- Jan 5 Heinrich Gottlieb Noren, Austrian violinist and composer (Kaleidoscope), born in Graz, Austria (d. 1928)
- Jan 18 Raymond Huntington Woodman, American organist, choirmaster (Brooklyn First Presbyterian Church, 1880–1941), and hymn composer, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1943)
- Jan 22 Karel Stecker, Czech organist, pedagogue, and composer of organ and sacred music, born on Kosmanos, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (d. 1918)
- Jan 30 Charles Martin Tornow Loeffler [Martin Karl Löffler], German-American violinist and composer, born in Schöneberg, Germany (d. 1935)
- Feb 21 Pierre de Bréville, French composer, author and professor (Une histoire du théâtre lyrique en France), born in Bar-le-Duc, Meuse (d. 1949)
- Apr 25 Marco Enrico Bossi, Italian concert organist, composer and teacher, born in Salò, Lombardy, Kingdom of Italy (d. 1925)
- Apr 27 Georgy Catoire, Russian composer, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1926)
- Apr 27 William Arms Fisher, American composer, librettist (Going Home), musicologist, and educator, born in San Francisco, California (d. 1948)
- May 12 Ivan Caryll [Félix Tilkin], Belgian composer of operetta and musical comedy (The Shop Girl; The Spring Chicken; The Pink Lady), born in Liège, Belgium (d. 1921)
Nellie Melba (1861-1931)
May 19 Australian operatic soprano and face of the Australian 100 dollar note, born in Richmond, Victoria, Australia
- Jun 11 Sigismund Vladislavovich Zaremba, Ukrainian-Russian composer, born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine (d. 1915)
- Jun 15 Ernestine Schumann-Heink (née Rössler), Austrian-American contralto (Bayreuth Festival, 1896-1914; Metropolitan Opera, 1899-1932), born in Libeň, Kingdom of Bohemia (d. 1936)
- Jun 17 Sidney Jones, British conductor and composer (The Geisha, A Gaiety Girl), born in Islington, London (d. 1946)
- Jun 20 Arthur Battelle Whiting, American composer and teacher, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1936)
- Jul 12 Anton Arensky, Russian composer, born in Novgorod, Russia (d. 1906)
- Aug 9 Wilhelm Berger, German composer, pianist and conductor, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1911)
- Oct 4 João Marcelino Arroio, Portuguese composer (Amor de Perdiçâo), born in Porto, Portugal (d. 1930)
- Oct 14 Bjarni Thorsteinsson, Icelandic organist, composer, musical folklorist, and priest, born in Melur, Mýrasýsla, Iceland (d. 1938)
- Nov 16 Václav Suk, Czech-born Russian composer and violinist, born in Kladno, Bohemia (d. 1933)
- Nov 30 Ludwig Thuille, Austrian composer (sextet for piano and wind quintet), born in Bozen, Tyrol (now Bozano, Italy) (d. 1907)
- Dec 4 Lillian Russell [Helen Leonard], American singer and actress (Great Mogul), born in Clinton, Iowa (d. 1922)
- Dec 17 Fritz Volbach, German conductor, musicologist and composer (Raffael), born in Wipperfürth, Germany (d. 1940)
- Dec 18 Lionel Monckton, British composer (Edwardian musical comedy), born in London, England (d. 1924)
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