This article is about music-related events in 1851.

• 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.^[1]
• March 11 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto is first performed at La Fenice in Venice.^[2]
• April 5 – Jenny Lind visits the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, USA.^{[citation needed]}
• July 23 – Richard Wagner writes down the leitmotif for the "Ride of the Valkyries".^{[citation needed]}
• Operatic baritone Hans von Milde marries soprano Rosa Agthe.^{[citation needed]}
• Eight-year-old Adelina Patti sings in public for the first time.^{[citation needed]}

• "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

• 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

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

• 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)

• 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)