Year 1879 in Music History

Events in Music

Event of Interest

Jan 1 Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major premieres in Leipzig

Composer and Conductor Johannes Brahms — Composer and Conductor
Johannes Brahms

Birthdays in Music

Jan 2 Sydney Baynes, British conductor, arranger, band leader and composer (Destiny Waltz; Endure to Conquer), born in Sudbury, England (d. 1938)
Jan 24 Stanislaw Lyudkevich, Ukranian composer, born in Jaroslaw, Habsburg Empire (now Poland) (d. 1979)
Jan 27 Sven Holger Körling, Swedish organist, music teacher, and composer of children's songs, born in Ystad, Sweden (d. 1948)
Feb 9 [Carl] Natanael Berg, Swedish composer, born in Stockholm (d. 1957)
Feb 10 Franz Carl Bornschein, American composer, born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1948)
Feb 11 Jean Gilbert [Max Winterfeld], German composer, born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1942)
Feb 25 Otakar Ostrcil, composer
Feb 26 Frank Bridge, English violinist, composer, conductor and tutor of Benjamin Britten, born in Brighton, England (d. 1941)
Feb 27 Jose Sancho Marraco, composer
Mar 11 Justus Hermann Wetzel, composer
Mar 19 Joseph Haas, German late romantic opera composer (Tobias Wunderlich, Totenmesse), born in Maihingen, Bavaria, German Empire (d. 1960)
Mar 25 Otakar Zich, Czech composer, born in Městec Králové (d. 1934)
Apr 4 Gabriel Grovlez, French pianist, conductor (Opéra de Paris, 1914-34), and composer (L'Almanach aux images), born in Lille, France (d. 1944)
Apr 29 Thomas Beecham, English composer (found London Philharmonic), born in St Helens, Lancashire (d. 1961)
May 6 Tobias Norlind, Swedish musicologist, born in Vellinge, Sweden (d. 1947)
May 22 Eastwood Lane, American composer, born in Brewerton, New York (d. 1951)
May 22 Jean Cras, French composer, born in Brest, France (d. 1932)
May 31 Mark Hambourg, Russian-British composer, born in Boguchar, Russia (d. 1960)
Jun 5 Adolf Wiklund, Swedish composer, born in Långserud, Värmland, Sweden (d. 1950)
Jun 10 Benjamin Lambord, American composer, born in Portland, Maine (d. 1915)
Jun 24 Agrippina J Vaganova, Russian ballet dancer
Jun 28 Sigurd von Koch, Swedish composer, born in Ägnö, Stockholm archipelago, Sweden (d. 1919)
Jul 3 Philippe Gaubert, French musician and composer, born in Cahors, France (d. 1941)
Jul 5 Wanda Landowska, Polish-French harpsichordist (Musique Ancienne), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1959)
Jul 5 Volkmar Andreae, Swiss conductor and composer (Tonhalle Orchestra), born in Bern, Switzerland (d. 1962)
Jul 7 Jacob Weinberg, Russian-born Jewish composer, born in Odessa, Ukraine (d. 1956)
Jul 9 Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (Pines of Rome), born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1936)
Jul 22 Gustaf Heintze, Swedish pianist, organist, pedagogue and composer, born in Jönköping (d. 1946)
Aug 13 John Ireland, English composer and pianist (Mai-Dun), born in Bowdon, Cheshire, England (d. 1962)
Aug 23 Alfrēds Kalniņš, Latvian composer, born in Cēsis, Russian Empire (d. 1951)
Aug 24 Rentaro Taki, Japanese pianist and composer, born in Tokyo (d. 1903)
Aug 31 Viktor Alexandrovich Uspensky, composer
Aug 31 Alma Mahler, Viennese composer and Wife of Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius and Franz Werfel, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1964)
Sep 25 Luís Costa, Portuguese composer, born in Monte de Fralães, Barcelos (d. 1960)
Sep 27 Cyril Scott, English composer and author (Heroic Suite), born in Oxton, Cheshire (d. 1970)
Sep 29 Joaquin Nin y Castellanos, composer
Sep 30 Ernst Isler, Swiss organist and critic, born in Zurich (d. 1944)
Sep 30 Henri Casadesus, French violist and composer (Preludes for Viola d'amour), born in Paris, France (d. 1947)
Oct 5 Halfdan Cleve [née Klewe], Norwegian pianist and composer, born in Kongsberg, Norway (d. 1951)
Oct 7 Joe Hill, Jevla Sweden, organizer (IWW)/songwriter (Union Scab)/martyr
Oct 7 Joseph Bovet, composer
Oct 13 Peter Van Anrooy, Dutch conductor and composer (Piet Hein Rhapsodie), born in Zaltbommel, the Netherlands (d. 1954)
Oct 18 Grzegorz Fitelberg, Polish violinist/conductor/composer, born in Daugavpils, Russian Empire (now Latvia); (d. 1953)
Oct 21 Marie Joseph Canteloube de Malaret, composer
Oct 25 Jean Rogister, Belgian virtuoso violist and composer, born in Liège, Belgium (d. 1964)
Oct 25 Mayhew Lester Lake, American composer, born in Southville, Massachusetts (d. 1955)
Oct 28 Conrado del Campo y Zabaleta, Spanish composer, born in Madrid (d. 1953)
Nov 13 Maurice Delage, French composer, born in Paris, France (d. 1961)
Nov 14 Geoffrey Turton Shaw, composer
Nov 27 Adam Tadeusz Wieniawski, Polish composer, born in Warsaw, Russian Empire (d. 1950)
Nov 29 Jacob Gade, Danish violinist and composer (Jalousie ; Cinema Music), born in Vejle, Denmark (d. 1963)
Dec 4 Hamilton Harty, Irish composer and conductor called "the prince of accompanists", born in Hillsborough, Ireland (d. 1941)
Dec 7 Rudolf Friml, Czech-American composer (Bohemian suite), born in Prague, Czech Republic (d. 1972)
Dec 12 Percy Fletcher, British composer, born in Derby (d. 1932)
Dec 15 Rudolf von Laban, Czech-German choreographer (modern dance), born in Bratislava, Austria-Hungary (d. 1958)
Dec 19 Otto Emanuel Olsson, Swedish organist and composer, born in Stockholm (d. 1964)
Dec 24 Stanislav Pylypovych Lyudkevych, Polish composer, born in Jarosław, Poland (d. 1979)
Dec 26 Armen Tigran Tigranyan, Armenian music composer and conductor, born in Alexandropol, Armenia (d. 1950)
Dec 26 Julius Weismann, German pianist, conductor, and composer (Schwanenweiß), born in Freiburg im Breisgau (d. 1950)

Weddings in Music

Wedding of Interest

Dec 30 Composer John Philip Sousa (25) weds Jane van Middlesworth Bellis

Deaths in Music

Jan 23 Adolf Jensen, composer, dies at 42
Apr 9 Ernst Richter, German musical theorist and composer, dies at 70
Jul 6 Henry Smart, English organist and composer, dies at 65
Aug 22 Friedrich August Kummer, composer, dies at 82
Sep 8 Nikolay Ivanovich Zaremba, composer, dies at 58
Sep 12 Peter Arnold Heise, composer, dies at 49