1759 in music explained

Events

Johann Friedrich Agricola succeeds Carl Heinrich Graun as director of Frederick the Great's royal opera.
Castrato Gaspare Pacchierotti makes his debut at the Perugia carnival, in a female role.
Tommaso Traetta becomes court composer at Parma.

Carl Friedrich Abel – 6 Symphonies, Op. 1
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – Viola da Gamba Sonata in G minor, H.510
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach – Pieces for Musical Clock
Claude-Bénigne Balbastre – Pièces de clavecin
William Boyce – "Heart of Oak"
François Joseph Gossec – Sei sinfonie a più stromenti, op.4
- - Joseph Haydn Divertimento in G major, Hob.II:G1
- Symphony no 1 in D Major Hob.I:1
  - Leopold Mozart Der Morgen und der Abend (pieces for keyboard)
- Nannerl's Music Book
Johan Helmich Roman – Concerto Grosso, BeRI 45
Georg Philipp Telemann – Der Messias, TWV 6:4

Pietro Gianotti – Le guide du compositeur
Cornforth Gilson – Lessons on the Practice of Singing
Antoine Mahaut – Nouvelle Méthode pour jouer la Flûte Traversière
Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg – Kritische Einleitung in die Geschichte und Lehrsätze der alten und neuen Musik
Robert Smith – Harmonics, or The Philosophy of Musical Sounds

January 19 – Karl Alexander Herklots, librettist and author (died 1830)
January 24 – Francesco Saverio Salfi, librettist and writer (died 1832)
January 25 – Robert Burns, Scottish poet and lyricist (died 1796)
January 31 – François Devienne, composer (died 1803)
February 1 – Karl Friedrich Hensler, librettist and author (died 1825)
February 11 – Ernst von Gemmingen, composer and diplomat (died 1813)
February 27 – Johann Carl Friedrich Rellstab, music editor and composer (died 1813)
April 18 – Jacques Widerkehr, Alsatian composer and cellist (died 1823)
15 May – Maria Theresia von Paradis, musician and composer (died 1824)
May 22 – Gervais-François Couperin, French composer (died 1826)
June 19 – Helen Maria Williams, librettist and writer (died 1827)
19 July – Marianna Auenbrugger, composer (died 1782)
July 29 – Antonio Simone Sografi, librettist and playwright (died 1818)
November 10 – Friedrich Schiller, librettist and poet (died 1805)
November 27 – Franz Krommer, composer (died 1831)
December 25 – John Beckwith, composer and musician (died 1809)
unknown date
- Franz Gleissner, German composer (died 1818)
- William Matthews of Nottingham, composer