1703 in music

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The year 1703 in music involved some significant events.

Events[edit]

January – Johann Sebastian Bach is appointed court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst III in Weimar, his first such professional appointment, although probably including menial duties.^[1]
by July – George Frideric Handel takes a position as violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra of the Hamburg Oper am Gänsemarkt.^[2]
14 August – J. S. Bach accepts the post of organist at the New Church, Arnstadt.^[3]
September – Antonio Vivaldi, newly ordained as a priest, is appointed maestro di violino (master of violin) at the Ospedale della Pietà orphanage in Venice, for which he begins teaching and composing.^[4]
ca. December – Alessandro Scarlatti becomes maestro di cappella at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
Nicolas Bernier publishes his first cantatas, the earliest in the French language.

Henricus Albicastro – 6 Violin Sonatas, Op.5
Johann Sebastian Bach
- Concerto and Fugue in C minor, BWV 909
- Denket doch, ihr Menschenkinder, BWV 1122
- Wo Gott zum Haus nicht gibt sein Gunst, BWV 1123
- Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 1124
- O Gott, du frommer Gott, BWV 1125
Giovanni Bononcini – Proteo sul Reno
Sébastien de Brossard
- Abraham ou le sacrifice d'Isaac
- Judith ou la mort d'Holopherne
Antonio Caldara – La castità al cimento
André Campra – Motets, Livre 3
Gaspard Corrette – Messe du 8e Ton pour l’Orgue
François Couperin – Quatre versets d'un motet (sacred music)
George Frideric Handel – Keyboard Sonata in C major, HWV 577
Christian Liebe – Machet die Tore weit
Louis Marchand – Pièces de clavecin, Livre 2
James Paisible - Six sonatas of two parts for two flutes, Op. 1
Andrew Parcham – Recorder Sonata in G major
Alessandro Scarlatti – S. Casimiro, re di Polonia
Andreas Heinrich Schultze – 6 Recorder Sonatas

20 January – Joseph-Hector Fiocco, composer and violinist (died 1741)
29 January – Carlmann Kolb, priest, organist and composer (died 1765)^[6]
date unknown
- Jean-Marie Leclair the younger, composer (died 1777)^[7]
- John Frederick Lampe, musician (died 1751)
- John Travers, organist and composer (died 1758)
- Johann Gottlieb Graun, German Baroque/Classical era composer and violinist (died 1771)

^ Boyd, Malcolm (2000). Bach. Oxford University Press. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-0-19-514222-8.
^ Burrows, Donald (1994). Handel. Oxford University Press. p. 18. ISBN 0-19-816470-X.
^ Wolff, Christoph; Emery, Walter (2001-01-20). "Bach, Johann Sebastian". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.6002278195. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Talbot, Michael (2020) [2001]. "Vivaldi, Antonio". In Lockey, Nicholas (ed.). Grove Music Online. Revised by Nicholas Lockey. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40120. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Clément, Félix; Larousse, Pierre (1999). Dictionnaire lyrique ou Histoire des opéras (in French). Slatkine. p. 32. ISBN 9782051016964.
^ Stanley Sadie (1980). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-0-333-23111-1.
^ Randel Don (1996). The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Harvard University Press. p. 490. ISBN 978-0-674-37299-3.
^ Boston Symphony Orchestra (1894). Programme. The Orchestra. p. 403.
^ Paul E. Eisler (1972). World Chronology of Music History: 1594-1684. Oceana Publications. p. 432. ISBN 978-0-379-16082-6.