- Jan 3 Jaak-Nikolaas Lemmens, Flemish composer
- Jan 5 William Rockstro, English musicologist & composer, born in Cheam, Sutton (d. 1895)
- Jan 21 Alexandre Edouard Goria, composer
- Jan 27 Edouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo, French composer (Symphonie Espagnole)
- Feb 7 Richard Genee, composer
- Mar 16 William Henry Monk, English composer and organist (Eventide), born in London, England (d. 1889)
- May 17 Charlotte Sainton-Dolby, English contralto and composer, born in London (d. 1885)
- Jun 26 Frederick Bowen Jewson, Scottish composer, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1891)
- Aug 3 Francisco Barbieri Spanish zarzuela opera composer (El Diablo en el poder), born in Madrid, Spain (d. 1894)
- Aug 7 Faustina Hasse Hodges, English-American composer, born in Malmesbury, England (d. 1895)
- Aug 14 Karel Miry, Belgian composer (De Vlaamse Leeuw), born in Ghent (d. 1889)
- Aug 26 Wilhelm Troszel, Polish operatic bass, composer and voice teacher, born in Warsaw (d. 1887)
- Sep 10 Adolf von Doss, German composer, born in Pfarrkirchen, Germany (d. 1886)
- Oct 13 Immanuel Faisst, German composer, born in Esslingen am Neckar, Stuttgart, Germany (d. 1894)
- Oct 21 Pasqual Juan Emilio Arrieta y Corera, composer
- Nov 4 Karel Komzák I, Bohemian composer and musician, born in Netěchovice, Czech Republic (d. 1893)
- Nov 26 Thomas Tellefsen, Norwegian pianist and composer, born in Trondheim, Norway (d. 1874)
- Dec 1 Ernest Reyer, French opera composer, born in Marseilles, France (d. 1909)
- Dec 10 Theodore Furchtegott Kirchner, German composer, born in Neukirchen, Germany (d. 1903)
- Dec 10 Wilhelm Kuhe, German composer, born in Prague, Czech Republic (d. 1912)
- Dec 15 Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke, German organist and composer, born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1896)
- Dec 23 Alexandru Flechtenmacher, Romanian composer, born in Iaşi, Romania (d. 1898)