- Jan 7 Guy d'Hardelot [Helen Rhodes], French composer (Because), dies at 78
- Jan 22 Louis Glass, Danish pianist and composer, dies at 71
- Jan 23 Clara Butt, English alto singer (Country of Hope and Glory), dies at 62
- Mar 4 Ruben Liljefors, Swedish composer, dies at 64
- Mar 6 Josef Stránský, Czech conductor (New York Philharmonic, 1911-23), dies at 63
- Mar 6 Rubin Goldmark, American composer, dies at 63
- Mar 21 Alexander Glazunov, Russian pianist, composer (Chopiniana; Stenka Razin), and educator (St Petersburg Conservatory, 1899-1930), dies at 70
- Mar 30 Conchita Supervía, Spanish opera singer, dies at 40
- Apr 1 Mikhail Vladimirovich Ivanov-Boretsky, composer, dies at 61
- Apr 11 Mitya Stillman, Russian composer and violinist, dies at 44
- Apr 13 Milton Brown, American swing bandleader, dies at 32
- Apr 18 Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (The Pines of Rome; Belkis), dies at 56
- Apr 18 Seaborn McDaniel Denson, American composer, dies at 82
- Apr 24 Alphons Diepenbrock, Dutch composer, conductor, and essayist, dies at 73
- Apr 24 Bernard van Dieren, Dutch composer, and music critic, dies at 51
- May 6 Hans Jelmoli, Swiss pianist and composer, dies at 59
- May 18 Alexander "Alick" Maclean, British composer and conductor (Scarborough Spa Orchestra, 1912-35), dies at 63
- May 25 Ján Levoslav Bella, Slovak composer, dies at 92
- Jun 24 Nandor Zsolt, Hungarian composer, conductor and violinist dies at 49
- Jul 13 Izydor Lotto, composer, dies at 91
- Jul 20 Arthur Battelle Whiting, American composer and teacher, dies at 75
- Jul 24 James Philip Dunn, American composer, dies at 52
- Jul 30 Adolf Philipp, composer, dies at 72
- Aug 4 Henry Schoenfeld, American composer, dies at 78
- Aug 15 Henry Lytton, British actor and opera singer (The Mikado), dies at 71
- Aug 15 Stanisław Niewiadomski, Polish composer, dies at 76
- Aug 17 Pierre-Octave Ferroud, French composer (Surgery & Foules), dies at 36
- Aug 19 Federico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet and composer, murdered at 37 or 38
- Sep 14 Ossip Gabrilovich Russian-American pianist, conductor (Detroit Symphony, 1918-36), and composer, dies of stomach cancer at 58
- Sep 19 Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, Indian musicologist, dies at 76
- Nov 3 Filip Lazar, Romanian composer, dies at 42
- Nov 11 Edward German, English Welsh composer (Merrie England), dies at 74
- Nov 17 Ernestine Schumann-Heink (née Rössler), Austrian-American contralto (Bayreuth Festival, 1896-1914; Metropolitan Opera, 1899-1932), dies of leukemia at 75
- Dec 17 Jón Friðfinnsson, Icelandic-Canadian organist, and composer (The Millennial Cantata), dies at 71
- Dec 25 Pierre Maurice, Swiss composer, dies at 68