- Jan 17 Henry Charles Tonking, British organist and composer, born in Camborne, Cornwall (d. 1926)
- Feb 5 Armand Parent, Belgian violinist and composer, born in Liège, Belgium (d. 1934)
- Feb 7 Mieczyslaw Soltys, Polish composer, born in Lemberg, Kingdom of Galicia. Austrian Empire (now Lviv, Ukraine) (d. 1929)
- Feb 19 Emánuel Moór, Hungarian composer, pianist, and inventor of musical instruments, born in Kecskemét, Hungary (d. 1931)
- Mar 20 Ernesto Nazareth, Brazilian pianist dance and classical music composer, born in Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil (d. 1934)
- Mar 21 Hugo Kaun, German composer, born in Berlin (d. 1932)
- Apr 17 Johannes Petrus Boskaljon, Curacaoian composer and conductor, born in Willemstad (d. 1936)
- Apr 19 Felix Blumenfeld, Russian composer, conductor and pianist, born in Kirovohrad, Ukraine (d. 1931)
- Apr 28 Alfred Zamara Austrian harpist, composer, and teacher, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1940)
- May 12 Charles Bordes, French composer, born in La Roche-Corbon, France (d. 1909)
- Jun 2 (Paul) Felix Weingartner, Austrian pianist, conductor (Vienna Philharmonic, 1907-27; first to record all nine of Beethoven's symphonies), and composer (Die Dorfschule), born in Zara, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary (now Zadar, Croatia) (d. 1942)
- Jun 5 Arthur Somervell, English composer, born in Windermere, Westmorland (d. 1937)
- Jun 13 Josef Venantius von Woss, Austrian composer, born in Kotor, Montenegro (d. 1943)
- Jun 16 Paul Antonin Vidal, French composer, born in Toulouse, France (d. 1931)
- Jul 19 Dwijendralal Ray, Bengali poet, playwright and lyricist (Dwijendrageeti), born in Krishnanagar, British India (d. 1913)
- Jul 19 Hermann Bahr, Austrian writer (Concert), born in Linz, Austria (d. 1934)
- Jul 26 Jāzeps Vītols, Latvian composer, born in Valmiera, Russian Empire (d. 1948)
- Aug 11 Árpád Szendy, Hungarian pianist, composer, and educator, born in Szarvas, Hungary (d. 1922)
- Sep 8 Gustavo Campa, Mexican composer, born in Mexico City (d. 1934)
- Sep 15 Horatio Parker, American organist and composer, born in Auburndale, Massachusetts (d. 1919)
- Oct 9 Alexander Siloti, Russian pianist and composer, born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Russian Empire (d. 1945)
- Oct 11 Xavier Henry Napoleon Leroux, French composer, born in Velletri, Italy (d. 1919)
- Oct 24 Manuel Manrique de Lara, Spanish composer (The Oresteia), born in Cartagena, Murcia (d. 1929)
- Nov 1 Alfred Reisenauer, German pianist and composer, born in Königsberg (d. 1907)
- Nov 3 Eugène Samuel-Holeman, Belgian composer, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1942)
- Nov 4 William Faulkes, British organist, transcriber and composer, born in Liverpool, England (d. 1933)
- Nov 29 Spyridon Samaras, Greek composer (Olympic Hymn), born in Corfu, Greece (d. 1917)
- Nov 30 Gellio Benevenuto Coronaro, Italian pianist and composer, born in Vicenza, Italy (d. 1916)
- Dec 2 Gustav Wohlgemuth, German composer, born in Leipzig, Germany (d. 1937)
- Dec 7 John Ebenezer West, English composer, born in Hackney, London (d. 1929)
- Dec 7 Pietro Mascagni, Italian composer (Cavalleria Rusticana), born in Livorno, Italy (d. 1945)
- Dec 17 Ion Vidu, Romanian composer and conductor, born in Mânerău, Arad district (d. 1931)