See also: 1886 in music, other events of 1887, 1888 in music and the list of 'years in music'.

Events

Published popular music

• "Angels Without Wings" w.m. George Dance
• "Away In The Manger" w. anon m. James Ramsey Murray
• "Calvary" w. Henry Vaughn m. Paul Rodney
• "Comrades" Felix McGlennon & George Horncastle
• "I Know A Youth Who Loves A Maid" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "I Shipped, D'Ye See, In A Revenue Sloop" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "My Boy, You May Take It From Me" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "The Song That Reached My Heart" w.m. Julian Jordan
• "There Grew A Little Flower" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "Ti! Hi! Tiddelly Hi!", w.m. Joseph Tabrar
• "When The Night Wind Howls" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan

Classical music

• Isaac Albeniz - Sonata for piano Nos. 3, 4 and 5
• Ruperto Chapi - La Bruja (zarzuela)
• Gustave Charpentier - Didon (cantata)
• Asger Hamerik - Requiem
• Hans Pfitzner - Scherzo in C minor
• Charles Villiers Stanford - An Irish Symphony

Opera

• Giuseppe Verdi - Otello

Musical theater

• Dorothy Broadway production
• Ruddigore London and Broadway productions

Births

• June 25 - George Abbott, US librettist and director
• July 29 - Sigmund Romberg, composer
• December 6 - Joseph Lamb
• December 12 - Kurt Atterberg, composer

Deaths

• February 27 - Alexander Borodin
• June 24 - Filippo Filippi, music critic
• November 2 - Jenny Lind, Swedish nightingale