- Jan 7 Carl Schwencke, German pianist and composer, dies at 72
- Jan 11 Adolf Ganz, German composer and violinist, dies at 73
- Jan 26 Cesare Pugni, Italian composer, dies at 67
- Feb 11 Leopold Eugen Mechura, Czech composer, dies at 66
- Mar 9 Theodore Labarre, French composer and harpist, dies at 65
- Mar 10 (Isaac) Ignaz Moscheles, Bohemian piano virtuoso, friend of Beethoven, teacher of Mendelssohn, conductor, and composer, dies at 75 [1]
- Mar 18 Joaquin Gaztambide, Spanish composer (Una vieja), dies at 48
- Apr 8 Charles-Auguste de Beriot, Belgian violinist and composer, dies at 68
- Apr 19 Camille Marie Stamaty, French pianist, composer, and teacher of Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Camille Saint-Saëns, dies at 59
- Apr 19 William Henry Havergal, composer, dies at 77
- May 14 Ramon Vilanova y Barrera, Catalan composer and choirmaster, dies at 69
- May 30 Gustave Vogt, French composer, dies at 89
- Jun 8 Johann Gottlob Topfer, German composer, dies at 78
- Jun 9 Erik Drake, Swedish composer (Royal Swedish Academy of Music), dies at 82
- Jul 22 Josef Strauss, Austrian composer (Dynamids), dies at 42
- Jul 25 Pierre Dupont, French songwriter ("Les Bœufs"; "Le Chant du pain"), dies at 49
- Aug 16 Edmund Passy, Swedish composer, dies at 80
- Sep 2 Arthur Saint-Leon, French composer and dancer, dies at 48
- Oct 20 Michael William Balfe, Irish violinist and composer (The Bohemian Girl), dies at 62
- Oct 31 Mihály Mosonyi, Hungarian composer, dies at 55
- Dec 7 Mykhailo Verbytsky, Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest and composer (Prostachka; The State Anthem of Ukraine), dies at 55
- Dec 16 Stanisław Duniecki, Polish composer, dies at 31
- Dec 17 Saverio Mercadante, Italian composer, dies at 75
- Dec 28 Alexei Fyodorovich Lvov, Russian composer, dies at 72
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