1720 in music

This article lists the most significant events and works of the year 1720 in music.

Events

April – The Royal Academy of Music, a company formed for Handel in London, begins to produce operas.
Giovanni Bononcini arrives in London, his home until 1732, and becomes one of Handel's most notable rivals.
Benedetto Marcello's satirical attack on opera, Il teatro alla moda, is published anonymously in Venice.
Domenico Scarlatti arrives in Lisbon.

Jan Josef Ignác Brentner – Horae Pomeridianae
George Frideric Handel - Suite de Pièces pour le clavecin, a work including the famous set of variations known as The Harmonious Blacksmith.
Marin Marais – Sonnerie de Ste-Geneviève du Mont-de-Paris
James Paisible – Six setts of aires for two flutes & a bass...
Alessandro Scarlatti – Messa di Santa Cecilia

January 1 – Johann Christoph Altnickol, composer (baptized January 1, 1720)
January 4 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, composer (died 1774)^[1]
August 20 – Bernard de Bury, court musician and composer (died 1785)
October 17 – Maria Teresa Agnesi, singer and composer (died 1795)^[2]
November 16 – Carlo Antonio Campioni, composer (died 1788)^[3]
date unknown
- Henry Hargrave, composer (died 1780)
- William Savage, singer, organist and composer (died 1789)
probable
- Gioacchino Cocchi, composer (died 1804)
- Bernhard Joachim Hagen, composer (died 1787)
- Joan Baptista Pla, oboist and composer (died 1773)
- Johann Georg Schürer, composer (died 1786)

July 7 – Maria Barbara Bach, first wife of Johann Sebastian Bach (born 1684)
July 27 – Johann Samuel Welter, composer
date unknown
- Sridhara Venkatesa Ayyaval, Hindu saint and composer (born 1635)
- Jean Hotteterre, musician and composer
- José Peyró, composer (born c. 1670)
- Demoiselle Conradi, German opera singer
probable
- Antonia Bembo, singer and composer (born c. 1640)
- Jean Baptiste Loeillet of Ghent, composer (born 1688)
- Guillaume Minoret, composer (born c.1650)
- Johann Speth, organist and composer (born 1664)

↑ "Happy birthday, Johann Friedrich Agricola!". Kölner Akademie. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
↑ Sadie, Julie Anne; Samuel, Rhian (1994). The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers. p. 3. ISBN 9780393034875.
↑ van Boer, Bertil (April 5, 2012). Historical Dictionary of Music of the Classical Period. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 111. ISBN 9798216239406.