- Jan 9 Edwin Arthur Jones, American composer (Song of our Saviour), dies at 57
- Jan 15 Wilhelm Berger, German composer, pianist and conductor, dies at 49
- Jan 24 Carl Eilhardt, German composer and conductor, dies at 67
- Feb 20 Alexander Alexandrovich Kopilov, composer, dies at 56
- Feb 20 Peter Nicolai von Wilm, composer, dies at 76
- Mar 20 Jean-Theodore Radoux, Belgian composer, dies at 75
- Mar 29 Felix Alexandre Guilmant, composer, dies at 74
- Apr 10 Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis, composer, dies at 35
- May 18 Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer & conductor (Children's Death Songs), dies of heart disease at 50
- Jun 14 Johan Severin Svendsen, composer, dies at 70
- Jun 18 Franjo Ksaver Kuhač, Croatian composer who collected and published 1,600 folk songs, dies at 76
- Jul 2 Felix Mottl, Austrian conductor and composer (Agnes Bernauer), dies at 54
- Jul 25 Filippo Capocci, composer, dies at 71
- Aug 10 Carl Lumbye, Danish composer, dies at 70
- Aug 16 Karl Munzinger, composer, dies at 68
- Oct 5 Charles Malherbe, French violinist and composer, dies at 58
- Nov 3 Salvador Giner y Vidal, composer, dies at 79
- Nov 9 Edmund Schücker, Austrian composer, dies at 50
- Dec 11 Thomas Ball, American sculptor, painter and musician, dies at 92
- Dec 18 Alberto Randegger, Italian composer, dies at 79
- Dec 23 Karl Hoschna, Tin Pan Alley-era composer (Every Little Movement), dies at 34