Lead Belly (1888-1949)
Jan 20 American blues 12 string guitarist (Rock Island Line), born in Mooringsport, Louisiana
- Feb 2 Candelario Huízar, Mexican violist, horn player, and classical and canción composer ("Surco"), born in Jerez, Zacatecas, Mexico (d. 1970)
- Feb 8 Matthijs Vermeulen, Dutch composer and music journalist, born in Helmond, Netherlands (d. 1967)
- Feb 20 Vasyl Barvinsky, Ukrainian pianist, composer, conductor, musicologist ("Béla Bartók in Lviv"), and teacher (Lysenko Higher Institute of Music, 1915-48), born in Ternopil, Ukraine, Russian Empire (d. 1963)
- Feb 26 Ida Cox (nee Prather), American blues singer and vaudeville performer, born in Habersham County, Georgia (d. 1967) [birth year disputed, may be 1894 or 1896]
- Feb 27 Lotte Lehmann, German soprano (Der Rosenkavalier; Fidelio), born in Perleberg ,Germany (d. 1976)
- Mar 7 Alcide "Slow Drag" Pavageau, American jazz guitarist and double-bassist, born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1969)
- Mar 10 Krsto Odak, Croatian composer, born in Siverić (d. 1965)
- Mar 12 Hall Johnson, American composer (Hall Johnson Choir), born in Athens, Georgia (d. 1970)
- Mar 12 Hans Knappertsbusch, German conductor (Bavarian State Opera, 1922-36), born in Elberfeld, Germany (d. 1965)
- Apr 8 Victor Schertzinger, American composer and director (Uptown NY), born in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania (d. 1941)
Florence Price (1888-1953)
Apr 9 American composer (Wanamaker Prize, 1932) and 1st African-American woman to have a composition played by a major orchestra, born in Little Rock, Arkansas
- Apr 12 Heinrich Neuhaus, Soviet pianist (The Art of Piano Playing), born in Elisavetgrad, Russian Empire (d. 1964)
- Apr 19 William Axt, American film score composer (The Prisoner of Zenda), born in New York City (d. 1959)
- May 10 Max Steiner, Austrian-American film score composer (King Kong; Casablanca: Gone With The Wind), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1971)
- May 21 May Aufderheide, American ragtime composer (Dusty Rag), born in Indianapolis, Indiana (d. 1972) [1]
- May 27 Louis Durey, French composer, born in Paris (d. 1979)
- Jun 3 Tom Brown, American dixieland jazz trombonist, born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1958)
- Jun 8 Poul Schierbeck, Danish organist and composer, born in Copenhagen (d. 1949)
- Jun 9 Adrian Shaposhnikov, Russian composer, born in St Peterberg (d. 1967)
- Jun 9 Hugo Kauder, Austrian composer, born in Tovačov (d. 1972)
- Jun 17 Bernhard van den Sigtenhorst Meyer, Dutch composer, born in Amsterdam (d. 1953)
- Jul 11 Johanna Beyer, German-American pianist and composer (March for Thirty Percussion Instruments; Clusters), born in Leipzig, German Empire (d. 1944)
- Aug 1 Vito Frazzi, Italian composer, born in San Secondo Parmense, Italy (d. 1975)
- Aug 2 Oscar Rasbach, American composer, born in Dayton, Kentucky (d. 1975)
- Aug 4 Philip Greeley Clapp, American composer and educator (University of Iowa, 1919-54), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1954)
- Aug 6 Heinrich Schlusnus, German baritone, born in Braubach, German Empire (d. 1952)
- Aug 15 Albert Spalding, American violinist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1953)
- Aug 16 Armand J. Piron, American jazz violinist and composer, born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1943)
- Aug 20 George Sklavos, Greek composer, born in Brailov, Romania (d. 1976)
- Sep 12 Maurice Chevalier, French actor and singer ("Thank Heaven For Little Girls"), born in Paris (d. 1972)
- Oct 3 Roy Webb, American film score composer (films of Val Lewton), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1982)
- Oct 6 Max Butting, German composer, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1976)
- Oct 7 Cecil Coles, Scottish organist and composer (Behind the Lines), born in Tongland, Scotland (d. 1918)
- Oct 11 Piero Coppola, Italian conductor, artistic director (La Voix de son Maître (The Gramophone Company - France), 1923-34). pianist, and composer, born in Milan, Italy (d. 1971)
- Oct 14 Ernest Pingoud, Finnish composer, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1942)
- Oct 31 Harold Vincent Milligan, American musician and composer, born in Astoria, Oregon (d. 1951)
- Nov 3 William Denis Browne, British composer, born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England (d. 1915)
- Nov 8 David Monrad Johansen, Norwegian composer, born in Vefsn, Norway (d. 1974)
- Nov 16 Burnet Corwin Tuthill, American composer (Laurentia), born in New York City (d. 1982)
- Dec 3 Ion Nonna Otescu, Romanian composer and educator (Bucharest Conservatory, 1913-40), born in Bucharest, Romania (d. 1940)
- Dec 5 Áskell Snorrason, Icelandic composer, born in Öndolfsstaðir, Iceland (d. 1970)
- Dec 6 Emiliana de Zubeldía, Spanish-Mexican concert pianist, composer - chiefly for guitar (Landscape Basko), and educator (Academy of Music at the University of Sonora, 1947-87), born in Salinas de Oro, Spain (d. 1987)
- Dec 19 (Frederick) "Fritz" Reiner, Hungarian-American conductor (Cincinnati Symphony, 1922-31; Pittsburgh Symphony, 1938-48; Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 1953-63), and educator (Curtis Institute), born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary (d. 1963) [1]
- Dec 27 (Raffaele Attilio) "Tito" Schipa, Italian tenor and composer (La Rondine), born in Lecce, Italy (d. 1965)
- Dec 28 Gabriel von Wayditch, Hungarian-American composer, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1969)
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