# 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)