1748 in music

Events

 * April 12 – Possible premiere of Johann Sebastian Bach's last St Mark Passion pastiche (BC D 5) at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig. In addition to two movements by Bach, he incorporates seven arias from George Frideric Handel's Brockes Passion HWV 48 into the work.
 * August 1748 – October 1749 – Repeat (possible concert hall) performance by Bach of Handel's Brockes Passion HWV 48 in a version by Bach.
 * 1748–1749 – Johann Sebastian Bach composes his Mass in B minor BWV 232 (BC E 1).
 * Holywell Music Room, Oxford, England, the first purpose-built concert hall in Europe, is opened.
 * Nicola Porpora becomes Kapellmeister at Dresden.:

Classical Music

 * Johan Agrell – 6 Keyboard Sonatas, Op. 2
 * Johann Sebastian Bach – 18 Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668 finished (composed 1740–1748)
 * Martin Berteau – 6 Cello Sonatas, Op. 1
 * Michel Corrette
 * Les Pantins (No. 17 in his 25 Concertos Comiques)
 * La Tourière (No. 18 in his 25 Concertos Comiques)
 * Elisabetta de Gambarini — Lessons and Songs Op. 2, for harpsichord
 * George Frideric Handel
 * Joshua, HWV 64, oratorio premiered, composed 1747
 * Alexander Balus, HWV 65, oratorio premiered, composed 1747
 * Susanna, HWV 66, oratorio composed, premiered 1749
 * Solomon, HWV 67, oratorio composed, premiered 1749
 * Jakob Friedrich Kleinknecht
 * 6 Flute Sonatas, Op. 1
 * 3 Trio Sonatas, Op. 2
 * Jean-Pierre Pagin - 6 Violin Sonatas, Op. 1
 * Peter Pasqualino – 6 Cello Duets
 * Giovanni Alberto Ristori
 * Didone abbandonata (secular cantata)
 * Lavinia a Turno, M.144 (secular cantata)
 * Giuseppe Tartini – 6 Violin Sonatas, Op. 6
 * Georg Philipp Telemann – Lukas Passion, TWV 5:33
 * Burke Thumoth – 12 Irish and 12 Scotch Airs with Variations

Opera

 * Joseph Bodin de Boismortier – Daphnis et Chloé, Op. 102
 * Baldassare Galuppi – Demetrio
 * Christoph W. Gluck – La Semiramide riconosciuta, Wq.13
 * Karl Heinrich Graun – Ifigenia in Aulide, GraunWV B:I:18
 * Johann Adolf Hasse – Demofoonte
 * Niccolò Jommelli – L’amore in maschera
 * Gennaro Manna – Lucio Papirio dittatore
 * Jean-Philippe Rameau
 * Zaïs, premiered on February 29
 * Pygmalion, RCT 52, premiered on August 27
 * Les surprises de l'Amour, premiered on November 27

Publications

 * Johann Sebastian Bach – 6 Choräle von verschiedener Art, BWV 645-650 (Zella: Johann Georg Schübler)
 * Louis de Caix d'Hervelois – Pièces de viole, Livre 5 (Paris: Madame Boivin, Le Clerc et Brolonne)
 * Francesco Geminiani – Rules for Playing in a True Taste, Op. 8 (variations for solo or accompanied instrument)
 * William Hayes – 6 Cantatas (London: Simpson)
 * Jean-Joseph de Mondonville – Pièces de Clavecin avec voix ou violon, Op. 5
 * Carlo Tessarini – Contrasto armonico … con suoi rinforzi, for 3 violins and basso continuo, Op. 10 (Paris)
 * Gregor Werner — Neuer und sehr curios- Musicalischer Instrumental-Calendar

Births

 * February – Hedvig Wigert, opera singer (died 1780)
 * February 5 – Christian Gottlob Neefe, conductor, teacher (Ludwig van Beethoven was a student), and composer (died 1798)
 * March 5 — William Shield, violinist and composer (died 1829)
 * May 5 – Francesco Azopardi, music theorist and composer (died 1809)
 * April 20 – Georg Michael Telemann, composer (died 1831)
 * August 4 – Maximilian Stadler, editor and composer (died 1833)
 * August 11 – Joseph Schuster, composer (died 1812)
 * August 31 – Jean-Étienne Despréaux, singer, dancer and composer (died 1820)
 * November 30 – Joachim Albertini, composer (died 1812)

Deaths

 * January 26 – Pierre Rameau, dancing-master (born 1674)
 * February 26 – Jean-Baptiste Landé, ballet dancer
 * March 7 – William Corbett, violinist and composer (born 1680)
 * March 10 – Giovanni Perroni, cellist and composer (born 1688)
 * March 17 – Charles King, choir-master and composer (born 1687)
 * March 23 — Johann Gottfried Walther, composer and theoretician (born 1684)
 * April 6 – David Kellner, German composer (born c.1670)
 * November 25 — Isaac Watts, hymn writer (born 1674)
 * date unknown
 * Jacques Loeillet, oboist and composer (born 1685)
 * David Tecchler, luthier (born 1666)