- Jan 21 Antoni Wincenty Rutkowski, Polish composer and pianist, born in Warsaw, Russian Poland (d. 1886)
- Jan 24 Alexander Alexandrovich Ilyinsky, Russian composer (The Fountain of Bakhchisaray), born in Tsarskoye Selo, Russia (d. 1920)
- Feb 1 Victor Herbert, American cellist, composer, and conductor (Babes in Toyland; Eileen), born in Guernsey, Bailiwick of Guernsey (d. 1924) [he believed he was born in Dublin, Ireland] [1]
- Mar 8 Otto Taubmann, German composer, born in Hamburg, German Confederation (d. 1929)
- Mar 12 Josef Cyril Sychra, Czech composer and choirmaster, born in Ústí nad Orlicí (d. 1935)
- Mar 26 Nikolay Alexandrovich Sokolov, Russian composer, born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1922)
- Apr 3 Reginald De Koven, American operetta and popular song composer (Oh Promise Me), born in Middletown, Connecticut (d. 1920)
- Apr 5 Wilhelm Harteveld, Swedish composer, born in Stockholm (d. 1927)
- Apr 11 Basil Harwood, English organist and composer, born in Woodhouse, Gloucestershire, England (d. 1949)
- May 1 Bohuslav Jeremiáš, Czech composer, born in Řestoky, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (now Czech Republic) (d. 1918)
- May 2 Eugène d'Harcourt, French composer, born in Paris (d. 1918)
- May 13 August Enna, Danish composer (The Witch), born in Nakskov, Denmark (d. 1939)
- Jun 22 Frank Damrosch, German-born American author and music teacher (founded NY Musical Institute of Musical Art, later Julliard), born in Breslau, Silesia (d. 1937)
- Jun 27 Mildred J. Hill, American composer and musician ("Happy Birthday To You"), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 1916)
- Jul 14 Willy Hess, German violinist, born in Mannheim, Baden, German Confederation (d. 1939)
- Sep 4 Edoardo Mascheroni, Italian composer, born in Milan (d. 1941)
- Sep 17 Richard Henry Warren, American organist and composer, born in Albany, New York (d. 1933)
- Sep 24 Julius Klengel, German cellist and composer, born in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony (d. 1933)
- Oct 14 Camille Chevillard, French composer, born in Paris (d. 1923)
- Oct 16 Henryk Pachulski, Polish pianist, composer, and educator (Moscow Conservatory, 1886-1917), born in Łazy, Poland (d. 1921)
- Oct 26 Arthur Friedheim, Russian composer, born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1932)
- Nov 1 W. H. Grattan Flood, Irish author and composer, born in Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland (d. 1928)
- Nov 4 Stanisław Niewiadomski, Polish composer, born in Soposzyn, Kingdom of Galicia, Austrian Empire (now Ukraine) (d. 1936)
- Nov 17 Gerhard Schjelderup, Norwegian opera composer and musicologist, born in Kristiansand, Norway (d. 1933)
- Nov 19 Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer and musician (Armenian Rhapsody), born in Gatchina, Russia (d. 1935)
- Nov 22 Cecil Sharp, British collector of English folk music and dance, born in London, England (d. 1924)
- Nov 30 Sergei Lyapunov, Russian pianist and composer (Lezghinka), born in Yaroslavl, Russian Empire (d. 1924)
- Dec 9 Algernon Ashton, British composer, born in Durham, England (d. 1937)
- Dec 24 Roman Statkowski, Polish composer, born in Szczypiorno, Poland (d. 1925)
- Dec 25 Raoul Gunsbourg, French composer, impresario and opera director (Opéra de Monte-Carlo, 1892-1951), born in Bucharest, Romania (d. 1955)
- Dec 27 William Henry Hadow, British educational reformer and musicologist (Oxford History of Music, Studies in Modern Music), born in Ebrington, Gloucestshire, England (d. 1937)
- Dec 28 Gerard Brucken Fock, Dutch composer and painter, born in Koudekerke, Netherlands (d. 1935)
- Dec 30 Josef Bohuslav Foerster, Czech composer, born in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia (d. 1951)
- Dec 31 Max Fiedler, German conductor and composer, born in Zittau, Saxony, (d. 1939)
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