1748 in music

Events

April 12 – Possible premiere of Johann Sebastian Bach's last St Mark Passion pastiche (BC D 5) at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig. In addition to two movements by Bach, he incorporates seven arias from George Frideric Handel's Brockes Passion HWV 48 into the work.
August 1748 – October 1749 – Repeat (possible concert hall) performance by Bach of Handel's Brockes Passion HWV 48 in a version by Bach.
1748–1749 – Johann Sebastian Bach composes his Mass in B minor BWV 232 (BC E 1).
Holywell Music Room, Oxford, England, the first purpose-built concert hall in Europe, is opened.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Nicola Porpora becomes Kapellmeister at Dresden.:

Johan Agrell – 6 Keyboard Sonatas, Op. 2
Johann Sebastian Bach – 18 Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668 finished (composed 1740–1748)
Martin Berteau – 6 Cello Sonatas, Op. 1
Michel Corrette
- Les Pantins (No. 17 in his 25 Concertos Comiques)
- La Tourière (No. 18 in his 25 Concertos Comiques)
Elisabetta de Gambarini — Lessons and Songs Op. 2, for harpsichord
George Frideric Handel
- Joshua, HWV 64, oratorio premiered, composed 1747
- Alexander Balus, HWV 65, oratorio premiered, composed 1747
- Susanna, HWV 66, oratorio composed, premiered 1749
- Solomon, HWV 67, oratorio composed, premiered 1749
Jakob Friedrich Kleinknecht
- 6 Flute Sonatas, Op. 1
- 3 Trio Sonatas, Op. 2
Jean-Pierre Pagin - 6 Violin Sonatas, Op. 1
Peter Pasqualino – 6 Cello Duets
Giovanni Alberto Ristori
- Didone abbandonata (secular cantata)
- Lavinia a Turno, M.144 (secular cantata)
Giuseppe Tartini – 6 Violin Sonatas, Op. 6
Georg Philipp Telemann – Lukas Passion, TWV 5:33
Burke Thumoth – 12 Irish and 12 Scotch Airs with Variations

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier – Daphnis et Chloé, Op. 102
Baldassare Galuppi – Demetrio
Christoph W. Gluck – La Semiramide riconosciuta, Wq.13
Karl Heinrich Graun – Ifigenia in Aulide, GraunWV B:I:18
Johann Adolf Hasse – Demofoonte
Niccolò Jommelli – L’amore in maschera
Gennaro Manna – Lucio Papirio dittatore
Jean-Philippe Rameau
- Zaïs, premiered on February 29
- Pygmalion, RCT 52, premiered on August 27
- Les surprises de l'Amour, premiered on November 27

Johann Sebastian Bach – 6 Choräle von verschiedener Art, BWV 645-650 (Zella: Johann Georg Schübler)
Louis de Caix d'Hervelois – Pièces de viole, Livre 5 (Paris: Madame Boivin, Le Clerc et Brolonne)
Francesco Geminiani – Rules for Playing in a True Taste, Op. 8 (variations for solo or accompanied instrument)
William Hayes – 6 Cantatas (London: Simpson)
Jean-Joseph de Mondonville – Pièces de Clavecin avec voix ou violon, Op. 5
Carlo Tessarini – Contrasto armonico ... con suoi rinforzi, for 3 violins and basso continuo, Op. 10 (Paris)
Gregor Werner — Neuer und sehr curios- Musicalischer Instrumental-Calendar

February – Hedvig Wigert, opera singer (died 1780)
February 5 – Christian Gottlob Neefe, conductor, teacher (Ludwig van Beethoven was a student), and composer (died 1798)
March 5 — William Shield, violinist and composer (died 1829)
May 5 – Francesco Azopardi, music theorist and composer (died 1809)
April 20 – Georg Michael Telemann, composer (died 1831)
August 4 – Maximilian Stadler, editor and composer (died 1833)
August 11 – Joseph Schuster, composer (died 1812)
August 31 – Jean-Étienne Despréaux, singer, dancer and composer (died 1820)
November 30 – Joachim Albertini, composer (died 1812)

January 26 – Pierre Rameau, dancing-master (born 1674)
February 26 – Jean-Baptiste Landé, ballet dancer
March 7 – William Corbett, violinist and composer (born 1680)
March 10 – Giovanni Perroni, cellist and composer (born 1688)
March 17 – Charles King, choir-master and composer (born 1687)
March 23 — Johann Gottfried Walther, composer and theoretician (born 1684)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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April 6 – David Kellner, German composer (born c.1670)
November 25 — Isaac Watts, hymn writer (born 1674)
date unknown
- Jacques Loeillet, oboist and composer (born 1685)
- David Tecchler, luthier (born 1666)