1881 in music

This article is about music-related events in 1881.

Specific locations

 * 1881 in Norwegian music

Events

 * March 23 – A fire caused by a gas explosion destroys the Opéra de Nice in the south of France with fatalities.
 * February 10 – Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann debuts in Paris
 * June 11 – The National Theatre (Prague) receives a royal opening with the premiere of Smetana's opera Libuše (written 1871–72); however, a subsequent fire delays public opening for a further 2 years, when the same work reinaugurates the theatre
 * September 3 – Anton Bruckner completes his 6th Symphony
 * November 9 – Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 is given its public premiere in Budapest
 * December 4 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto is premiered in Vienna

Bands formed

 * Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band

Published popular music

 * "Good Bye!" by Francesco Paolo Tosti
 * "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean"
 * "Slowly and Sadly" (President Garfield Memorial Tribute)" by Arabella M. Root

Classical music

 * Victor Bendix – Symphony No. 1 in C op. 16 Mountain Climbing
 * Alexander Borodin – String Quartet No. 2 in D
 * Johannes Brahms
 * Tragic Overture op. 81 revised; Nänie op. 82
 * Piano Concerto No. 2 Op. 83
 * Max Bruch – Kol Nidre for cello and orchestra finished
 * Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 6 (Bruckner)
 * Emmanuel Chabrier – Pièces pittoresques for piano
 * Ernest Chausson – Piano Trio in G minor, op. 3
 * Gabriel Fauré & André Messager – Messe des pêcheurs de Villerville
 * César Franck – Rébecca (oratorio)
 * Robert Fuchs – Cello Sonata No.1, Op.29
 * Franz Liszt – Nuages Gris
 * Giuseppe Martucci – Fantasia for piano op. 51
 * Camille Saint-Saëns – Hymne à Victor Hugo
 * Eduard Strauss
 * Glockensignale, Op.198
 * Schleier und Krone, Op.200
 * Richard Strauss
 * String Quartet in A major, Op.2
 * 5 Klavierstücke, Op.3
 * Cello Sonata, Op.6
 * Charles-Marie Widor – First Sonata for Piano and Violin op. 50
 * Bernard Zweers – Symphony No. 1 in D major
 * Władysław Żeleński – 2 Mazurkas, Op.31

Opera

 * Johann Strauss Jr. – Der lustige Krieg, premiered November 24 in Vienna
 * Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – The Maid of Orleans
 * Giuseppe Verdi – Simon Boccanegra, revised version of the 21st Verdi opera premieres at La Scala in Milan

Musical theater

 * The Tales of Hoffmann (Les contes d'Hoffmann; Jacques Offenbach) – Paris production opened at the Opéra-Comique on February 10
 * The Mascot (translation of Edmond Audran's La Mascotte) – Broadway production opened at the Bijou Theatre (Manhattan) on May 5
 * Patience (Gilbert and Sullivan) – London production opened at the Opera Comique on April 23 and transferred to the new Savoy Theatre on October 10 for a total run of 578 performances

Births

 * January 4 – Nikolai Roslavets, Ukrainian composer (d. 1944)
 * February 6 – Karl Weigl, Austrian composer (d. 1949)
 * February 12 – Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina and actress (d. 1931)
 * February 21 – Kenneth J. Alford, English band composer (d. 1945)
 * March 10 – Frank Mullings, English tenor (d. 1953)
 * March 16 – Fannie Charles Dillon, American composer (d. 1947)
 * March 18 – Paul Le Flem, French composer (d. 1984)
 * March 23 – Egon Petri, Dutch-born pianist (d. 1962)
 * March 25 – Béla Bartók, Hungarian composer (d. 1945)
 * April 15 – David Thomas, Welsh composer (d. 1928)
 * April 17 – Anton Wildgans, lyricist and playwright (died 1942)
 * April 20 – Nikolai Myaskovsky, Polish-born Russian composer and teacher (d. 1950)
 * May 11 – Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer (d. 1944)
 * May 29 – Frederick Septimus Kelly, Australian-born musician (k. 1916)
 * July 6 – Nancy Dalberg, Danish composer (d. 1949)
 * August 15 – Ted Snyder, American composer and music publisher (d. 1965)
 * August 18 – Hermann Zilcher, German composer (died 1948)
 * August 19 – George Enescu, Romanian composer (d. 1955)
 * August 29 – Edvin Kallstenius, Swedish composer (d. 1967)
 * November 22 – Ethel Levey, American singer, dancer and actress (d. 1955)
 * November 28 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian librettist of Richard Strauss's Die schweigsame Frau (suicide 1942)
 * December 3 – Henry Fillmore, American band composer (d. 1956)
 * December 24 – Charles Wakefield Cadman, American composer and songwriter (d. 1946)

Deaths

 * January 30 – Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens, Belgian, organist and composer, 58
 * March 13 – Sophie Daguin, ballerina and choreographer, 79
 * March 23 – Nikolai Rubinstein, pianist and composer, 45
 * March 28 – Modest Mussorgsky, composer, 42 (alcohol-related)
 * June 5 – Franjo Krežma, violinist and composer, 18 (tuberculosis)
 * June 6 – Henri Vieuxtemps, composer, 61
 * June 7 – Marie Gabriel Augustin Savard, music teacher and composer, 66
 * July 3 – Achille De Bassini, operatic baritone, 62
 * September 7 – Sidney Lanier, poet and flautist, 39 (tuberculosis)
 * October 9 – Richard Wüerst, composer and music teacher, 57
 * November 25 – Theobald Boehm, inventor of the modern flute, 87
 * December 17 – Giulio Briccialdi, composer, 63
 * December 30 – Corrado Miraglia, opera singer, 60
 * date unknown – Francisco de Sá Noronha, violinist and composer (b. 1820)