- Dec 1 Dominicus Johner, composer
- Dec 22 Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer & musician, born in Bratislava, Slovakia (d. 1939)
- Dec 25 Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano (d. 1944)
- Dec 27 Max Ettinger, Jewish-German composer (Jiddische Requiem), born in Lwow, Poland (d. 1951)
- Dec 31 Ernest Austin, English composer, born in Poplar, London (d. 1947)