Events

• 1751 is the year commonly given as the beginning of the classical era
• The "War of the Buffoons" (La Querelle des Bouffons), concerning the relative merits of French and Italian opera, divides Paris.
• Francesco Geminiani publishes "The Art of Playing on the Violin" in London.

Classical music

• Charles Avison – 6 Concertos in 7 Parts, Op. 3
• Johann Sebastian Bach – Kunst der Fuge with appendix of Chorale prelude BWV 668a (posthumously)
• Charles Burney – 6 Cornet Pieces for Organ
• Armand-Louis Couperin – Les cacqueteuses, in his Pieces de Clavesin
• Antoine Dauvergne – Concerts de Simphonies
• Pierre-Claude Foucquet – Second Livre de Pièces de Clavecin
• Johann Adolphe Hasse
  • Mass in D minor
  • Oh Dio partir conviene
• Wilhelm Gommaar Kennis – 6 Trio Sonatas, Op. 2
• Niccolò Pasquali – Raccolta di overture, e symphonie... (London)
• Peter Pasqualino – 6 Cello Duets, Op. 2 (London: John Johnson)
• John Francis Wade – Cantus Diversi including Adeste Fideles ("O Come All Ye Faithful")

Opera

• Pasquale Cafaro – Ipermestra
• Baldassare Galuppi – Antigona
• Carl Heinrich Graun
  • Britannico, GraunWV B:I:24
  • L'Armida GraunWV B:I:23, premiered Mar. 27 in Berlin
• Johann Adolf Hasse – Ciro Riconosciuto
• Joseph Haydn – Der Krumme Teufel (singspiel)
• Niccolò Jommelli – La villana nobile; Ifigenia in Aulide
• Jean-Philippe Rameau
  • Acante et Céphise
  • La Guirlande, RCT 42
• Giuseppe Sarti – Pompeo in Armenia
• Domingo Terradellas – Sesostri re d'Egitto

Methods and theory writings

• William Hayes – The Art of Composing Music by a Method Entirely New
• Jacob Wilhelm Lustig – Inleiding tot de Muzykkunde
• Manuel de Moraes Pedroso – Compendio musico

Births

• January 18 – Ferdinand Kauer, pianist and composer (died 1831)
• February 9 – Antoine Bullant, bassoonist and composer (died 1821)
• March 5 – Jan Křtitel Kuchař, composer
• March 29 – Supply Belcher, singer, composer and compiler of tune books (died 1836)

• July 30 – Maria Anna Mozart ("Nannerl"), Austrian musician and composer, sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (d. 1829)

• date unknown – Blas de Laserna, composer

Deaths

• January 17 – Tomaso Albinoni (born 1671)
• February 18 – Giuseppe Matteo Alberti, composer (born 1685)
• May 20 – Domènec Terradellas, composer (born 1713)
• October 2 – Pierre Dumage, organist (born c. 1674)
• date unknown – Henry Reinhold, singer (born c. 1690)