Birthdays in Music
- Jan 2 Mily Balakirev, Russian pianist and composer (Islamej, Tamara), born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia (d. 1910)
- Jan 12 Adolf Jensen, composer
- Jan 12 Carlos Troyer, American composer, born in Frankfurt, Germany (d. 1920)
- Jan 23 Amanda Smith, American former slave, singer and evangelist, born in Long Green, Maryland (d. 1915)
- Feb 13 Valentin de Zubiaurre y Unionbarrenechea, composer
- Mar 12 Felix Alexandre Guilmant, composer
- Mar 23 Joseph Wieniawski, composer
- Apr 25 William Charles Levey, Irish conductor and composer, born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1894)
- Apr 30 Alfred R. Gaul, English composer, born in Nottingham (d. 1913)
- May 29 Luca Fumagalli, Italian composer, born in Inzago, Italy (d. 1908)
- Jun 8 Jan Kleczyński Sr., Polish painist and composer, born in Janiewicze, Russian Empire (d. 1895)
- Jun 23 Ernest Guiraud, composer
- Jul 6 Władysław Żeleński, Polish organist and composer, born in Grodkowice (d. 1921)
- Jul 11 Paul Lacombe, French composer, born in Carcassonne, France (d. 1927)
- Jul 20 Hans Sommer, German theatre composer, born in Brunswick (d. 1922)
- Jul 28 Christian Barnekow, Danish composer, born in Luz-Saint-Sauveur, France (d. 1913)
- Aug 24 Theodore Dubois, French composer, born in Rosnay, Marne, France (d. 1924)
- Aug 27 Heinrich Urban, German violinist and composer, born in Berlin (d. 1901)
- Sep 15 Leo van Gheluwe, composer
- Sep 19 Adolf Sonnenfeld, Polish violinist and composer, born in Wrocław, Poland (d. 1914)
- Oct 8 Otto Winter-Hjelm, Norwegian musician and composer, born in Oslo, Norway (d. 1931)
- Oct 16 John Francis Barnett, composer
- Nov 9 Alfred Holmes, English violinist and composer, born in London (d. 1876)
- Nov 17 Willem Coenen, composer
- Dec 9 Émile Waldteufel, French composer, born in Strasbourg (d. 1915)
- Dec 25 Cosima Liszt, wife of Austrian composer Richard Wagner
- Dec 28 Benjamin Johnson Lang, American conductor and composer, born in Salem, Massachusetts (d. 1909)
Weddings in Music
Wedding of Interest
Mar 28 German composer Felix Mendelssohn (27) marries Cécile Jeanrenaud (20)
Felix Mendelssohn
Deaths in Music
- Jan 23 John Field, Irish pianist and composer (Nocturnes), dies at 54
- Mar 26 Joseph Lincke, German cellist and composer, dies at 53
- May 5 Niccolo Antonio Zingarelli, Italian composer (Andromeda), dies at 85
- Jun 16 Valentino Fioravanti, Italian composer, dies at 72
- Jun 20 Giovanni Furno, composer, dies at 89
- Jul 28 John Ross, British composer and organist, dies at 73
- Sep 23 Richard John Samuel Stevens, English composer, dies at 80
- Oct 6 Jean-Francois Le Sueur, composer, dies at 77
- Oct 11 Samuel Wesley, composer (Exultate Deo), dies at 71
- Oct 17 Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Austrian composer, dies at 58