- Jan 1 Jaroslav Ježek, Czechoslovakian composer, dies at 35
- Jan 4 Leon Jessel, German composer (The Parade of the Tin Soldiers), dies at 70
- Jan 6 Emma Calvé, French soprano (b. 1858)
- Jan 8 Arvo Hannikainen, Finnish composer, dies at 44
- Jan 17 Frederick Jerome Work, African American composer, dies at 61
- Jan 21 Henryk Opieński, Polish violinist, conductor, choral director, composer (Zygmunt August and Barbara), and musicologist (Moniuszko), dies at 72
- Jan 25 Eugène Samuel-Holeman, Belgian composer, dies at 78
- Jan 28 Pablo Luna, Spanish composer (De España vengo), dies at 61
- Jan 29 Ladislao Joseph Philip Paul Zavrtal, Czech-Italian conductor and composer, dies at 92
- Jan 30 Vasily Pavovlich Kalafati, composer, dies at 72
- Feb 15 Guido Adler, Bohemian-Austrian musicologist (Still in the Music), dies at 91
- Feb 15 Stanislav Binički, Serbian composer, dies at 69
- Feb 20 Guido Gasperini, Italian composer, dies at 76
- Feb 25 Leo Ascher, Austrian-born composer who moved to the US, dies at 61
- Mar 2 Charlie Christian, American jazz and swing guitarist (Benny Goodman Sextet), dies of tuberculosis at 25 [1] [2]
- Mar 4 Yuliya Lazarevna Veysberg, composer, dies at 62
- Mar 12 Enric Morera i Viura, Spanish musician and composer, dies at 76
- Mar 15 Alexander von Zemlinsky, Austrian composer, conductor, and arranger (The Mermaid; Lyric Symphony), dies from a stroke at 70 [1]
- Mar 20 Theodoro Valcarcel, composer, dies at 41
- Mar 20 Vasily Kalafati, Russian composer (Cygany), dies in the siege of Leningrad during World War II at 73
- Apr 3 Albert Siklós, Hungarian composer, dies at 63
- Apr 3 Paul Gilson, Belgian composer, dies at 76
- Apr 8 Kostas Skarvelis, Greek songwriter (b. 1880)
- Apr 30 Catherine Murphy Urner, American composer, dies at 51
- May 7 Felix Paul von Weingartner, Austria conductor/composer, dies at 79
- May 10 Joseph M Weber, comedian/singer (Weber & Lewis Fields), dies at 74
- May 13 Hyam Greenbaum, British violinist, composer and conductor of the 1st TV orchestra (BBC), dies of alcohol-related problems at 41
- May 17 Alfred Hollins, British composer, dies at 76
- May 25 Emanuel Feuermann, cellist (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), dies at 39
- Jun 1 Ernest Pingoud, Finnish composer, dies at 53
- Jun 12 Walter Leigh, British composer (The Frogs of Aristophanes), dies at 36
- Jun 18 Arthur Pryor, American band composer and trombone player, dies at 71
- Jul 8 Catherinus Elling, Norwegian organist, composer, educator, and ethno-musicologist, dies at 83
- Aug 4 Alberto Franchetti, Italian composer, dies at 81
- Aug 11 Richard Heinrich Stein, German composer, and music theorist (La musica moderna), dies at 60
- Aug 18 Erwin Schulhoff, Czech-Russian composer and pianist (Ogelala), dies of tuberculosis at 48 in a German concentration camp in Wülzburg, Bavaria
- Aug 22 Henry Eichheim, American violinist, composer, organologist, and ethno-musicologist dies at 72
- Aug 22 Mikhail Fokine, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, dies at 62
- Aug 25 Panayot Pipkov, Bulgarian composer, dies at 70
- Oct 11 Leonid Vladimirovich Nikolayev, Russian-Soviet composer, dies at 64
- Oct 23 Ralph Rainger, American film composer, dies at 41
- Nov 1 Hugo Distler, German organist, choral conductor and composer, dies at 34
George M. Cohan
Nov 5 George M. Cohan, American father of musical comedy (Phantom President; Give My Regards to Broadway), dies of cancer at 64
- Nov 16 Joseph Schmidt, Austrian-Hungarian tenor and actor (Der Liebesexpreß, A Star Fell from Heaven), dies from a heart attack at 38
- Nov 19 Edouard Combe, Swiss composer, dies at 76
- Dec 3 Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Swedish composer and music critic, dies at 75
- Dec 13 Eleanor Everest Freer, American composer, dies at 78
- Dec 20 Jean Gilbert [Max Winterfeld], German composer, dies at 63
- Dec 24 Friedrich Klose, German-Swiss composer (König Elf), dies at 80
- Dec 25 Vojislav Vuckovic, composer, dies at 32