1796 in music
| List of years in music | 
|---|
| (table) | 
 
  |  
 
Events
- The father of Gioachino Rossini is imprisoned for collaborating with the French, and Rossini's mother takes him to Bologna.
 
Classical music
- Ludwig van Beethoven 
- Three Piano Sonatas, Op. 2 in F minor, A and C
 - Notturno in D major, Op.42
 - Ah! Perfido, Op.65
 - Duet mit zwei obligaten Augengläsern, WoO 32
 - Sonatina for Mandolin and Harpsichord, WoO 43a
 - Adagio for Mandolin and Harpsichord, WoO 43b
 - Allegretto, WoO 53
 - Abschiedsgesang an Wiens Bürger, WoO 121
 
 - Francois-Adrien Boieldieu – Duo No.2 in B-flat major for Harp and Piano
 - Muzio Clementi 
- Concerto for piano in C major
 - Three Piano Sonatas, Op. 35
 
 - Johann Baptist Cramer – Piano Concerto No.2, Op. 16
 - Adalbert Gyrowetz – 3 String Quartets, Op. 13
 - Joseph Haydn 
- Trumpet Concerto in E Flat Major
 - Die Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob.XX:2
 - Mass in C major, Hob.XXII:9 Missa in tempore belli ("Mass in Time of War")
 - Mass in B-flat major, Hob.XXII:10
 - Guarda qui, che lo vedrai, Hob.XXVa:1
 - Saper vorrei se m'ami, Hob.XXVa:2
 
 - Hyacinthe Jadin – 3 Piano Sonatas, Op. 5
 - Rodolphe Kreutzer – Études ou caprices
 - Ignaz Pleyel – 6 Duos, B.574-579
 - Giovanni Punto – Horn Concerto No.6
 - Jakub Jan Ryba – Missa pastoralis bohemica
 - Carl Friedrich Zelter – 12 Lieder am Clavier zu singen, Z.120
 
Opera
- Domenico Cimarosa 
- I nemici generosi
 - Gli Orazi e i Curiazi
 
 - Nicolas Dalayrac – Marianne
 - Johann Simon Mayr – La Lodoiska
 - Antonio Salieri – Il Moro
 - Gaspare Spontini – Li puntigli delle donne
 - Peter Winter – Das unterbrochene Opferfest
 
Popular music
- "It Was A' For Our Rightful King", 1796 Jacobite song with lyrics by Robert Burns
 
Methods and theory writings
- Charles Burney – Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Abate Metastasio
 - Wenzel Hause – Méthode de contrebasse
 - António da Silva Leite – Estudo de guitarra
 - Bernard Viguerie – L'art de toucher le piano-forte
 
Births
- January 23 – Jean Reboul, librettist and poet (died 1864)
 - February 17 – Giovanni Pacini, composer (died 1867)
 - June 14 – Mathilda d'Orozco, composer (died 1863)
 - June 25 – Ferdinando Giorgetti, Italian composer (died 1867)
 - July 22 – Carlo Pepoli, librettist and politician (died 1881)
 - July 23 – Franz Berwald, composer (died 1868)
 - July 24 – Jan Czeczot, librettist and poet (died 1847)
 - July 28 – Ignaz Bösendorfer, piano manufacturer (died 1859)
 - July 29 – Christian Winther, lyricist and poet (died 1876)
 - August 25 – James Lick, piano builder (died 1876)
 - August 27 – Elise Barensfeld, soprano (died after 1820)
 - September 3 – Henriette Widerberg, soprano (died 1872)
 - September 20 – Franz Wilhelm Ferling, composer and oboist (died 1874)
 - November 30 – Carl Loewe, German composer (died 1869)
 - December 9 – Emilie Zumsteeg, composer and musician (died 1857)
 - date unknown – Mirzə Şəfi Vazeh, lyricist and poet (died 1852)
 
Deaths
- January 1 – Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde, chemist and musician, 60
 - February 16 (or April 16) – Caterina Gabrielli, operatic soprano, 65
 - February 17 – James Macpherson, librettist and writer (born 1736)
 - February 28 – Friedrich Wilhelm Rust, composer and violinist (born 1739)
 - March 19 – Stephen Storace, composer, 33
 - June 8 – Felice Giardini, violinist and composer, 80
 - July 17 – Thomas Sanders Dupuis, English composer (born 1733)
 - July 21 – Robert Burns, librettist and poet (born 1759)
 - August 12 – Mary Ann Wrighten Pownall, librettist and singer (born 1751)
 - October 17 – Franz Paul Rigler, composer and piano virtuoso (born c.1748)
 - October 31 – Thomas Haxby, musical instrument maker, 67
 - date unknown 
- Luffman Atterbury, carpenter, builder and musician
 - Samuel Green, organ builder (born 1740)
 - Nicola Sabatino, composer (born 1705)