This article is about music-related events in 1879.

• 1879 in Norwegian music

• 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).^[1]
• 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.

• "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^[2][3]

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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)^[4]
• 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)^[5]

• December 26 – Julius Weismann, German conductor and composer (d. 1950)

• 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)