1879 in music

This article is about music-related events in 1879.

Specific locations

 * 1879 in Norwegian music

Events

 * January 1 – The Violin Concerto of Johannes Brahms is premiered in Leipzig. Joseph Joachim was the soloist with Brahms conducting.
 * December 31 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Pirates of Penzance opens at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City (following a token performance the day before for U.K. copyright reasons in Paignton, Devon).
 * Engelbert Humperdinck becomes the first winner of the Mendelssohn Award awarded by the Mendelssohn Stiftung (foundation) of Berlin.
 * The Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra gains a permanent home at the Garnier Palace.

Published popular music

 * "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers" by James A. Bland
 * "In the Morning By the Bright Light" by James A. Bland
 * "My Visit to the Opera" by Joseph P. Skelly
 * "Some Day I'll Wander Back Again", words by Arthur W. French, music by William A. Huntley

Classical music

 * Henri Duparc – Le Manoir de Rosemonde
 * Gabriel Fauré – Berceuse, for violin and piano
 * César Franck – Piano Quintet
 * Carl Goldmark
 * Penthesilea, Op.31
 * Piano Trio No.2, Op.33
 * Asger Hamerik – Concert Romance for Cello and Piano
 * Stephen Heller
 * 4 Mazurkas, Op.148
 * 20 Preludes, Op.150
 * Hans Huber
 * 10 Ländler vom Luzerner See, Op.47
 * Eine Lustspiel-Ouverture, Op.50
 * Franz Lachner – Elegie for Flute and Organ
 * Max Meyer-Olbersleben – Ballade, Op.9
 * Pablo de Sarasate – Spanish Dances for violin and piano, Book II
 * Bedřich Smetana – Ten Czech Dances, for piano
 * Charles-Marie Widor – Symphony for Organ No. 5

Opera

 * Giovanni Bottesini – Ero e Leandro
 * Emmanuel Chabrier – Une éducation manquée, premiered May 1 in Paris
 * Miguel Marqués – Camoens
 * Viktor Nessler – Der Rattenfänger von Hameln
 * Camille Saint-Saëns – Étienne Marcel
 * Peter Tchaikovsky – Eugene Onegin

Musical theater

 * The Mulligan Guards' Ball Broadway production opens at the Comique Theatre on January 13 and runs for 153 performances
 * The Mulligan Guards' Chowder Broadway production opens at the Comique Theatre on August 11 and runs for 112 performances
 * The Mulligan Guards' Christmas Broadway production opens at the Comique Theatre on November 17 and runs for 104 performances

Births

 * January 3 – Lina Abarbanell, German-American soprano (d. 1963)
 * January 10 – Armanda Degli Abbati, Italian opera singer (d. 1946)
 * January 26 – Hugo Riesenfeld, film music composer (died 1939)
 * February 9 – Natanael Berg, Swedish composer (d. 1957)
 * February 26 – Frank Bridge, composer (d. 1941)
 * April 1 – Louise Gunning, Broadway and vaudeville singer (d. 1960)
 * May 22
 * Jean Cras, French composer (d. 1932)
 * Eastwood Lane, composer (d. 1951)
 * June 13 – Maria Gay, opera singer (d. 1943)
 * June 21 – Henry Creamer, US songwriter (d. 1930)
 * July 5
 * Philippe Gaubert, composer (d. 1941)
 * Wanda Landowska, harpsichordist (d. 1959)
 * July 9 – Ottorino Respighi, composer (d. 1936)
 * August 1 – Eva Tanguay, singer, vaudeville star (d. 1947)
 * August 18 – Gus Edwards, Prussian-born US songwriter and entertainer (d. 1945)
 * August 31 – Alma Mahler, born Alma Schindler, Viennese-born composer and wife of Gustav Mahler (d. 1964)
 * September 29 – Willem Willeke, Dutch cellist and music editor (died 1950)
 * September 30 – Henri Casadesus, violist and music publisher (d. 1947)
 * October 12 – Chris Smith, composer (d. 1949)
 * October 13 – Leopold Weninger, composer (died 1940)
 * October 18 – Grzegorz Fitelberg, Polish conductor, violinist and composer (d. 1953)
 * October 21 – Joseph Canteloube, composer (d. 1957)
 * November 2 – Ramón Montoya, Spanish flamenco guitarist (d. 1949)
 * December 1 – Beth Slater Whitson, US lyric writer (d. 1930)
 * December 4 – Hamilton Harty, composer (d. 1941)
 * December 7 – Rudolf Friml, pianist and composer of operettas and musicals (d. 1972)
 * December 19 – Otto Olsson, Swedish composer (d. 1964)
 * December 26 – Julius Weismann, German conductor and composer (d. 1950)

Deaths

 * January 8 – Ferdo Livadić, composer (born 1799)
 * February 20 – John Orlando Parry, pianist, singer and comedian (born 1810)
 * April 9 – Ernst Friedrich Eduard Richter, music theorist
 * May 27 – E. S. Engelsberg, composer
 * June 3 – Frances Ridley Havergal, hymn-writer
 * July 6 – Henry Smart, organist and composer (born 1813)
 * August 4 – Adelaide Kemble, opera singer
 * September 12 – Peter Arnold Heise, composer
 * October 14 – Karl Anton Eckert, conductor and composer (born 1820)
 * November 30 – August Bournonville, Danish ballet-master and choreographer (born 1805)
 * December 24 – Anna Bochkoltz, German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer (born 1815)