and playwright (born 1704)
 * Francesca Vanini-Boschi, operatic contralto