- 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