- Jan 21 Guillaume Lekeu, Belgian composer (Épithalame), dies of typhoid fever at 24
- Feb 7 Adolphe Sax, Belgian musician and instrument inventor (saxophone, saxtromba, saxtuba), dies at 79
- Feb 11 Emilio Arrieta, Spanish opera and zarzuela composer (Maria), dies at 70
- Feb 12 Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer (b. 1830)
- Feb 17 Francisco Barbieri Spanish zarzuela opera composer (El Diablo en el poder), dies at 70
- Feb 19 Ernesto Camillo Sivori, Italian violinist and composer, dies at 78
- Mar 21 Jacob Rosenhaim, Jewish-German composer, dies at 80
- Mar 24 Robert Prescott Stewart, Irish composer, organist, conductor, and teacher, dies at 68
- May 24 William Joseph Westbrook, British organist and sacred music composer, dies at 63
- Jun 5 Immanuel Faisst, German composer, dies at 70
- Jul 8 Vladimir Nikitich Kashperov, Russian composer, dies at 67
- Jul 13 Juventino Rosas, composer, dies at 26
- Aug 18 William Charles Levey, Irish conductor and composer, dies at 57
- Sep 13 (Alexis) Emmanuel Chabrier, French pianist and composer (España; Joyeuse marche; Le roi malgré lui), dies from general paresis at 53
Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894)
Nov 20 Russian pianist and composer (Dmitri Donskoi), dies at 64
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