- Jan 9 John Knowles Paine, American composer (Symphony No. 2 - In Spring), born in Portland, Maine (d. 1906)
- Jan 14 Emil Bohn, German organist, choral director, composer, and musicologist, born in Bielau, Prussian Silesia (now Biała Nyska, Poland) (d. 1909)
- Jan 19 Bohumil Pazdirek, Czech composer, born in Drahanovice, Moravia (d. 1919)
- Mar 1 Laura Netzel (née Pistolekors), Finnish-Swedish pianist, composer, concert organizer, and humanitarian, born in Rantasalmi, Finland (d. 1927)
- Mar 9 Phoebe Knapp, American hymn writer and organist, born in New York City (d. 1908)
- Mar 10 Dudley Buck, American organist, composer, and music writer, born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1909)
- Mar 17 Josef Rheinberger, German organist, composer, and educator (Munich Conservatory, 1877-1901), born in Vaduz, Liechtenstein (d. 1901)
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
Mar 21 Russian composer (Boris Godunov; Night on Bald Mountain; Pictures at an Exhibition), born in Karevo, Russia
- Apr 5 Stanislaw Pilinski, French pianist and composer, born in Paris (d. 1905)
- Apr 12 Victorin de Joncières, French composer (Dimitiri), and music critic, born in Paris (d. 1903)
- Apr 18 Frantz Jehin-Prume, Canadian violinist and composer, born in Spa, Liège, Belgium (d. 1899)
- May 8 Adolphe-Basile Routhier, French Canadian lyricist ("O! Canada"), born in Saint-Placide, Quebec (d. 1920)
- May 19 Alice Mary Smith, British composer, born in London (d. 1884)
- Jul 9 Carl Baermann, German composer, born in Munich, Germany (d. 1913)
- Jul 14 (Edward) Sydney Smith, British pianist and composer, born in Dorchester, England (d. 1889)
- Jul 17 Friedrich Gernsheim, German composer, born in Worms, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (now Germany) (d. 1916)
- Aug 15 Hugh Archibald Clarke, Canadian organist, composer, and educator (The Music of The Spheres), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 1927)
- Aug 17 Hubert Platt Main, American hymn composer, and music publisher, born in Ridgefield, Connecticut (d. 1925)
- Aug 24 Eduard Napravnik, Czech conductor and composer, born in Býšť, Czech Republic (d. 1916)
- Nov 7 Henry Holmes, English violinist and composer, born in London (d. 1905)
- Nov 25 Stanisław Duniecki, Polish composer, born in Lviv, Ukraine (d. 1870)
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