- Jan 14 Adolf Sandberger, German composer and musicologist, dies at 78
- Jan 20 Giacomo Benvenuti, Italian composer, dies at 57
- Jan 21 Otakar Sini, composer, dies at 61
- Feb 14 Dora Gerson, German-Jewish actress, cabaret singer, and Holocaust victim (Caravan of Death), dies in Auschwitz concentration camp at 43
- Feb 15 William Victor Harris, American composer, dies at 73
- Feb 17 Armand J. Piron, American jazz violinist and composer, dies at 54
- Mar 19 Vicente Ripollés, Spanish composer, dies at 75
- Mar 23 Joseph Moiseyevich Schillinger, composer, dies at 47
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Mar 28 Russian-American piano virtuoso, conductor, and composer (Aleko; Piano Concerto No. 3), dies at 69
- Apr 4 Hartzell "Tiny" Parham, American jazz pianist, theater organist, and bandleader, dies at 43
- Apr 4 Raoul Laparra, French composer, dies during a bombing raid in WWII at 66
- Apr 14 Geoffrey Turton Shaw, English organist, composer, and educator, dies at 63
- Apr 15 Raffaele Casimiri, Italian composer, and musicologist dies at 62
- Apr 19 Gustave Doret, Swiss composer, dies at 76
- Apr 29 Joseph Achron, Lithuanian-American concert violinist and composer (Golem Suite), dies at 56
- Apr 29 Karl Adrian Wohlfart, Swedish composer, dies at 68
- Apr 30 Leo Smit, Dutch composer, dies in Sobibór extermination camp at 42
- May 3 Leslie Heward, English composer, dies at 45
- May 12 Albert Stoessel, American violinist, conductor, composer, and educator, dies of a heart attack on the podium at 48
- May 29 Hermann Hans Wetzler, German-American composer, dies at 72
- Jun 8 (Wilford) "Min" Leibrook, American jazz tuba player and bassist (Paul Whiteman Orchestra), dies of meningitis at 40
- Jul 10 Arthur Nevin, American composer, dies at 72
- Jul 30 Benjamin Dale, British composer (Before the Paling of the Stars; The Flowing Tide), and educator (Royal Academy), dies at 58
- Aug 3 Edward "Corky" Cornelius, American jazz trumpeter (Benny Goodman; Gene Krupa), dies of kidney failure at 28
- Aug 12 Georges Martin Witkowski, composer, dies at 76
- Aug 23 Johann Zilcher, German composer, dies at 88
- Sep 27 Waclaw Gieburowski, Polish composer, dies at 65
- Oct 2 R. Nathaniel Dett, Canadian-American pianist, organist, choral director, and composer (In The Bottoms), dies of a heart attack while on tour with the USO at 60
- Oct 5 Leon Roppolo, American early jazz clarinetist, dies at 41
- Oct 22 Josef Venantius von Woss, Austrian composer, dies at 80
- Oct 27 Béla Reinitz, Hungarian composer, dies at 64
- Nov 17 Paul Charles Rene Landormy, French musicologist, music critic, and composer, dies at 74
Lorenz Hart (1895-1943)
Nov 22 American lyricist, usually to music of Richard Rodgers ("I Could Write A Book"; "My Funny Valentine"), dies of pneumonia from exposure after drinking heavily in NYC at 48
Fats Waller (1904-1943)
Dec 15 American jazz organist, piano player, singer and composer ("Ain't Misbehavin'"; "Honeysuckle Rose"; "Hot Chocolate"), dies of pneumonia at 39 [1]
- Dec 25 Ilona Durigo, Hungarian contralto singer, dies at 62
- Dec 25 Raymond Huntington Woodman, composer, dies at 82