1803 in music

This is a list of music-related events in 1803.

Events

 * 5 April – first performance of Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto
 * 26 December – Haydn performs his last public concert, conducting The Seven Last Words of Christ

Classical music

 * Ludwig van Beethoven
 * Violin Sonata No. 7 published, composed between 1801 and 1802
 * Violin Sonata No. 9
 * Trio in E-flat major, Op. 38
 * 3 Marches, Op. 45
 * Piano Sonata No. 21 "Waldstein" started, Op. 53
 * Symphony No. 3 "Eroica", Op. 55
 * Christus am Ölberge, oratorio, Op. 85
 * Das Glück der Freundschaft, Op. 88
 * 10 Variations on 'Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu', Op. 121a
 * Minuet, WoO 82
 * Johann Evangelist Brandl – Symphony in D major, Op. 25
 * Bernhard Henrik Crusell – Concerto for Clarinet No. 3 in B-flat major
 * Franz Danzi
 * Preiss Gottes, P.48
 * Sextet in E major, Op. 15
 * Jan Ladislav Dussek – Piano Quartet in E-flat Major Op. 53 or 56
 * Anton Eberl – Symphony in E-flat major, Op. 33
 * Joseph Haydn
 * unfinished String Quartet in D minor, Op. 103
 * 6 Trios, Liv. 1
 * Jeremiah Ingalls – "Northfield"
 * Franz Krommer
 * Concerto No.1 for 2 Clarinets, Op. 35
 * Clarinet Concerto No.1, Op. 36
 * Concerto for Oboe in F Major (Op. 37)
 * Symphony No. 2, Op. 40
 * Niccolo Paganini
 * Sonata concertata, MS 2
 * Grande sonata, MS 3
 * Le streghe, Op. 8
 * Georg von Pasterwitz – 300 Themata und Versetten, Op. 4
 * Ignaz Pleyel – 3 Keyboard Trios, B.474–476
 * Pierre Rode – Violin Concerto No.7 in A minor, Op. 9
 * Bernard Romberg
 * Cello Concerto No.1, Op. 2
 * 3 Grand Sonatas, Op. 5
 * Antonio Salieri – Gesù al limbo für Soli, vierstimmigen Chor und Orchester
 * Louis Spohr – Violin Concerto in C Major
 * Giovanni Battista Viotti –
 * Trio for 2 Violins and Cello in E major
 * Trio for 2 Violins and Cello in G major
 * Joseph Wölfl – Symphony in G minor, Op. 40

Opera

 * Gaetano Andreozzi – Il trionpho di Alessandro
 * Luigi Cherubini – Anacréon
 * Anton Fischer – Die Entlarvten
 * Ferdinando Paër – Sargino
 * Giovanni Paisiello – Proserpine
 * Antonio Salieri – Die Hussiten vor Naumburg

Births

 * January 1 – Carolina Brunström, ballerina (d. 1855)
 * January 6 – Henri Herz, pianist and composer (died 1888)
 * February 17 – Joseph-Philippe Simon, librettist and actor (died 1891)
 * April 2 – Franz Lachner, Bavarian composer/conductor (died 1890)
 * April 12 – Anton Wilhelm von Zuccalmaglio, lyricist and composer (died 1869)
 * May 12 – Alexandre Montfort, French composer (died 1856)
 * June 24 – George James Webb, composer (died 1887)
 * June 30 – Thomas Lovell Beddoes, librettist and poet (died 1849)
 * July 8 – Julius Mosen, librettist and lawyer (died 1867)
 * July 19 – Franz von Kobell, lyricist and mineralogist (died 1882)
 * July 20 – Jakob Zeugheer, composer and violininst (died 1865)
 * July 24 – Adolphe Adam, French composer (died 1856)
 * July 25 – Ferdinand Beyer, arranger and composer (died 1863)
 * September 4 – Anna Nielsen, mezzo-soprano (died 1856)
 * September 12 – Auguste Brizeux lyricist and artist (died 1858)
 * October 11 – Prosper Mérimée, lyricist and writer (died 1870)
 * December 5 – Fyodor Tyutchev, lyricist and poet (died 1873)
 * December 11 – Hector Berlioz, composer (died 1869)
 * date unknown – Jan z Hvězdy, lyricist and writer (died 1853)

Deaths

 * January 17 – Franz Ignaz von Beecke, composer (born 1733)
 * January 18 – Sylvain Maréchal, lyricist and writer (born 1750)
 * January 28 – Karl von Marinelli, theatre manager (born 1745)
 * February 5 – Giovanni Battista Casti, librettist and poet (born 1724)
 * February 6 – Gasparo Angiolini, dancer, choreographer and composer (born 1731)
 * February 16 – Giovanni Punto, composer and horn player (born 1746)
 * February 18 – Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, lyricist and poet (born 1719)
 * March 14 – Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, lyricist and poet (born 1724)
 * May 8 – John Joseph Merlin, clock- and musical-instrument-maker and inventor (born 1735)
 * June 6 – Louis Gallodier, dancer and choreographer (born c.1734)
 * July 5 – William Jackson, composer and organist (born 1730)
 * July 14 – Esteban Salas y Castro, Cuban composer (born 1725)
 * August 29 – Giovanni de Gamerra, librettist and cleric (born 1742)
 * September 5 – François Devienne, composer (born 1759)
 * September 17 – Franz Xaver Süssmayr, composer (born 1766)
 * September 21 – John Christopher Moller, composer and music publisher (born 1755)
 * October 7 – Pierre Vachon, composer (born 1738)
 * October 8 – Vittorio Alfieri, librettist and dramatist (born 1749)
 * December 18 – Johann Gottfried Herder, lyricist and philosopher (born 1744)
 * date unknown
 * Johann Becker, organist and composer (born 1726)
 * Johann Christoph Kellner, organist and composer (born 1736)