- May 4 Mátyás Seiber, Hungarian-British classical and jazz composer (Scherzando), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1960)
- May 8 (Ernest) "Red" Nichols, American jazz cornetist, composer and jazz bandleader (His Five Pennies - "Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider"; "Bugler's Lament"), born in Ogden, Utah (d. 1965) [1]
- May 8 Inglis Gundry, British composer, musicologist and novelist, born in Wimbledon, London (d. 2000)
- May 10 Markos Vamvakaris, Greek rebetiko musician and songwriter, born in Ano Syros, Greece (d. 1972)
- May 18 Dick McPartland, American jazz guitarist, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1957)
- May 18 Eric Zeisl, Austrian-American composer (Requiem Ebraico), born in Vienna (d. 1959)
- May 18 Theodor Berger, Austrian composer (Sinfonia Parabolica), born in Traismauer an der Donau, Austria (d. 1992)
- May 21 Edward Lockspeiser, British composer and musicologist (Debussy: His Life and Mind), born in London (d. 1973)
- May 24 Zdeněk Blažek, Czech composer and music theorist (Verchovina), born in Žarošice, Moravia (d. 1988)
- May 26 Hans Holewa, Austrian-born Swedish composer, born in Vienna (d. 1991)
- May 29 Fela Sowande, Nigerian musician and composer, born in Abeokuta, Nigeria (d. 1987)
About May 1905
How Old? 118 years old
Generation: Greatest Generation
Leap Year: No
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