Events

March 31 – Franz Liszt and Sigismond Thalberg play a musical 'duel' at a charity event for refugees of the Italian war of independence at the home of Countess Belgiojoso.
June 11 – Prussian Copyright Act protecting for the first time performances of concert music
Pauline Viardot (as Pauline García) makes her concert debut at the age of sixteen.

Publications

Charles-Valentin Alkan – 3 Morceaux dans le genre pathétique, Op. 15
Ludwig Berger – 15 Etudes, Op.33
Charles-Auguste de Bériot – Violin Concerto No. 1, Op.16
Hector Berlioz – Grande Messe des Morts
Frédéric Chopin
- Hexaméron: Variation No. 6
- Nocturne in C minor, B. 108
- Largo in E-flat major, B. 109
- Impromptu No. 1, Op. 29
- Scherzo No. 2, Op. 31
- Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 35, III
Fanny Ellsler – 3 Airs de Ballet
Adolf von Henselt
- Romance, Op. 10
- Variations de concert sur le motif de l'opéra 'L'elisir d'amore', Op. 1
Franz Liszt
- Grandes études, S. 137
- Album d'un voyageur, S. 156
- Hexaméron, S. 392
- Soirées musicales de Rossini, S. 424
- 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S. 558
Felix Mendelssohn
- 6 Gesänge, Op.34
- Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40
- Psalm 42 for choir and orchestra, Op. 42
- 6 Lieder, Op. 50
- String Quartet No. 4 in E minor
Carl Gottlieb Reissiger
- 3 String Quartets, Op.111
- 4 Gesänge, Op.117
Robert Schumann
- Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6
- Études symphoniques, Op. 13
Johann Strauss Sr. – Cachucha-Galopp, Op.97
Sigismond Thalberg
- 12 Etudes, Op.26
- Grand Fantasia on 'God save the Queen' and 'Rule Britannia', Op.27

January 2 – Mily Balakirev, Russian pianist, conductor and composer (d. 1910)
January 12 – Adolf Jensen, German pianist, composer and music teacher (d. 1879)
January 27 – Carlotta Ferrari, composer (died 1907)^[4]
February 23 – Rosalía de Castro, lyricist (died 1885)
March 12 – Alexandre Guilmant, organist (died 1911)
March 15 – Célestine Galli-Marié, operatic mezzo-soprano, the original Carmen (d. 1905)
April 13 – Julius Weissenborn, German bassoonist, music teacher and composer (d. 1888)
April 18 – Armand Silvestre, librettist (died 1901)
May 23 – Józef Wieniawski, pianist (died 1912)
June 1 – Ferdinand Quentin Dulcken, English (later American) pianist and composer (d. 1901)
June 25 – Josef Werner, composer (died 1922)
July 6 – Władysław Żeleński, composer (died 1921)^[5]
July 30 – Signe Hebbe, operatic soprano (d. 1925)
August 24
- Théodore Dubois, organist and composer (d. 1924)
- Adolf Wilbrandt, writer and lyricist (died 1911)
September 19 – Adolf Gustaw Sonnenfeld, composer (died 1914)
December 7 – Édouard Mangin, musician (died 1907)
December 9 – Emile Waldteufel, pianist and composer (d. 1915)^[6]
December 24 – Cosima Wagner, daughter of Franz Liszt and wife of Richard Wagner (d. 1930)
December 30 – Ida Marie Lipsius, music writer (d. 1927)
date unknown
- Kate Santley, actress and singer (d. 1923)
- La Serneta, flamenco singer (d. 1910)

January 23 – John Field, pianist and composer (b. 1782)^[7]
February 10 – Aleksandr Pushkin, Russian poet and librettist (born 1799)
April 9 – Polly Cuninghame, ballet dancer (b. c. 1785)
May 5
- Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli, composer (b. 1752)
- Salvatore Fighera, composer (b. 1771)
June 16 – Valentino Fioravanti, opera buffa composer (b. 1764)
July 28 – Joseph Schubert, violinist and composer (b. 1754)
August 6 – Johann Nepomuk Schelble, composer (b. 1789)
October 6 – Jean François Lesueur, composer (b. 1760/1763)
October 11 – Samuel Wesley, organist and composer, son of hymn-writer Charles Wesley
October 17 – Johann Nepomuk Hummel, composer (b. 1778)
October 28 – Jean-Blaise Martin, opera singer (b. 1768)
date unknown
- Franz Joseph Antony, organist and choral composer (b. 1790)
- Jean Théodore Latour, composer for piano (b. 1766)
- Christina Rahm, opera singer (b. c. 1760)