- Jan 25 Giuseppe Radiciotti, Italian musicologist and composer, born in Iesi, Papal States (d. 1931)
- Feb 14 C. B. Hawley, American organist and composer, born in Brookfield, Connecticut (d. 1915)
- Feb 17 Ernest Ford, English composer, born in Warminster, Wiltshire, England (d. 1919)
- Feb 24 Arnold Dolmetsch, French-Bohemian musician, instrument builder, and promoter of early music, born in LeMans, France (d. 1940)
- Mar 7 Nikolai Artzibushev, Russian composer, born in Tsarskoye Selo, Russian Empire (d. 1937)
- Mar 27 Peter C. Lutkin, American composer, born in Thompsonville, Wisconsin (d. 1931)
- Mar 30 Siegfried Alkan, German composer, born in Dillingen, Saarland, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1941)
- Apr 19 Siegfried Ochs, German composer, born in Frankfurt, Germany (d. 1929)
- Apr 20 Auguste Chapuis, French composer, born in Dampierre-sur-Salon, France (d. 1933)
- Apr 22 Ethel Smyth, English composer, born in Sidcup, Kent (d. 1944)
- May 1 Anthony Johnson Showalter, American composer, born in Cherry Grove, Virginia (d. 1924)
- May 6 Georges Hüe, French composer, born in Versailles, France (d. 1948)
- May 10 Frederick Zech Jr, American composer and pianist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1926)
- May 16 Frank Lynes, American composer, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1913)
- May 16 Hanus Trnecek, Czech composer and conductor, born in PraguePrague, Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic) (d. 1914)
- Jun 8 Antoni Nicolau, Spanish composer and conductor, born in Barcelona (d. 1933)
- Jun 8 Harry Rowe Shelley, American composer (known for his hymn music), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1947)
- Jul 10 Karl Flodin, Finnish composer and critic, born in Vaasa, Finland (d. 1925)
- Jul 16 Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violin virtuoso (Caesar Franck's sonata), composer (Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, op. 27), educator (Brussels Conservatoire, 1881-98), and conductor (Cincinnati Symphony, 1918-22), born in Liège, Belgium (d. 1931)
- Aug 1 Hans Rott, Austrian composer and organist, born in Vienna, Austrian Empire (d. 1884)
- Aug 2 Catharina van Rennes, Dutch composer, born in Utrecht, Netherlands (d. 1940)
- Aug 6 Albert Fuchs, Swiss-German composer, born in Basel, Switzerland (d. 1910)
- Sep 13 Catherinus Elling, Norwegian organist, composer, educator, and ethnomusicologist, born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway (d. 1942)
- Sep 15 Jenő Hubay [Huber], Hungarian violinist, composer, and educator (Budapest Conservatory, 1886-1934), born in Pest, Hungary (d. 1937)
- Sep 29 Leopoldo Mugnone, Italian opera composer and conductor, born in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilie (d. 1941)
- Oct 15 Frank Valentine der Stucken, American-Belgian composer, born in Fredericksburg, Texas (d. 1929)
- Nov 12 Alexis Contant, Canadian pianist, organist and composer, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1918)
- Dec 13 Jakab Gyula Major, Hungarian pianist and composer, born in Kosice, Czech Republic (d. 1925)
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Dec 22 Italian opera composer (La bohème; Tosca; Madame Butterfly), born in Lucca, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
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