- Jan 3 [Ferdinand] Fred Barlow, French composer (Mam'zelle Prud'homme), dies at 69
- Jan 10 Athos Palma, Argentine composer, dies at 59
- Jan 19 Constantin C. Nottara, Romanian composer, dies at 60
- Jan 22 Eastwood Lane, American composer, dies at 71
- Feb 9 Eddy Duchin, American pianist and bandleader (Eddy Duchin Orchestra), dies of acute myelogenous leukemia at 41
- Feb 10 Joseph Bovet, Swiss composer and conductor (Fribourg folk music), dies at 71
- Feb 16 Hisatada Otaka, Japanese conductor (Japan Symphony Orchestra, 1942-51), and composer, dies at 39
- Feb 17 Nikoghayos Fadeyi Tigranyan, Armenian composer, dies at 94
- Feb 20 Howard Brockway, American composer, dies at 80
- Mar 6 Ivor Novello [David Ivor Davies], Welsh composer, writer and actor (Keep the Home Fires Burning, The Truth Game), dies at 58
- Mar 8 John Winter Thompson, composer, dies at 83
- Mar 20 Kathleen Lockhart Manning, American composer, dies at 60
- Mar 22 Willem Mengelberg, Dutch conductor (Concertgebouw Orchestra, 1895-1945; New York Philharmonic, 1922-30), dies at 79
- Mar 25 Sidney “Big Sid” Catlett, American jazz drummer (Louis Armstrong), dies of a heart attack at 41
- Apr 1 Clement D'Hooghe, Belgian composer, dies at 51
- Apr 2 Simon Barere, Russian pianist, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 54 while performing Grieg's Piano Concerto at Carnegie Hall
- Apr 6 Halfdan Cleve, Norwegian composer, dies at 71
- Apr 12 Harold Vincent Milligan, American musician and composer, dies at 62
- Apr 25 Jerzy Fitelberg, Polish composer, dies at 47
- Apr 26 John Alden Carpenter, American composer (Sea Drift), dies at 75
- May 17 Karl Heinrich David, composer, dies at 66
- May 20 Jan Ingenhoven, Dutch composer and conductor, dies at 74
- May 29 Dimitrios Levidis, Greek composer, dies at 66
- May 29 Josef Bohuslav Foerster, Czech organist and composer, dies at 91
- May 29 Robert Kahn, German composer, dies at 85
- Jun 4 Serge Koussevitzky, Russian-American conductor (Boston Symphony, 1924-49), dies at 76
- Jun 17 Carl Vogler, Swiss composer, dies at 77
- Jun 23 Armin Knab, German composer (Wunderhorn), dies at 70
- Jul 6 Josef Hüttel, Czech composer, dies at 57
- Jul 9 Egbert Van Alstyne, American popular music songwriter and ragtime pianist ("In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree"; "For Your Boy and My Boy"), dies after a stroke at 73 [1]
- Jul 9 Jorgen Bentzon, Danish composer, dies at 54
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
Jul 13 Austrian-American composer (Verklärte Nacht - Transfigured Night; 2nd Quartet), and painter associated with the expressionist movement, dies at 76
- Jul 19 Max Ettinger, Jewish-German composer (Jiddische Requiem), dies at 77
- Aug 11 Ebbe Hamerik, Danish opera composer (Stepan; Marie Grubbe), drowns in a sailing accident at 52
- Aug 15 Artur Schnabel, Austrian pianist (Reflections on Music), dies at 69
- Aug 21 (Leonard) Constant Lambert, British composer (The Rio Grande; Horoscope; Summer's Last Will and Testament), and music director (Vic-Wells/Royal Ballet, 1931-47), dies of pneumonia and complications of diabetes and alcoholism at 45
- Sep 3 Robert Hernried, Austrian born American composer and conductor, dies at 67
- Sep 9 Cecil Gray, Scottish composer and music critic, dies at 56
- Sep 9 Gibson Gowland, British actor (Greed, Blind Husbands, The Phantom of the Opera), dies at 74
- Sep 10 Giuseppe Mulè, Italian composer, dies at 66
- Sep 14 Fritz Busch, German conductor, dies at 61
- Sep 15 Jacinto Guerrero, Spanish musician and composer, dies at 56
- Sep 17 Jimmy Yancey, American boogie-woogie jazz and blues pianist, dies somewhere between age 50 and 57 - (birth year documentation uncertain)
- Oct 23 Charlie Creath, American jazz trumpeter, saxophonist, accordionist, and bandleader, dies at 60
- Nov 5 Agrippina J Vaganova, Russian ballet dancer and pedagogue (Fundamentals of the Classical Dance), dies at 72
- Nov 5 Bedrich Antonin Wiedermann, Czech organist and composer, dies at 67
- Nov 9 Resurrección Maria de Azkue, Spanish Basque priest, poet, and composer, drowns at87
- Nov 9 Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-American operetta composer (Blossom Time), dies at 64
- Nov 13 Hugo Leichtentritt, German Jewish composer and musicologist, dies at 77
- Nov 13 Nikolai Karlovich Metner, composer, dies at 71
- Nov 13 Nikolai Medtner, Russian pianist and composer (Skazi), dies at 71
- Nov 18 Václav Kálik, Czech composer, dies at 60
- Nov 18 Will Vodery, African-American theater and film arranger, orchestrator (Showboat; Ziegfeld's Follies; Blackbirds), and composer (From Dixie to Broadway), dies at 66
- Nov 20 Thomas Quinlan, English opera impresario, dies at 70
- Dec 1 Felix Petyrek, Austrian composer, dies at 59
Mildred Bailey (1907-1951)
Dec 12 American jazz singer known as "The Queen of Swing" ("Rockin' Chair"; "Please Be Kind"; "Darn That Dream"), dies of heart failure at 44
- Dec 13 Selim Palmgren, Finnish concert pianist, composer (Hakkapeliittojen marssi), conductor, and pedagogue, dies at 73
- Dec 14 Coretté Alefred [Hardy], American-Russian-Soviet jazz, spiritual and pop lyrical and dramatic soprano, dancer, and actress, dies at 70
- Dec 15 María Grever, Mexican-American composer ("What A Difference A Day Makes" / "Cuando vuelva a tu lado"), dies at 66
- Dec 22 Powell Weaver, American composer, dies at 61
- Dec 23 Alfrēds Kalniņš, Latvian organist, composer (Baņuta), conductor, and pedagogue, dies at 72
Country Singers
Jazz Musicians
Opera Singers
Pop Stars
Rappers
Rockers