See also: 1883 in music, other events of 1884, 1885 in music and the list of 'years in music'.

Events

Published popular music

• "Clementine"     w.m. Percy Montrose
• "The Coon's Salvation Army" by Sam Lucas
• "The Golden Wedding"     m. Gabriel-Marie
• "Love's Old Sweet Song"     w. George Clifton Bingham m. James Lyman Molloy
• "March of the Plumed Knight" by Charles B. Morrell & William Howard Doane
• "My Thoughts Are of Thee" by Sam Lucas
• "Otchi Tchorniya"     trad
• "Rest, Comrades, Rest (Memorial Hymn)" by O. B. Ormsby
• "Rock-a-bye Baby"     w.m. Effie I. Canning
• "When the Heather Blooms Again" by Francis Jane Crosby & William Howard Doane
• "While Strolling Through The Park One Day"     w.m. Ed Haley

Classical music

• Henri Duparc - La Vie Antérieure
• César Franck - Prélude, Chorale et Fugue
• Charles Gounod - Mors et Vita (oratorio)

Opera

• Eduard Caudella - Hatmanul Baltag
• Jules Massenet - Manon
• Karl Millöcker - Gasparone
• Charles Villiers Stanford - The Canterbury Pilgrims

Musical theater

• Adonis Broadway production
• The Beggar Student London production
• Desirée Broadway production
• The Grand Mogul London production
• Princess Ida London and Broadway productions

Births

• January 13 - Sophie Tucker, singer
• March 17 - Alcide Nunez, clarinetist
• November 23 - Guy Bolton, English librettist

Deaths

• January 25 - Johann Gottfried Piefke, conductor and composer
• May 12 - Bedrich Smetana, composer
• June 25 - Hans Rott, composer
• June 8 - Henry Clay Work, US composer