- Jan 9 Johanna Beyer, German-American pianist and composer (March for Thirty Percussion Instruments; Clusters), dies from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), at 55
- Jan 19 Harold Fraser-Simson, composer, dies at 71
- Feb 1 Martin Lunssens, Belgian composer, dies at 72
- Feb 4 Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress, dies at 79
- Feb 7 Lina Cavalieri, Italian dramatic soprano, and silent film actress, killed during WWII Allied bombing near here home in Florence, Italy at 69
- Feb 11 Ivan Sollertinski, friend of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, dies
- Feb 16 Bob Zurke [Boguslaw Zukowski], American jazz pianist, arranger, (Bob Crosby Orchestra), and composer ("Old Tom-Cat On The Keys"), dies of complications of pneumonia aggravated by acute alcohol poisoning at 32
- Feb 16 Edmund von Borck, German composer, dies fighting in Italy in WWII at 37
- Feb 19 Siegfried Garibaldi Kallenberg, German composer, dies at 76
- Mar 14 Pavel Chesnokov, Russian-Soviet composer, dies at 66
- Mar 20 Felix Woyrsch, German composer, dies at 83
- Apr 2 Mikulas Moyzes, Slovak composer, dies at 71
- Apr 4 Karel Weis, Czech composer and folk song collector, dies at 82
- Apr 5 Willy Derby [Dieben], singer (Hello Bandoeng), dies
- Apr 9 Boleslaw Wallek-Walewski, Polish composer and conductor, dies at 59
- Apr 13 Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and 1st female composer awarded with Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (1913), dies at 86
- Apr 22 Mezio Agostini, Italian composer, dies at 68
- May 9 Ethel Smyth, English composer, dies at 86
- May 16 Leone Sinigaglia, Italian composer, dies at 75
- Jun 5 Riccardo Zandonai, Italian composer, dies at 61
- Jun 24 Rio Gebhardt, German jazz pianist, composer, and orchestra leader, dies in France during WWII battle at 36
- Jun 25 Lucha Reyes [María de Luz Flores], Mexican mariachi singer ("Guadalajara"), dies of barbiturate intoxication at 38
- Jun 27 Werner Wehrli, Swiss composer, pedagogue, and conductor, dies at 52
- Jun 29 Chick Henderson [Henderson Rowntree], British dance band vocalist (Joe Loss Orchestra - "Begin the Beguine"), killed in action while serving in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, at 31
- Jul 5 William Gillies Whittaker, English composer, dies at 67
- Jul 19 Will Marion Cook, American violinist, choral director, and composer, dies at 75
- Jul 27 Victor Vreuls, Belgian violinist, teacher, and composer, dies at 68
- Aug 7 Agustín Barrios Mangoré, Paraguayan classical guitarist and composer (La Catedral), dies at 59
- Aug 16 Roman Padlewski, Polish violinist, composer, and underground resistance fighter, dies of battle injuries sustained during the Warsaw Uprising at 28 [1]
- Aug 19 Henry Wood, British conductor associated with London's promenade "Proms" concerts (Gentle Art of Singing; My Life of Music), dies following an illness at 75
- Aug 23 Nikolay Andreyevich Roslavets, Ukrainian composer, dies at 63
- Aug 30 (William) Crickett Smith, American ragtime, and jazz cornetist and trumpeter (James Reese Europe's Clef Club; Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolics; Louis Mitchell's Jazz Kings), and bandleader, dies at 53
- Sep 3 František Drdla, Czech composer, dies at 75
- Sep 7 Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes, Cuban composer, dies at 70
- Sep 8 Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer (Frau Helga von Staveren; Thijl), conductor, and anti-Nazi resistance fighter, dies of pneumonia at 63
- Sep 25 Leo Justinus Kauffmann, Alsatian composer, dies at 43
- Sep 26 Ernst Isler, Swiss organist and critic, dies at 64
- Oct 16 Eric Westberg, Swedish composer, dies at 52
- Oct 17 Pavel Haas, Czech Jewish composer, murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp at 45 (b. 1899)
- Oct 18 Orville "Hoppy" Jones, American bass singer and cellist (The Ink Spots - "If I Didn't Care"), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 39
- Oct 18 Viktor Ullmann, Austrian pianist, conductor, and composer (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), murdered in gas chamber of Auschwitz concentration camp at 46
- Oct 20 Gabriel Grovlez, French pianist, conductor (Opéra de Paris, 1914-34), and composer (L'Almanach aux images), dies at 65
- Oct 30 Paul Ladmirault, French composer, dies at 66
- Nov 12 Edgar Stillman Kelley, American composer (Gulliver), dies at 87
- Nov 12 Roy Agnew, Australian composer (Sonata Ballade), dies at 51
- Nov 13 Paul Graener, German Romantic composer, dies at 72
- Nov 14 Carl Flesch, Hungarian violinist, dies at 71
- Nov 24 Václav Štěpán, Czech pianist and composer, dies at 54
- Nov 30 Antoine Mariotte, French composer (Paysage maritime), dies at 68
- Dec 10 Johnny Marvin, American jazz, pop, and country ukulele player, singer, and vaudevillian, dies of dengue fever at 47
Glenn Miller (1904-1944)
Dec 15 American bandleader and jazz composer (Glenn Miller Orchestra - "In The Mood"; "Moonlight Serenade"; "String Of Pearls"), dies in a suspected plane crash over the English Channel, whiule serving in the US Army,at 40
- Dec 24 Joseph Gustav Mraczek, German violinist, conductor, composer (Max und Moritz) and pedagogue, dies at 66
Amy Beach (1867-1944)
Dec 27 American pianist and composer (Gaelic Symphony), dies at 77