1738 in music explained

Events

January – Antonio Vivaldi conducts a festival to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Schouwburg theater.
4 May – Foundation of the Imperial Ballet School at Saint Petersburg, with Jean-Baptiste Landé as its principal.
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, having completed a law degree, is hired as a court musician by Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, the future Frederick the Great (Bach will remain in Frederick's service until 1768).

Johann Sebastian Bach
- Kyrie–Gloria masses, BWV 233–236
- Harpsichord Concerto No.3 in D major, BWV 1054
Francesco Durante – Messa piccola di requiem in G
George Frideric Handel – La bianca rosa, HWV 160c
- - Leonardo Leo Cello Concerto in A major, L.50
- Cello Concerto in D minor, L.60
Jan Dismas Zelenka – Miserere, ZWV 57

Thomas Arne – Comus
Antonio Bioni – Girita
François Francoeur and François Rebel – Le Ballet de la paix (Paris, Opéra, 29 May)
- - George Frideric Handel Faramondo
- Saul (composed, first performed 1739)
- Serse (London, 15 April)
Johann Adolph Hasse – Irene
Giovanni Battista Pescetti – La Conquista del Vello D'Oro
Nicola Porpora – Carlo il Calvo
Giovanni Porta – Ifigenia in Aulide
Francesco Maria Veracini – Rosalinda

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier – L'Automne, Op. 5, No. 3 (extract, reprinted from Cantates françoises, Op. 5 [1724])
Josse Boutmy – Pièces de clavecin, Livre 1
Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello – 12 Concertos, Op. 1
- - Michele Corrette L'école d'Orphée, Op. 18 (Paris)
- Les délices de la solitude, Op. 20 (Paris)
George Frideric Handel – 6 Organ Concertos, Op.4 (London: John Walsh)
Alessandro Marcello – La cetra di Eterio Stinfalico, 6 concertos for 2 oboes or flutes, strings, and basso continuo (Augsburg, [approximate year])
- - Domenico Scarlatti Essercizi per Gravicembalo, K.1-30
- 42 Suites de Pièces pour le Clavecin, K.1-42 (introduction by Roseingrave)
Giuseppe Sammartini – 6 Concerti Grossi, Op. 2
- - Georg Philipp Telemann Fugues légères & petits jeux, TWV 30:21–26
- 18 Canons Mélodieux, TWV 40:118–123
- 6 Nouveaux quatuors en six suites: à une flûte traversiere, un violon, une basse de viole, où violoncel, et basse continuë. Paris: L'auteur, Vater, Boivin, et Le Clerc. ("Paris quartets" Nos. 7–12), TWV 43:D3, 43:a2, 43:G4, 43:h2, 43:A3, 43:e4
Johann Gottfried Walther – Harmonisches Denck- und Danckmahl
6 Harpsichord Concertos and 4 Organ Fugues (Strasbourg: Jean Daniel Doulsecker) works by various and anonymous composers. Contains Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's Fugue in F major F.36.

April 17 – Philip Hayes, composer (died 1797)
May – Jonathan Battishill, composer (died 1801)
June 3 – Pierre Vachon, composer (died 1803)
August 11 (baptized)– Anna Bon, composer (died after 1769)
August 14 – Leopold Hofmann, composer (died 1793)
October 26 – Louis-Charles-Joseph Rey, composer and cellist, (died 1811)
November 15 – William Herschel, astronomer and composer (died 1822)
December 14 – Jan Antonín Koželuh, composer (died 1814)
date unknown
- Carlo Besozzi, oboist and composer (died 1791)
- Thomas Ebdon, organist and composer (died 1811)

January 6 – Franz Xaver Murschhauser, German composer (born 1663)
January 17 – Jean-François Dandrieu, harpsichordist, organist and composer (born c. 1682)
March 25 – Turlough O'Carolan, harpist and composer (born 1670)
July 20 – Tommaso Redi, composer (born c.1675)
August 23 – Baron Anders von Düben, director of the Royal Swedish Orchestra (born 1673)^[1]
August 29 – Georg Reutter, organist and composer (born 1656)
September 23 – Carlo Agostino Badia, opera composer (born 1672)
December 22 – Jean-Joseph Mouret, composer (born 1681)
date unknown – José de Torres, composer (born 1665)