1815 in music

Events

 * March 24 - The Handel and Haydn Society is founded as an oratorio society in Boston by a group of Boston merchants and musicians
 * Spanish classical guitarist Fernando Sor moves to London, England to try to garner some success there.
 * Summer – Gioachino Rossini goes to Naples as musical and artistic director of the Teatro San Carlo. His first opera for this theatre, Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, premieres here on October 4.
 * December 25 – The Handel and Haydn Society, the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance, at the King's Chapel in Boston.

Classical music

 * William Beale – "Come let us join the Roundelay"
 * Ludwig van Beethoven
 * Cello Sonatas Nos. 4 and 5, Op. 102. Published in 1817.
 * 25 Scottish Songs, Op. 108
 * Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt, Op. 112, for chorus and orchestra
 * Zur Namensfeier overture, Op. 115
 * Leonore Prohaska, WoO 96
 * Es ist vollbracht, WoO 97
 * Die laute Klage, WoO 135
 * Des Krieger's Abschied, WoO 143
 * Das Geheimnis, WoO 145
 * 12 Songs of Various Nationalities, WoO 157
 * Glück zum neuen Jahr, WoO 165
 * Kurz ist der Schmerz, und ewig ist die Freude, WoO 166
 * Leonhard von Call – 3 Guitar Sonatas, Op. 22
 * Matthew Camidge – 6 Concertos for Organ, Op. 13
 * Bartolommeo Campagnoli – Capricci, Op. 22
 * Luigi Cherubini – Symphony in D major
 * Carl Czerny – Variations brillantes, Op. 14
 * Friedrich Ernst Fesca – Psalm 103, Op. 26
 * Johann Nepomuk Hummel – Violin (or Flute) Sonata, Op. 64
 * Franz Krommer – Concerto No.2 for 2 Clarinets, Op. 91
 * Joseph Mayseder – String Quartet No.5, Op. 9
 * Giacomo Meyerbeer – Gli Amori di Teolinda (cantata)
 * Federico Moretti – "El amor y la amistad"
 * Anton Reicha
 * Wind Quintet, Op. 91 No.1
 * Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in G minor
 * Ferdinand Ries
 * The Dream, Op. 49
 * Piano Trio, Op. 63
 * Franz Schubert
 * Dozens and Dozens of Lieder, canons, and choruses, most notably:
 * Mailied, D. 129, 199 and D. 202
 * Rastlose Liebe, D.138
 * An den Mond, D.193
 * Adelwold und Emma, D.211
 * Alles um Liebe, D.241
 * Die Bürgschaft, D.246
 * Heidenröslein, D.257
 * Erlkönig, D. 328
 * 6 Lieder, Op. posth. 118 (D. 233, 234, 221, 248, 270, 247)
 * Totus in corde langueo, D.136
 * 20 Waltzes, D.146
 * 10 Variations in F major, D.156
 * Piano Sonata in E major, D. 157 (and excerpt Allegro in E major, D.154)
 * Mass No.2, D.167 and Mass No.3, D.324
 * String Quartet No.9, D.173
 * Stabat Mater, D.175
 * Adagio in G major, D.178
 * Minuet in A minor, D.277a
 * Piano Sonata No. 2, D.279
 * 12 Ecossaises, D.299
 * Minuet in A major, D.334
 * 12 Ländler, D.681
 * Liebe säuseln die Blätter, D.988
 * Louis Spohr – String Quartet No.8, Op. 29 No.2
 * Johann Wilhelm Wilms – Sonata for Piano Four Hands, Op. 41

Opera

 * Gioachino Rossini
 * Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra
 * Torvaldo e Dorliska
 * Franz Schubert
 * Fernando, D.220
 * Claudine von Villa Bella, D.239
 * Die Freunde von Salamanka, D.326
 * Der Vierjahrige Posten

Births

 * January 22 – Ferdinand Praeger, composer, music teacher, pianist and writer (d. 1891)
 * March 8 – Jean Delphin Alard, composer and musician (died 1888)
 * March 11 – Anna Bochkoltz, German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer (d. 1879)
 * April 6 – Robert Volkmann, composer (d. 1883)
 * April 12 – Henry Hugo Pierson, English composer (d. 1873)
 * May 10 – Anders Ljungqvist, fiddler (d. 1896)
 * June 28 – Robert Franz, composer (d. 1892)
 * July 30 – Herman Severin Løvenskiold, composer (d. 1870)
 * August 16 – Madame Céleste, dancer (d. 1882)
 * September 4 – Mihály Mosonyi, arranger and composer (died 1870)
 * September 17 – Halfdan Kjerulf, Norwegian composer (died 1868)
 * October 17 – Emanuel Geibel, lyricist and playwright (died 1884)
 * November – Adelaide Kemble, opera singer (d. 1879)
 * December 25 – Temistocle Solera, opera composer and librettist (d. 1878)

Deaths

 * February 19 – Leonhard von Call, Austrian composer (born 1767)
 * March 4 – Frances Abington, singer and actress (born 1737)
 * April 8 – Jakub Jan Ryba, composer (born 1765) (suicide)
 * May 21 – Roman Hofstetter, composer (born 1742)
 * May 25 – Domenico Puccini, composer (born 1772)
 * June 22 – William Reeve, theatre composer (born 1757)
 * September 29 – Frederick Charles Reinhold, bass singer and organist (born 1737)
 * October 3 – Daniel Belknap, farmer, mechanic, militia captain, poet and singing teacher, one of the first American composers. (born 1771)
 * November 15 – Kaspar Anton Karl van Beethoven, brother of Ludwig van Beethoven (born 1774)
 * November 28 – Johann Peter Salomon, violinist, conductor, impresario and composer (born 1745)
 * December 14 – Charles Luke Lennox, heir to banking company, pianist (born 1800) (murder)
 * date unknown – Giovanni Bertati, librettist (born 1735)