1879 in music

Events

* December 31 - Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance" debuts in New York City
* Engelbert Humperdinck becomes the first winner of the Mendelssohn Award awarded by the Mendelssohn Stiftung (foundation) of Berlin.

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

Classical music

*Henri Duparc - "Le Manoir de Rosemonde"
*César Franck - "Piano Quintet"
*Asger Hamerik - "Concert Romance for 'cello and piano"
*Franz Lachner - "Elegie for Flute and Organ"
*Charles-Marie Widor - "Symphony for Organ No. 5"

Opera

*Giovanni Bottesini - "Ero e Leandro"
*Miguel Marqués - "Camoens"
*Viktor Nessler - "Der Rattenfänger von Hameln"
*Peter Tchaikovsky - "Eugene Onegin"

Musical theater

* "The Mulligan Guards' Ball" Broadway production opened at the Comique Theatre on January 13 and ran for 153 performances
* "The Mulligan Guards' Chowder" Broadway production opened at the Comique Theatre on August 11 and ran for 112 performances
* "The Mulligan Guards' Christmas" Broadway production opened at the Comique Theatre on November 17 and ran for 104 performances

Births

*February 26 - Frank Bridge, composer
*May 22 - Eastwood Lane, composer
* June 13 - Maria Gay, opera singer
* June 21 - Henry Creamer, US songwriter
*July 5 - Philippe Gaubert, composer
*July 9 - Ottorino Respighi, composer
* August 1 - Eva Tanguay, singer, vaudeville star (d. 1947)
*August 18 - Gus Edwards, Prussian-born US songwriter and entertainer
* October 12 - Chris Smith, composer
*October 21 - Joseph Canteloube, composer
*December 1 - Beth Slater Whitson, US lyric writer
* December 4 - Hamilton Harty, composer

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, ballet-master and choreographer