Events
- January 13 – The New York Herald reviewing the work of Abe Holzmann, comments that "[h]is knowledge of bass and counterpoint is thorough, and his standard compositions bear the stamp of harmonic lore, which makes his proclivity for the writing of the popular style of music the more remarkable."[1]
- February 4 – Puccini's Tosca makes U.S. debut at Metropolitan Opera in New York
- February 17 – Das klagende Lied, by Gustav Mahler, receives its world premiere by the Vienna Philharmonics in that city, Mahler conducting.
- March 29
- Alexander Scriabin's Symphony No.1 in E Minor, Op 26, is performed in its complete version in Moscow.
- Verdi's funeral procession in Milan attracts a crowd of 300,000.
- Jean de Reszke's final performance of the season with the Metropolitan Opera turns into his farewell performance with that company as he sings the title role in Richard Wagner's Lohengrin.
- April 18 – Contralto Mariska Horvath marries politician J. Frank Aldrich.
- April 29 – Tenor Jean de Reszke returns to the stage to sing the second act of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.[2]
- May 3 – Marcel Dupré's oratorio Le songe de Jacob (La Vision de Jacob) premieres in France with Dupré playing the organ part himself.
- May 17 - Benedictine monks of Solesmes are publicly lauded by Pope Leo XIII for their scholarly work on Gregorian chant.
- June 1 – The classical music publishing firm Universal Edition is founded in Vienna.
- June 20 – Edward Elgar's Cockaigne Overture receives its world premiere as Elgar conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra
- June 23 – Ernest Bloch's symphonic Vivre Aimer premiers at the Second Festival of Swiss Music in Geneva
- June 30 – Maurice Ravel scores third place in the annual Prix de Rome competition with the cantata Myrrha
- September 20 – The German music periodical Die Musik, an illustrated journal, is published for the first time in Berlin.
- October 3 – Eldridge Johnson establishes the Victor Talking Machine Company and is permitted to use the dog trademark "His Master's Voice"
- October 15 – Geraldine Farrar makes her operatic debut in Berlin Royal Opera as Margueritte in Gounod's Faust
- October 19 – Edward Elgar's first two Pomp and Circumstance marches premier in Liverpool
- October 27 – Claude Debussy's Trois Nocturnes is given in its first complete performance as Camille Chevillard conducts the Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris.
- October – The Columbia Phonograph Company issues the first recordings under its Climax label
- October - The National Gramophone Company issues the first celebrity red-label disc featuring artists from the Russian Imperial Opera.
- October - The International Zonophone Company is established
- November 9 – First complete performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor in Moscow with author playing the solo part.
- November 25 – Premiėre of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 4 in G Major under the composer's baton in Munich.
- December 9 – Violinist Jaroslav Kocián makes his debut at St James's Hall.[3]
- December 20 – Henry Hadley's Symphony No.2 (The Four Seasons) is performed by Emil Paur and the New York Symphony Orchestra.
- Enrique Granados founds the Academia Granados in Spain.
- Percy Grainger makes his recital debut.
- Thirteen-year-old Agustín Barrios begins attending university in Asunción on a music scholarship.
- Ragtime popularity grows.
