Events in Music
- Mar 16 Jules Massenet's opera "Thaïs" premieres in Paris, includes piece “Méditation” for violin and orchestra
- Apr 9 1st performance of Anton Bruckner's 5th Symphony in B in Graz
- Apr 19 Jules Massenet's opera "Werther" premieres in NYC
- May 12 Ludwig Englander's musical "Passing Show" premieres in NYC
Event of Interest
Dec 22 Claude Debussy's first orchestral masterpiece "Prélude à l'apres-midi d'un faune" premieres in Paris
Claude Debussy
Birthdays in Music
- Jan 4 Wesley La Violette, composer
- Jan 7 Jose Rozo Contreras, Colombian composer (d. 1976)
- Jan 11 Jaroslav Vogel, Czech composer and conductor (d. 1970)
- Jan 16 Irving Mills, American jazz music publisher (d. 1985)
- Jan 20 Walter Hamor Piston, Rockland Maine, composer (Incredible Flutis)
- Jan 31 Isham Jones, American musician, bandleader and songwriter (Star Dust, I'll See You in My Dreams), born in Coalton, Ohio (d. 1956)
- Feb 1 James P. Johnson, American pianist and composer (Charleston), born in New Brunswick, New Jersey (d. 1955)
- Feb 11 Alfonso Leng, composer
- Feb 22 Alexander Spitzmuller-Harmersbach, composer
- Feb 27 Robert-Lucien Siohan, composer
- Mar 2 Renaat Veremans, Flemish composer/conductor
- Mar 14 Josef Schelb, German composer, born in Bad Krozingen, Germany (d. 1977)
- Mar 15 Slava Vorlova, composer
- Mar 25 Erik William Gustav Leidzen, composer
- Mar 26 Viorica Ursuleac, Romanian soprano (d. 1985)
- Apr 9 Ernest Kanitz, Austrian-American composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1978)
- Apr 13 Ludvig Irgens Jensen, composer
- Apr 15 Bessie Smith, American blues singer nicknamed the "Empress of Blues" (over 200 songs), born in Chattanooga, Tennessee (d. 1937)
- Apr 23 Charles "Cow Cow" Davenport, American boogie-woogie and blues musician, born in Anniston, Alabama (d. 1955)
- Apr 27 Nicolas Slonimsky, Russian-American composer, born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1995)
- May 6 Filip Lazar, Romanian composer, born in Craiova (d. 1936)
- May 10 Dimitri Tiomkin, Russian-American film score composer and conductor (Academy Award 1954-High & Mighty), born in Kremenchuk, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1979)
- Jun 6 Sabin Drăgoi, Romanian composer, born in Seliște, Romania (d. 1968)
- Jun 8 Erwin Schulhoff, Czech-Russian composer and pianist (Ogelala), born in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1942)
- Jun 10 Pavel Borkovec, Czech composer (Stmivani, [Twilight])
- Jun 15 Robert Russell Bennett, composer/arranger (Oklahoma!), born in Kansas City, Kansas
- Jun 16 Norman Kerry, American actor (Phantom of the Opera), born in Rochester, New York (d. 1956)
- Jun 26 Bill Wirges, American orchestra leader (Growing Paynes), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1971)
- Jul 10 Jimmy McHugh, American composer, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1969)
- Jul 18 Bernard Wagenaar, Dutch-American composer (3 Songs for Chinese), born in Arnherm, Netherlands (d. 1971)
- Jul 24 Walter Schulthess, Swiss composer, born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 1971)
- Jul 31 Roy Bargy, American pianist and composer (Jimmy Durante Show), born in Newaygo, Michigan (d. 1974)
- Aug 11 Wilhelm Grosz, composer
- Aug 13 Leonid Alexeyevich Polovinkin, Russian composer, born in Kurgan, Russia (d. 1949)
- Aug 28 Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor, born in Graz, Austria (d. 1981)
- Sep 8 Willem Pijper, Dutch composer and music critic, born in Zeist, Netherlands (d. 1947)
- Sep 9 Arthur Freed, American songwriter and film producer (d. 1973)
- Sep 13 Julian Tuwim, Polish poet and lyricist, born in Łódź, Congress Poland (d. 1953)
- Sep 22 Hieronim Feicht, composer
- Sep 29 Franco Capuana, composer
- Oct 1 Ricardo Castillo, Guatemalan composer, born in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala (d. 1966)
- Oct 11 Albert Stoessel, American composer, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1943)
- Oct 22 Méi Lánfāng, Chinese opera performer (d. 1961)
- Oct 30 Peter Warlock [Philip Heseltine], British composer, born in London (d. 1930)
- Nov 11 Aaron Avshalomov, composer
- Nov 29 Lucille Hegamin, American singer and entertainer (d. 1970)
- Dec 14 Joaquin Zamacois Soler, Chilean-Spanish composer, born in Santiago de Chile, Chile (d. 1976)
- Dec 17 Arthur Fiedler, American conductor (Boston Pops), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1979)
- Dec 19 Paul Dessau, German composer and conductor (Adventures of Casanova, Never Trust a Woman), born in Hamburg, Germany
- Dec 26 Antonio Molina, Filipino composer, conductor and music administrator (Ana Maria, Hatinggabi), born in Quiapo, Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines (d. 1980)
- Dec 31 Ernest John Moeran, English composer, born in London Borough of Hounslow, United Kingdom (d. 1950)
Deaths in Music
- Jan 21 Guillaume Jean Joseph Nicolas Lekeu, composer, dies at 24
- Feb 4 Adolphe Sax, Belgium musician and inventor (saxophone), dies at 79
- Feb 11 Pasqual Juan Emilio Arrieta y Corera, composer, dies at 70
- Feb 12 Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer (b. 1830)
- Feb 19 Ernesto Camillo Sivori, Italian violinist and composer, dies at 78
- Mar 21 Jacob Rosenhaim, composer, dies at 80
- Mar 24 Robert Prescott Stewart, composer, dies at 68
- May 24 William Joseph Westbrook, composer, dies at 63
- Jun 5 Immanuel Faisst, German composer, dies at 70
- Jul 8 Vladimir Nikitich Kashperov, Russian composer, dies at 67
- Jul 13 Juventino Rosas, composer, dies at 26
- Aug 18 William Charles Levey, Irish conductor and composer, dies at 57
- Sep 13 Alexis Emmanuel Chabrier, French composer (España, Joyeuse marche, Le Roi Malgré Lui), dies from general paresis at 53
- Nov 20 Anton Rubinstein, Russian composer (Dmitri Donskoi), dies at 64