- Apr 8 Amiliare Ponchielli's opera "La Gioconda" premieres in Milan
Swan Lake Completed
Apr 22 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky completes his ballet "Swan Lake"
Music History
Aug 13 The Bayreuth Festspielhaus opens with the first complete performance of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle
- Aug 16 Richard Wagner's opera "Siegfried" premieres at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, as part of the first complete performance of The Ring cycle
- Aug 17 Richard Wagner's opera "Götterdämmerung" premieres in Bayreuth
Symphony No. 1
Nov 4 Johannes Brahms' 1st Symphony in C premieres in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden
- Nov 17 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's patriotic Slavonic March makes its premiere in Moscow to a warm reception