orchestral music - events

c. 1717	UK	The German-born English composer George Frideric Handel writes his Water Music, a set of instrumental pieces. It is first performed, by a band of 50 musicians in a barge alongside King George's barge at a concert on the River Thames in London, England.
1725	Italy	The Italian composer and violinist Antonio Vivaldi publishes Le quattro stagioni/The Four Seasons (opus 8), a set of four violin concertos.
c. 1769	Austria	The Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn completes his Symphony No. 48, the Maria Theresa.
1783	Austria	The Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completes his Symphony No. 36 (K 425), the Linz, part of No. 37 (K 444), and his Piano Concertos No. 11 (K 413) and No. 13 (K 415). He leaves his Mass in C minor (No. 18) (K 427) unfinished.
1785	Austria	The Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn completes his Symphonies No. 83, La Poule/The Hen, and No. 85, La Reine/The Queen. He also completes his String Quartets Nos. 50 to 56 (Opus 51).
1794	Austria	The Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn completes his Symphony No. 100, the Military; and No. 101, the Clock.
1800	Germany	The German composer Ludwig van Beethoven completes his Symphony No. 1 in C major (Opus 21).
1802	Germany	The German composer Ludwig van Beethoven completes his Moonlight Piano Sonata (Opus 27, no. 2); his Symphony No. 2 in D (Opus 36); and his piano work 7 Bagatelles (Opus 33).
1804	Germany	The German composer Ludwig van Beethoven completes his Piano Sonata No. 21 (Opus 53), the Waldstein; and his three Violin Sonatas (Opus 30).
1808	Germany	The German composer Ludwig van Beethoven completes his Symphonies No. 5 in C minor (Opus 67) and No. 6 in F, the Pastoral (Opus 68) and his Cello Sonata in A major (Opus 69).
1812	Austria	The Austrian composer Franz Schubert completes his Salve Regina for voice and orchestra (D 27); his Kyrie in D minor (D 31); and his String Quartets No. 1 (D 18) and No. 2 (D 32).
1822	Austria	The Austrian composer Franz Schubert stops work on his Symphony No. 8 in B minor (D 759), the Unfinished, but completes his Mass in A flat (D 678). He also completes his opera Alfonso und Estrella (D 732). It is first performed in 1854, in Weimar, Germany. In this year, he also writes his Wanderer Fantasy (D 760).
1823	Germany	The German composer Ludwig van Beethoven completes his Symphony No. 9 in D minor, the Choral (Opus 125) and his variations on a waltz theme suggested by the Austrian music publisher Anton Diabelli (Opus 120).
1831	France	The French composer Hector Berlioz completes his Symphonie fantastique/Fantastic Symphony.
1833	Germany	The German composer Felix Mendelssohn completes his Symphony No. 4 (Opus 90), the Italian.
1839	France	The French composer Hector Berlioz completes his dramatic symphony Roméo et Juliette/Romeo and Juliet.
1842	Germany	German composer Felix Mendelssohn completes his Symphony No 3 (Opus 56), the Scotch. He began work on it in 1830.
1846	Germany	German composer Felix Mendelssohn completes his oratorio Elias/Elijah (Opus 70). It is first performed in Birmingham, England, in 1846.
1849	Germany	The German composer Robert Schumann completes his Manfred overture (Opus 115), based on a verse drama by the English poet George Gordon, Lord Byron; his piano pieces Waldscenen/Woodland Scenes (Opus 82); and his orchestral work Introduction and Allegro appassionato (Opus 92).
1849	Hungary	The Hungarian composer Franz Liszt completes his work for piano and orchestra Totentanz/Dance of Death and his piano transcription of Richard Wagner's overture to Tannhäuser.
1850	Germany	The German composer Robert Schumann completes his Symphony No. 3 (Opus 97), the Rhenish.
1857	Hungary	The Hungarian composer Franz Liszt completes his Faust Symphonie/Faust Symphony. It is based on Goethe's verse drama Faust, published in 1808. He also completes his Symphonic Poem Hunnenschlacht/Battle of the Huns.
1862	Hungary	The Hungarian composer Franz Liszt completes his orchestral work Mephistowaltzer/Mephisto Waltz No. 1.
1865	Hungary	The Hungarian composer Franz Liszt completes his orchestral work Rákóczymarsch/Rákóczy March.
1876	Austria	The Austrian composer Josef Anton Bruckner completes his Symphony No. 5.
1877	Germany	The German composer Johannes Brahms completes his Symphony No. 2.
1879	Bohemia	The Bohemian composer Bedrich Smetana completes his cycle of symphonic poems Má Vlast/My Country.
1883	Germany	The German composer Johannes Brahms completes his Symphony No. 3.
1886	France	The French composer Camille Saint-Saëns completes his orchestral work Carnaval des animaux/Carnival of the Animals, though he forbids a performance of the work during his life time.
1890	Germany	The German composer Richard Strauss completes his symphonic poem Tod und Verklärung/Death and Transfiguration.
1893	Bohemia	The Bohemian composer Antonín Dvorák completes his Symphony No. 9 (once classified as No. 5); Z noveho svéta/From the New World; and his String Quartet in F major (Opus 96), the American.
1893	Russia	The Russian composer Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky completes his Symphony No. 6, the Pathétique/Pathetic.
1895	Germany	The German composer Richard Strauss completes his symphonic poem Till Eulenspiegel.
1896		Austrian composer Gustav Mahler completes his Symphony No 3.
1897	France	The French composer Paul Dukas completes his symphonic poem L'Apprenti sorcier/The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
1898	USA	The US composer Charles Ives completes his Symphony No. 1.
1899	USA	The US composer John Philip Sousa completes his march Hands Across the Sea.
1899	England	The English composer Edward Elgar completes his Enigma Variations.
1900	England	The English composer Edward Elgar completes his oratorio The Dream of Gerontius, based on a dramatic monologue by the English churchman Cardinal Newman.
