# 1851 in music

This article is about music-related events in 1851.

## Events

* February – Operatic tenor Sims Reeves returns to perform in Dublin with his new wife, soprano Charlotte Emma Lucombe.
* February 6 – Schumann's Symphony No. 3 receives its première in Düsseldorf, the composer conducting.
* March 11 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto is first performed at La Fenice in Venice.
* April 5 – Jenny Lind visits the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, USA.
* July 23 – Richard Wagner writes down the leitmotif for the "Ride of the Valkyries".
* Operatic baritone Hans von Milde marries soprano Rosa Agthe.
* Eight-year-old Adelina Patti sings in public for the first time.

## Published popular music

* "Cora, the Indian Maiden's Song" – w. Shirley Brooks m. Alexander Lee
* "Old Folks at Home" (Way Down Upon the Swanee River) by Stephen Foster
* "Ring, Ring, de Banjo" by Stephen Foster
* "I Would Not Die in Summer Time" by Stephen Foster
* "Laura Lee" by Stephen Foster

## Classical music

* Woldemar Bargiel
** Piano Trio No. 1 in F major, Op. 6
** String Quartet No.3, Op.15b
* Johannes Brahms
** Scherzo in E-flat minor for solo piano, Op. 4
** Heimkehr (Homecoming) for voice and piano, Op. 7 No. 6
* Stephen Heller – Pensées fugitives, Op.30
* Franz Liszt
** Transcendental Études for Piano, S 139
** Grandes études de Paganini
* Johann Kaspar Mertz – Fantaisie über 'Don Juan', Op.28
* Jacques Offenbach – Concerto Rondo for cello and orchestra.
* George Onslow – Wind Quintet Op. 81
* Anton Rubinstein – Symphony No. 2 (Ocean) (first version)
* Robert Schumann
** Symphony No. 4 from 1841, revised
** Violin Sonata No. 1
** Violin Sonata No. 2
** Der Rose Pilgerfahrt, oratorio
** Mädchenlieder, Op. 103
** 7 Lieder, Op. 104
** 6 Gesänge, Op. 107
** Piano Trio No. 3, Op. 110
** 3 Gedichte, Op. 119
** Julius Cäsar Ouverture, Op. 128
** 3 Fantasiestücke, for piano
** Märchenbilder, for piano and viola
* Adrien-François Servais
** Souvenir de la Suisse, Op.10
** 6 Caprices for Cello, Op.11
* Hugo Staehle – 6 Lieder, Op.2

## Opera

* Félicien-César David – La Perle du Bresil
* Charles Gounod – Sapho
* Albert Lortzing – Die Oprnprobe
* Joachim Raff – König Alfred
* Giuseppe Verdi – Rigoletto

## Births

* January 25 – Jan Blockx, pianist, composer and music teacher (d. 1912)
* January 27 – Gaspar Villate, composer (d. 1891)
* February 12 – Anna Yesipova, pianist (d. 1914)
* March 27
** Ruperto Chapí, composer (d. 1909)
** Vincent d'Indy, composer (d. 1931)
* May 1 – Ludvig Hegner, composer (d. 1923)
* May 6
** Aristide Bruant, French singer (d. 1925)
** Jean-Alexandre Talazac, operatic tenor (d. 1896)
* May 7 – Julius Buths, pianist, conductor and composer (d. 1920)
* May 17 – Victor Bendix, pianist, conductor and composer (d. 1926)
* June 3 – Theodore Baker, musicologist (died 1934)
* June 11 – Oscar Borg, composer (d. 1930)
* June 12 – Pol Plançon, operatic bass (d. 1914)
* August 8 – Walborg Lagerwall, Swedish violinist (d. 1940)
* October 11 – Josif Marinković, composer (d. 1931)
* October 16 – Viggo Bielefeldt, composer (d. 1909)
* November 5 – Émile Pierre Ratez, composer (d. 1934)
* November 16 – Minnie Hauk, operatic soprano (d. 1929)
* probable – Marie Heilbron, operatic soprano (d. 1886)

## Deaths

* January 21 – Albert Lortzing, composer (b. 1801)
* January 24 – Gaspare Spontini, composer (b. 1774)
* February 20 – Josef Alois Ladurner, Austrian composer and pedagogue (b. 1769)
* March 6
** Alexander Alyabyev, composer (b. 1787)
** Emma Hartmann, composer (b. 1807)
* April 8 – John Parry (Bardd Alaw), harpist and composer (b. 1776)
* July 4 – Martin-Joseph Mengal, composer (b. 1784)
* July 17 – Béni Egressy, composer and librettist (b. 1814)
* August 8 – James Shudi Broadwood, piano-maker (b. 1772)
* October 8 – George Alexander Lee, singer, songwriter and opera producer (b. 1802)
* December 1 – Carl Dahlén, ballet dancer and choreographer (b. 1770)