1796 in music

Events

 * The father of Gioachino Rossini is imprisoned for collaborating with the French, and Rossini's mother takes him to Bologna.

Classical music

 * Ludwig van Beethoven
 * Three Piano Sonatas, Op. 2 in F minor, A and C
 * Notturno in D major, Op.42
 * Ah! Perfido, Op.65
 * Duet mit zwei obligaten Augengläsern, WoO 32
 * Sonatina for Mandolin and Harpsichord, WoO 43a
 * Adagio for Mandolin and Harpsichord, WoO 43b
 * Allegretto, WoO 53
 * Abschiedsgesang an Wiens Bürger, WoO 121
 * Francois-Adrien Boieldieu – Duo No.2 in B-flat major for Harp and Piano
 * Muzio Clementi
 * Concerto for piano in C major
 * Three Piano Sonatas, Op. 35
 * Johann Baptist Cramer – Piano Concerto No.2, Op. 16
 * Adalbert Gyrowetz – 3 String Quartets, Op. 13
 * Joseph Haydn
 * Trumpet Concerto in E Flat Major
 * Die Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob.XX:2
 * Mass in C major, Hob.XXII:9 Missa in tempore belli ("Mass in Time of War")
 * Mass in B-flat major, Hob.XXII:10
 * Guarda qui, che lo vedrai, Hob.XXVa:1
 * Saper vorrei se m'ami, Hob.XXVa:2
 * Hyacinthe Jadin – 3 Piano Sonatas, Op. 5
 * Rodolphe Kreutzer – Études ou caprices
 * Ignaz Pleyel – 6 Duos, B.574-579
 * Giovanni Punto – Horn Concerto No.6
 * Jakub Jan Ryba – Missa pastoralis bohemica
 * Carl Friedrich Zelter – 12 Lieder am Clavier zu singen, Z.120

Opera

 * Domenico Cimarosa
 * I nemici generosi
 * Gli Orazi e i Curiazi
 * Nicolas Dalayrac – Marianne
 * Johann Simon Mayr – La Lodoiska
 * Antonio Salieri – Il Moro
 * Gaspare Spontini – Li puntigli delle donne
 * Peter Winter – Das unterbrochene Opferfest

Popular music

 * "It Was A' For Our Rightful King", 1796 Jacobite song with lyrics by Robert Burns

Methods and theory writings

 * Charles Burney – Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Abate Metastasio
 * Wenzel Hause – Méthode de contrebasse
 * António da Silva Leite – Estudo de guitarra
 * Bernard Viguerie – L'art de toucher le piano-forte

Births

 * January 23 – Jean Reboul, librettist and poet (died 1864)
 * February 17 – Giovanni Pacini, composer (died 1867)
 * June 14 – Mathilda d'Orozco, composer (died 1863)
 * June 25 – Ferdinando Giorgetti, Italian composer (died 1867)
 * July 22 – Carlo Pepoli, librettist and politician (died 1881)
 * July 23 – Franz Berwald, composer (died 1868)
 * July 24 – Jan Czeczot, librettist and poet (died 1847)
 * July 28 – Ignaz Bösendorfer, piano manufacturer (died 1859)
 * July 29 – Christian Winther, lyricist and poet (died 1876)
 * August 25 – James Lick, piano builder (died 1876)
 * August 27 – Elise Barensfeld, soprano (died after 1820)
 * September 3 – Henriette Widerberg, soprano (died 1872)
 * September 20 – Franz Wilhelm Ferling, composer and oboist (died 1874)
 * November 30 – Carl Loewe, German composer (died 1869)
 * December 9 – Emilie Zumsteeg, composer and musician (died 1857)
 * date unknown – Mirzə Şəfi Vazeh, lyricist and poet (died 1852)
 * date unknown – Mirzə Şəfi Vazeh, lyricist and poet (died 1852)

Deaths

 * January 1 – Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde, chemist and musician, 60
 * February 16 (or April 16) – Caterina Gabrielli, operatic soprano, 65
 * February 17 – James Macpherson, librettist and writer (born 1736)
 * February 28 – Friedrich Wilhelm Rust, composer and violinist (born 1739)
 * March 19 – Stephen Storace, composer, 33
 * June 8 – Felice Giardini, violinist and composer, 80
 * July 17 – Thomas Sanders Dupuis, English composer (born 1733)
 * July 21 – Robert Burns, librettist and poet (born 1759)
 * August 12 – Mary Ann Wrighten Pownall, librettist and singer (born 1751)
 * October 17 – Franz Paul Rigler, composer and piano virtuoso (born c.1748)
 * October 31 – Thomas Haxby, musical instrument maker, 67
 * date unknown
 * Luffman Atterbury, carpenter, builder and musician
 * Samuel Green, organ builder (born 1740)
 * Nicola Sabatino, composer (born 1705)
 * Nicola Sabatino, composer (born 1705)