1751 in music

Events

 * 1751 is the year commonly given as the beginning of the classical era
 * The "War of the Buffoons" (La Querelle des Bouffons), concerning the relative merits of French and Italian opera, divides Paris.
 * Francesco Geminiani publishes "The Art of Playing on the Violin" in London.

Classical music

 * Charles Avison – 6 Concertos in 7 Parts, Op. 3
 * Johann Sebastian Bach – Kunst der Fuge with appendix of Chorale prelude BWV 668a (posthumously)
 * Charles Burney – 6 Cornet Pieces for Organ
 * Armand-Louis Couperin – , in his Pieces de Clavesin
 * Antoine Dauvergne – Concerts de Simphonies
 * Pierre-Claude Foucquet – Second Livre de Pièces de Clavecin
 * Johann Adolphe Hasse
 * Mass in D minor
 * Oh Dio partir conviene
 * Wilhelm Gommaar Kennis – 6 Trio Sonatas, Op. 2
 * Niccolò Pasquali – Raccolta di overture, e symphonie... (London)
 * Peter Pasqualino – 6 Cello Duets, Op. 2 (London: John Johnson)
 * John Francis Wade – Cantus Diversi including Adeste Fideles ("O Come All Ye Faithful")

Opera

 * Pasquale Cafaro – Ipermestra
 * Baldassare Galuppi – Antigona
 * Carl Heinrich Graun
 * Britannico, GraunWV B:I:24
 * L'Armida GraunWV B:I:23, premiered Mar. 27 in Berlin
 * Johann Adolf Hasse – Ciro Riconosciuto
 * Joseph Haydn – Der Krumme Teufel (singspiel)
 * Niccolò Jommelli – La villana nobile; Ifigenia in Aulide
 * Jean-Philippe Rameau
 * Acante et Céphise
 * La Guirlande, RCT 42
 * Giuseppe Sarti – Pompeo in Armenia
 * Domingo Terradellas – Sesostri re d'Egitto

Methods and theory writings

 * William Hayes – The Art of Composing Music by a Method Entirely New
 * Jacob Wilhelm Lustig – Inleiding tot de Muzykkunde
 * Manuel de Moraes Pedroso – Compendio musico

Births

 * January 18 – Ferdinand Kauer, pianist and composer (died 1831)
 * February 9 – Antoine Bullant, bassoonist and composer (died 1821)
 * March 5 – Jan Křtitel Kuchař, composer
 * March 29 – Supply Belcher, singer, composer and compiler of tune books (died 1836)


 * July 30 – Maria Anna Mozart ("Nannerl"), Austrian musician and composer, sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (d. 1829)


 * date unknown – Blas de Laserna, composer

Deaths

 * January 17 – Tomaso Albinoni (born 1671)
 * February 18 – Giuseppe Matteo Alberti, composer (born 1685)
 * May 20 – Domènec Terradellas, composer (born 1713)
 * October 2 – Pierre Dumage, organist (born c. 1674)
 * date unknown – Henry Reinhold, singer (born c. 1690)