- Feb 15 Ernst Eichner, German composer and bassoonist, born in Arolsen (d. 1777)
- Mar 19 Johann Georg Roser, composer
- Mar 19 Joseph F Weigl, German/Austrian(?), violin cellist
- Mar 24 John Antes, American composer and missionary, born in Frederick, Pennsylvania (d. 1811)
- Apr 4 Wolfgang Nicolaus Haueisen, composer
- May 9 Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer (Barber of Seville), born in Roccaforzata, Taranto, Italy (d. 1816)
- Jun 8 Gabriele Mario Piozzi, composer, born in Quinzano d'Oglio, Italy (d. 1809)
- Jun 11 Luigi Gatti, Italian composer, born in Lazise, Verona (d. 1817)
- Aug 10 Samuel Arnold, composer
- Oct 8 Michel-Julien Mathieu, French composer, born in Fontainebleau, France (d. 1777)
- Oct 26 Ernest Louis Muller, Polish composer and flautist, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1811)
- Nov 4 Augustus Montague Toplady, English hymn writer (Rock of Ages), born in Farnham, Surrey, England (d. 1778)
- Dec 13 Franz Xaver Schnitzer, German composer, born in Bad Wurzach, Germany (d. 1785)