See also: 1882 in music, other events of 1883, 1884 in music and the list of 'years in music'.

Events

• Friedrich Kiel is involved in a traffic accident from which he will never completely recover.

Published popular music

• "A Boy's Best Friend Is His Mother"     w. Henry Miller m. Joseph P. Skelly
• "The Farmer In The Dell"     trad
• "La Golondrina "      m. Narisco Serradell
• "Polly Wolly Doodle (All The Day)"     trad
• "Ring Dem Heavenly Bells" by Sam Lucas
• "She Does The Fandango All Over The Place"     w.m. G. W. Hunt
• "There Is A Tavern In The Town"     anon
• "Transit Of Venus March"     m. John Philip Sousa

Classical music

• Barcarola for piano No. 1 - Isaac Albeniz
• Symphony No. 1 in B minor - Anton Arensky
• Symphony No. 3 by Johannes Brahms
• Thalia (concert overture) - George Whitefield Chadwick
• The Redemption (oratorio) - Charles Gounod
• Carmen Fantasy - Pablo de Sarasate
• Voices of Spring - Johann Strauss
• Canzona for Clarinet and Strings in F minor - Sergei Taneyev
• Estudiantina - Emil Waldteufel

Opera

• Cesar Cui - Prisoner of the Caucasus

Musical theater

• Ein Nacht In Venedig (A Night In Venice ) Berlin and Vienna productions

Births

• April 6 - Vernon Dalhart, U.S. singer
• May 26 - Mamie Smith, U.S. singer
• September 18 - Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners, composer
• November 8 - Arnold Bax, composer
• December 3 - Anton Webern, Austrian composer

Deaths

• February 13 - Richard Wagner, German composer
• October 30 - Robert Volkmann, composer