- Jan 5 Nikolai Medtner, Russian pianist and composer (Skazi), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1951)
- Jan 6 Yuliya Veysberg, Russian music critic & composer, born in Orenburg, Russia (d. 1942)
- Jan 11 Rudolf Palm, Curaçaoan pianist and composer, born in Curaçao (d. 1950)
- Jan 25 Francis George Scott, Scottish composer, born in Hawick, Roxburghshire (d. 1958)
- Feb 1 Antonio Guarnieri, Italian cellist and opera conductor (La Scala, 1929-50), born in Venice, Italy (d. 1952)
- Feb 1 Francesco Balilla Pratella, Italian composer, born in Lugo, Italy (d. 1955)
- Feb 14 Aida Overton Walker, African-American dancer & singer (In Dahomey, Salome), born in Richmond, Virginia (d. 1914)
- Feb 14 Edgar Bainton, British-Australian composer, born in Hackney, London (d. 1956)
- Feb 18 Eric De Lamarter, American organist, composer and conductor (Chicago Symphony), born in Lansing, Michigan (d. 1953)
- Feb 19 Arthur Shepherd, American composer, born in Paris, Indiana (d. 1958)
- Feb 23 Edgar Istel, German composer, born in Mainz (d. 1948)
- Mar 17 Guillermo Uribe Holguin, Colombian composer, born in Bogotá, Colombia (d. 1971)
- Apr 26 Mikhail Fokine, Russian choreographer and founder of modern dance, born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire (d. 1942)
- May 21 Pablo Luna, Spanish composer (De España vengo), born in Alhama de Aragón, Spain (d. 1942)
- Jul 2 Albert Szirmai, Hungarian operetta composer, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1967)
- Jul 3 Carl Schuricht, German conductor and composer, born in Gdańsk, Poland (d. 1967)
- Jul 5 Jan Kubelik, Czech composer and violinist, born in Michle (d. 1940)
- Jul 18 Otto Vrieslander, German composer, born in Münster, Germany (d. 1950)
- Jul 24 Ernest Bloch, Swiss-American composer (Schelomo; Israel; Avodath Hakodesh), and educator (UC Berkeley, 1941-52), born in Geneva, Switzerland (d. 1959)
- Aug 5 Gertrude E Durden Rush, American composer, and playwright (Black Girls Burden), born in Navasota, Texas (d. 1962)
- Aug 10 Clarence Cameron White, American concert violinist, and composer (Ouanga!), born in Clarksville, Tennessee (d. 1960)
- Aug 11 Frederick Jerome Work, composer
- Aug 17 Leo Ascher, Austrian-American operetta composer (Hoheit tanzt Walzer - Her Highness Dances the Waltz), Vienna, Austria (d. 1942)
- Aug 25 Robert E. Stolz, Austrian composer and conductor, born in Graz, Austria (d. 1975)
- Sep 7 Attilio Brugnoli, Italian pianist and composer, born in Rome (d. 1937)
- Sep 7 Kurt von Wolfurt, German composer, born in Lettin (d. 1957)
- Sep 17 Désiré Inghelbrecht, French composer, conductor and writer, born in Paris, France (d. 1965)
- Sep 20 Ildebrando Pizzetti, Italian composer, born in Parma, Italy (d. 1968)
- Oct 2 George Alexander Russell, American organist, composer and the first Frick Professor of Music for Princeton University, born in Franklin, Tennessee (d. 1953)
- Oct 6 Julia Culp, Dutch mezzo-soprano, born in Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1970)
- Oct 7 Jaime Pahissa, composer
- Oct 12 (James) Healey Willan, British-Canadian organist, composer, and educator, born in Balham, London, England (d. 1968)
- Nov 2 John Foulds, British cellist, musicologist, and composer (World Requiem; Three Mantras), born in Hulme, Manchester, England (d. 1939)
- Nov 3 Raffaele Casimiri, Italian musicologist and composer, born in Gualdo Tadino, Italy (d. 1943)
- Nov 9 Rudolf Karel, Czech composer (Three Hairs of the Wise Old Man), born in Pilseň, Czech Republic (d. 1945)
- Dec 5 Alexander Schmuller, Russian-Dutch violinist and conductor, born in Mazyr, Belarus (d. 1933)
- Dec 19 Nemesio Otaño, Spanish organist, choral director, educator, and composer (Basque Suite), born in Azcoitia, Spain (d. 1956) [1]
- Dec 29 Jean-Fernand Vaubourgoin, French composer (Ophellia), born in Bordeaux, France (d. 1952)
- Dec 30 Alfred Einstein, German-American musicologist and nephew of Albert Einstein, born in Munich, Germany (d. 1952)