Events in Music
- May 19 Camille Saint-Saëns' 3rd Symphony in C premieres
Birthdays in Music
- May 3 Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (d. 1971)
- May 5 Manuel Borguno, composer
- May 8 Jef van Hoof, composer
- May 12 Hermann Grabner, composer
- May 13 Joseph Achron, Latvia/US violinist/composer (Golem suite)
- May 18 Ole Windingstad, composer
- May 24 Paul Paray, French conductor and composer (d. 1979)
- May 26 Al Jolson [Asa Yoelson], American-Lithuanian jazz singer and silent actor (Mamie, Swanee), born in Seredžius, Kovno Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1950)
- May 28 Nicolai Sokoloff, near conductor (Seattle Symph), born in Kiev, Ukraine
Deaths in Music
- May 1 Heinrich Franz Daniel Stiehl, composer, dies at 56