1880 in music

Events

*Richard Strauss' first major work, a symphony in D minor, is premiered.
*Gustav Mahler obtains work as a conductor at a summer theatre at Bad Hall.
*Richard Wagner publishes his autobiography.

Published popular music

* "Away, Away! My Heart's On Fire" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
* "Blow The Man Down" trad
* "Funiculì Funiculà" w. G. Turco m. Luigi Denza
* "Now for The Pirates' Lair" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
* "Oh, Better Far To Live And Die" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
* "A Rollicking Band Of Pirates, We" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
* "Roses From The South Waltz" m. Johann Strauss II
* "Sailing, Sailing" w.m. Godfrey Marks
* "To Gain A Brief Advantage" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
* "When A Felon's Not Engaged" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
* "When The Foeman Bares His Steel" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
* "When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
* "Yes! I Am Brave! Oh, Family Descent" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan

Classical music

*Jan Levoslav Bella - "String Quartet No. 2 in C minor"
*Giovanni Bottesini - "Gran Duo Concertante"
*Johannes Brahms - "Tragic Overture", "Academic Festival Overture"
*Felix Draeseke - "Weihestunden. Six songs for baritone (or mezzo-soprano) and piano"
*Antonín Dvořák - "Symphony No. 6 in D major, op. 60", "Songs My Mother Taught Me"
*Niels Gade - "Concerto for violin and orchestra in D minor"
*Iosef Ivanovici - "The Danube Waves"
*Hubert Parry - "Piano concerto"
*Giacomo Puccini - "Messa di Gloria"
*Hans Rott - "Symphony in E major"
*Pablo Sarasate - "Spanish Dances for Violin and Piano"
*Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - "1812 Overture", "Serenade for Strings"

Opera

*Dudley Buck - "Deseret, or A Saint's Affliction"
*Léo Delibes - "Jean de Nivelle"
*Miguel Marqués - "Florinda"
*Adolf Neuendorff - "The Rat-Charmer of Hamelin"/"Der Rattenfänger von Hameln"
*George Stephanescu
**"Peste Dunare"
**"Sinziana si Pepelea"

Musical theater

* "La Mascotte" Paris production
* "The Pirates Of Penzance" London production

Births

* January 5 - Nikolai Karlovich Medtner, Russian pianist and composer. (d. 1951)
* February 3 - Lina Abarbanell, German singer and actress
*June 13 - Vincent Rose, Italian-born US bandleader and composer
*July 5 - Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist (d. 1940)
*July 24 - Ernest Bloch, Swiss-born American Jewish composer (d. 1959)
*October 12 - Healey Willan - England-born Canadian composer (d. 1968)
*November 10 - Ildebrando Pizzetti - Italian composer (d. 1968)
* "unknown date" - Blind Uncle Gaspard - American vocalist and guitarist.

Deaths

*March 31 - Henryk Wieniawski, violinist and composer (b. 1835) (heart attack)
*May 1 - Samuel Naumbourg, composer (b. 1817)
*May 9 - Hermann Berens, composer (b. 1826)
*August 17 - Ole Bull, Norwegian violinist (b. 1810)
*October 4 - Jacques Offenbach, composer (b. 1819)
*October 7 - Fredrika Stenhammar, operatic soprano (b. 1836)
*November 24 - Napoléon Henri Reber, composer (b. 1807)
*December 2 - Josephine Lang, composer (b. 1815)
*December 27 - Alessandro Nini, composer (b. 1805)
*"date unknown" - Knut Eriksson Helland, Hardanger fiddle maker (b. 1851)