- Jan 2 Karl Goldmark, Austria-Hungarian composer (Queen of Saba), dies at 84
- Jan 15 Guillaume Couture, composer, dies at 63
- Feb 7 Władysław Górski, Polish violinist, composer and teacher, dies at 68
- Feb 12 Charles Emile Waldteufel, composer, dies at 77
- Feb 16 Emil Waldteufel, [Charles Levy], French composer (Estudiantina), dies
- Feb 24 Amanda Smith, American former slave, singer and evangelist, dies at 78
- Apr 1 Johann Joseph Abert, German composer, dies at 82
- Apr 25 Nicola d' Arienzo, composer, dies at 72
- Apr 27 Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (Prometheus) and pianist, dies at 43
- Jun 4 William Charles Denis Browne, composer, dies at 26
- Jun 7 Benjamin Lambord, composer, dies at 35
- Jun 19 Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev, Russian composer (Oresteia), dies at 58
- Jul 15 Ludwik Grossman, composer, dies at 80
- Jul 17 Francesco Fanciulli, American-Italian composer, dies on 62nd birthday
- Jul 18 George William Louis Marshall-Hall, English composer, dies at 53
- Sep 29 Luther Orlando Emerson, American composer, dies at 95
- Sep 29 Rudi Stephan, German composer (Die ersten Menschen), dies fighting in World War I at 28
- Oct 2 Russell Alexander, composer, dies at 38
- Oct 5 Jose Maria Usandizaga, composer, dies at 28
- Oct 5 Otto Valdemar Malling, Danish organist and composer (Det hellige Land, opus 46), dies at 67
- Oct 7 Samuel Prowse Warren, composer, dies at 74
- Nov 14 Theodor Leschetizky, composer, dies at 85
- Nov 19 Joe Hill, Labor leader/songwriter, executed for murder
- Nov 27 Sigismund Vladislavovich Zaremba, Ukrainian-Russian composer, dies at 54
- Dec 2 Jan Malat, Czech composer, dies at 72
- Dec 4 Gustav Hollaender, composer, dies at 60
- Dec 29 C. B. Hawley, American organist and composer, dies at 57