en 1742 in music

	… 1732; 1733; 1734; 1735; 1736; 1737; 1738; ; 1739; 1740; 1741; 1742; 1743; 1744; 1745; ; 1746; 1747; 1748; 1749; 1750; 1751; 1752 …;
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Events

March 23 – Johann Sebastian Bach revives his St Matthew Passion BWV 244 (BC D 3b) with some further revisions of instrumentation and voicing at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig: the work is now scored with a ripieno soprano choir and viola da gamba and harpsichord in the second orchestra (the organ for this orchestra is under repair).
April 13 – First performance of Handel's oratorio Messiah staged at the Music Hall in Fishamble Street, Dublin^[1] in aid of local charities. Matthew Dubourg leads the orchestra. Handel leaves Ireland on 13 August.
December 7 – The Berlin Court Opera is inaugurated with a performance of Carl Heinrich Graun's Cleopatra e Cesare.
Joseph Benda joins the Prussian royal orchestra.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – 6 Harpsichord Sonatas, Wq.48 (Nuremberg: Balthasar Schmid) (composed 1740–1742)
Francesco Barsanti – A Collection of Old Scots Tunes(Edinburgh: Alexander Baillie)
Jean-Joseph Mouret – Motets à une et deux voix avec symphonie (Paris: la Veuve Mouret, Mme Boivin, Le Sr Le Clerc)
Jacques-Christophe Naudot – 6 Concertos en quatre parties, for hurdy-gurdy, musette, flute, recorder, or oboe, with two violins and continuo, Op. 17 (Paris)
John Parry – Antient British music, or A collection of tunes, never before published, which are retained by the Cambro-Britons... part 1, containing 24 airs... (London: Mickleborough), compiled with Evan Williams, contains the first appearance of the melody now used for "Deck the Halls"

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
- Harpsichord Concerto in G major, H.412, Wq. 9
- 6 Harpsichord Sonatas, Wq.49 (published 1744)
Johann Sebastian Bach
- Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, BWV 212 ("Peasant Cantata")
- The Art of Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge), BWV 1080, earliest known manuscript (P200)
Louis-Nicolas Clérambault – Motets, Book I (Books I–V were all composed and published between 1742–1760 but no exact dates survive)
Michel Corrette – Concerto Turc (No. 19 from Concertos Comiques)
Christoph Graupner
- Trio Sonata in G minor, GWV 215
- Concerto for 2 Chalumeaux in C major, GWV 303
George Frideric Handel – Messiah (first performed, composed 1741)
Johann Adolph Hasse – I pellegrini al sepolcro di Nostro Signore (oratorio)
Giovanni Battista Martini – 12 Sonate d’intavolatura per l’organo e ’l cembalo (published 1747 in Bologna)
Johann Melchio Molter
- Clarinet Concerto in D major, MWV 6.36
- Clarinet Concerto in D major, MWV 6.38
Jacques-Christophe Naudot – Suite en trio, Op. 18 ^{[citation needed]}
Giovanni Benedetto Platti – 6 Harpsichord Sonatas 'sur le goût italien' (published in Nuremberg, 1742)
Franz Xaver Richter – Kemptener Te Deum
Giovanni Battista Sammartini – 12 Sonatas, Op. 2^{[citation needed]}
Domenico Scarlatti – Keyboard sonatas K. 31–93 presented to the queen.

Francesco Valls – Mapa Armónico Práctico

January 24 (buried) – Benedikt Anton Aufschnaiter, Austrian composer (born 1665)
April 16 – Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Paduan-born librettist (born 1672)
June 28 – Jan Josef Ignác Brentner, Czech composer (born 1689)
July 22 – Andrea Adami da Bolsena, Italian castrato, master of the papal choir (born 1663)
July 12 – Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco, Veronese-born violinist and composer (born 1675)
August 25 – Carlos Seixas, Portuguese composer (born 1704)
date unknown
- Matteo Goffriller, Italian cello-maker (born 1659)
- Giovanni Mossi (born c. 1680)

^ "BBC History British History Timeline". Archived from the original on 9 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-03.