- Jan 30 Francesco Antonio Norberto Pinto, Portuguese violinist, hornist and composer (Adoração ao Sol), dies at 44
- Mar 6 Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer, German cellist and composer (b. 1783)
- Mar 14 Louis-Antoine Jullien, French conductor, dies at 47
- Mar 28 Johann Ludwig Bohner, composer, dies at 73
- May 21 Johannes Frederik Fröhlich, Danish violinist and composer, dies at 53
- Jul 6 Alexandre Goria, French composer, dies at 37
- Aug 26 Philipp Friedrich Silcher, German composer, dies at 71
- Sep 25 Carl Friedrich Zöllner, German composer, dies at 60
- Oct 6 Stephen Elvey, English composer, dies at 55
- Nov 5 Carl Binder, Austrian composer, dies at 43
- Nov 14 Feliks Ostrowski, Polish pianist and composer, dies at 58
- Nov 28 Ludwig Rellstab, German music theorist, dies at 61