1900	Finland	The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius completes his orchestral work Finlandia.
1902		The Austrian composer Gustav Mahler completes his Symphony No. 5.
1907		The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius completes his Symphony No. 3.
1910		The English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams completes his orchestral work Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis.
1910		The Russian composer Alexander Scriabin completes his symphonic poem Prometheus – The Poem of Fire.
1910		The Austrian composer Gustav Mahler completes his Symphony No. 9.
1910		The French composer Maurice Ravel completes his orchestral work Pavane pour une infante défunte/Pavan for a Dead Infanta, based on a piano work of 1899, and his work for two pianos Ma Mère l'oye/Mother Goose, which he orchestrates in 1911 and turns into a ballet in 1912.
1911		The US composer Charles Ives completes his Symphony No. 3, The Camp Meeting, and his orchestral works The Gong on the Hook and Ladder (Fireman's Parade on Main Street) and Tone Roads No. 1.
1912		The English composer Frederick Delius completes his orchestral work On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, one of his Two Mood Pictures.
1913		The Austrian composer Anton Webern completes his Bagatelles for string quartet (Opus 9), 5 Stücke/Five Pieces for orchestra (Opus 10) and 6 Bagatelles for string quartet (Opus 11).
1914		The English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams completes his romance for violin and orchestra The Lark Ascending.
1915		The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius completes the first version of his Symphony No. 5.
1915		The US composer Charles Ives completes his Orchestral Set No. 2 and his Piano Sonata No. 2, Concord Massachusetts 1840–1860, which includes solos for viola and flute.
1916		The English composer Gustav Holst completes his orchestral suite The Planets.
1922		The Danish composer Carl Nielsen completes his Symphony No. 5.
1923		The French-born US composer Edgard Varèse completes his orchestral works Hyperprism and Octandre.
1924		The Italian composer Ottorino Respighi completes his orchestral work Pini di Roma/The Pines of Rome.
1924		The US composer George Gershwin completes his orchestral work Rhapsody in Blue.
1925		The US composer Aaron Copland completes his choral work The House on the Hill and his orchestral work Music for the Theater.
1926		The Czech composer Leoš Janácek completes his M'sa glagolskaja/Glagolitic Mass.
1936	Austria	The Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg completes his Violin Concerto (Opus 36) and his String Quartet No. 4 (Opus 37).
1937	Russia	The Russian composer Dmitry Shostakovich completes his Symphony No. 5 in D minor, A Soviet Artist's Reply to Just Criticism. It was written in response to severe criticism of Shostakovich (inspired by the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin) that appeared in the official newspaper Pravda.
1938	USA	The US composer Samuel Barber writes his Adagio for Strings, which he has adapted from his String Quartet of 1936.
1938	England	The English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams completes his Serenade to Music.
1941	England	The English composer Michael Tippett completes his choral work A Child of Our Time.
1941	Russia	The Russian composer Dmitry Shostakovich completes his Symphony No. 7 during the siege of Leningrad by German forces. Dedicated to the defenders of the city, it becomes known as the Leningrad Symphony. It is first performed in Kuibyshev in the USSR in 1942.
1943	Hungary	The Hungarian composer Béla Bartók completes his Concerto for Orchestra.
1944	Russia	The Russian composer Sergey Prokofiev completes his Symphony No. 5.
1945	Czechoslovakia	The Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu completes his Symphony No. 4 and his Cello Concerto No. 2.
1946	England	The English composer Benjamin Britten completes his Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell).
1947	Austria	The Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg completes his vocal work A Survivor from Warsaw, for speaker, male chorus, and orchestra.
1948	France	The French composer Olivier Messiaen completes his Turangalîla Symphony and his vocal work 5 Rechants.
1952	England	The English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams completes his orchestral work Sinfonia Antarctica/Antarctic Symphony.
1953	Russia	The Russian composer Dmitry Shostakovich completes his Symphony No. 10 and his String Quartet No. 5.
1954	Greece	The French composer of Greek parentage Iannis Xenakis completes his orchestral work Metastaseis.
1956	France	The French composer Olivier Messiaen completes his orchestral work Oiseaux exotiques/Exotic Birds.
1957	Russia	The Russian composer Dmitry Shostakovich completes his Symphony No. 11 (the 1905) and his Piano Concerto No. 2.
1959	France	The French composer Jean Françaix completes his L'Horloge de flore/The Floral Clock for oboe and orchestra.
1961	Hungary, Austria	The Hungarian-born Austrian composer György Ligeti completes his orchestral work Atmosphères.
1962	Russia	The Russian composer Dmitry Shostakovich completes his Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar, inspired by a poem by the Russian writer Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
1963	USA	The US composer Leonard Bernstein completes his Symphony No. 3, Kaddish.
1964	France	The French composer Olivier Messiaen completes his orchestral work Couleurs de la cité céleste/Colours of the Celestial City.
1965	USA	The US composer Virgil Thomson completes his orchestral work Ode to the Wonders of Nature.
1966	Estonia	The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt completes his Symphony No. 2.
1967	Japan	The Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu completes his orchestral work November Steps.
1967	Poland	The Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski completes his Symphony No. 2.
1977	Japan	The Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu completes his orchestral work A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden.
1977	Estonia	The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt completes his orchestral work Tabula rasa his Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten.
1981	Russia	The Russian composer Alfred Schnittke completes his Symphony No. 3.
30 August 1998	UK	Simon Rattle conducts his final symphony as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, in England. His successor is Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo.