- Jan 16 Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal, dies at 82
- Jan 22 Franz Xaver Josef von Unertl, Bavarian politician (b. 1675)
- Jan 26 Albert Schultens, Dutch philologist (b. 1686)
- Feb 2 Johann Graf, German composer, dies at 65
- Feb 8 Aaron Hill, English playwright and poet (Tragedy of Zara), dies at 65
- Feb 22 Pietro Filippo Scarlotti, composer, dies at 71
- Mar 7 Cornelis Troost, Dutch portrait painter (Beslikte Zwaentje), dies at 52
- May 3 John Willison, Scottish minister and writer (b. 1680)
- May 28 Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (b. 1720)
- May 29 Giuseppe Porsile, Neapolitan composer, dies at 70
- Jun 2 Johann Valentin Rathgeber, German organist, Benedictine priest, choirmaster, and composer (Augsburger Tafel-Confect), dies of gout at 68
- Jun 14 Franz Anton Maichelbeck, German composer, dies at 47
- Jun 15 Marguerite De Launay, Baronne Staal, French writer (b. 1684)
- Jul 15 Vasily Tatishchev, Russian statesman, dies at 73
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Jul 28 German composer (St. Matthew's Passion; Brandenburg Concertos; Toccata and Fugue), dies at 65
- Jul 31 John V, King of Portugal (1706-50), dies at 60
- Aug 12 Rachel Ruysch, royal painter of sovereign Johan von de Pfalz, dies
- Sep 15 Charles Theodore Pachelbel, German-American composer (son of Johann Pachelbel, one of the first European composers to emigrate to America), dies at 59
- Oct 3 Georg Matthias Monn, Austrian composer, dies at 33
- Oct 16 Silvius Leopold Weiss, German composer and lutenist, dies at 64
- Nov 1 Gustaaf Willem, baron van Imhoff, Dutch statesman (Governor of Ceylon 1736-40, Governor of the Dutch East Indies 1743-50), dies at 45
- Nov 15 Pantaleon Hebenstreit, German musician, composer, and instrument inventor, dies at 81
- Nov 20 Giuseppe Sammartini, Italian oboe virtuoso and late Baroque/early classical composer who served the court of the Prince of Wales, dies at 55 [exact date uncertain +/- 3 days]
- Nov 20 Wilhelmus Schortinghuis, Dutch theologist (Profound Christianity), dies at 50
- Nov 25 Francesco Feroci, composer, dies at 77
- Dec 1 Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr, German mathematician, astronomer and cartographer, dies at 73