- Feb 22 Josef Foerster, Czech composer and music teacher, born in Osenice, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (d. 1907)
- Mar 20 Henry Southwick Perkins, composer
- Apr 17 Jean-Baptiste Accolay, Belgian composer, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1900)
- May 7 Johannes Brahms, German composer and conductor (Hung Dances), born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1897)
- May 9 Boleslaw Dembinski, Polish organist and composer, born in Poznań (d. 1914)
- Jun 7 Alexander Ritter, German composer, born in Narva, Estonia (d. 1896)
- Jun 27 Władysław Zaremba, Ukrainian composer, born in Dunajowce, Ukraine (d. 1902)
- Jul 22 Benjamin Hanby, American composer (Jolly Old Saint Nicholas"), born in Rushville, Ohio (d. 1867)
- Sep 21 Josef Richard Rozkošný, Czech composer, born in Prague (d. 1913)
- Oct 18 Johannes Habert, composer
- Nov 12 Aleksandr Porfirievich Borodin, Russian composer (Robert LeDiable)