- Jan 3 Friedrich Witt, German cellist and composer (Jena Symphony; , The Suffering Saviour), dies at 65
- Feb 22 John Clarke-Whitfeld, English organist and composer, dies at 65
- May 6 Christian Ignatius Latrobe, English clergyman and composer (Selection of Sacred Music), dies at 78
- May 7 Norbert Burgmuller, German composer, drowns during an epileptic seizure at 26
- May 28 Anton Reicha, Czech French composer, dies at 66
- Jun 9 Supply Belcher, American composer and singer (The Harmony of Maine), dies at 85
- Jun 26 Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, French author and composer (Marseillaise), dies at 76
- Jul 26 Jose Melchor Gomiz y Colomer, composer, dies at 45
- Sep 14 Vincenzo Lavigna, Italian composer, dies at 60
- Sep 19 Carl Friedrich Ebers, composer, dies at 66
- Sep 21 John Stafford Smith, composer, dies at 86
- Oct 10 Jacob-Joseph-Balthasar Martinn, Flemish composer, dies at 61
- Oct 16 Friedrich Theodor Frohlich, composer, dies at 33
- Dec 4 Daniel Read, American composer, dies at 79
- Dec 12 Giuseppe Farinelli, Italian composer, dies at 67
- Dec 26 Hans Georg Nägeli, Swiss composer, dies at 63
- Dec 29 Johann Baptist Schenk, Austrian composer, dies at 83