1788 in music

See also: 1787 in music, other events of 1788, 1789 in music, list of years in music.

Events

• Antonio Salieri appointed Imperial Royal Kapellmeister by Emperor Joseph II of Austria.
• Domenico Cimarosa is invited to St Petersburg by the Empress Catherine II of Russia.

Opera

• "L'Amor Contrastato" – Giovanni Paisiello
• "Axur, Re d´Ormus" by Antonio Salieri, libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte after Beaumarchais
• "Ifigenia in Aulide" – Luigi Cherubini
• "Il Talismano" by Antonio Salieri, libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte after Goldoni

Classical music

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Symphony no 39

Births

• January 13 – Carl Ludwig Cornelius Westenholz, composer
• February 10 – Johann Peter Pixis, composer
• February 25 – Mateo Ferrer, composer
• April 12 – Johann Erik Nordblom, composer
• August 20 – Jose Bernardo Alcedo, composer
• October 11 – Simon Sechter, composer
• October 20 – Philip Knapton, composer
• November 11 – Michal Wielhorski, composer
• December 18 – Camille Pleyel

Deaths

• January 5 – Johann Schneider
• January 15 – Gaetano Latilla, composer
• January 17 – Alessio Prati, composer
• January 31 – Francesco Zannetti, composer
• February 22 – Franz Joseph Oehlschlagel, composer
• March 1 – Orazio Mei, composer
• March 29 – Charles Wesley
• April 12 – Carl Joseph Toeschi and Carlo Antonio Campioni, composers
• April 15 – Giuseppe Bonno, composer
• June 28 – Johann Christoph Vogel, composer
• July 14 – Johann Gottfried Muthel
• September 14 – Theodore-Jean Tarade, composer
• September 26 – François Bainville, composer
• October 18 – Jean-Guillain Cardon, composer
• November 1 – Johann Samuel Schroeter, composer
• November 15 – Peregrinus Pogl
• December 14 – Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach
• December 12 – Joseph Gibbs
• December 25 – John Logan, conductor