• 1893 in Norwegian music

• February 9 – Première of Giuseppe Verdi's final opera Falstaff in La Scala in Milan with Victor Maurel in the title rôle.
• Summer – Gustav Mahler's first summer composing at his Komponierhäuschen ("composition hut") at Steinbach am Attersee in the Salzkammergut region of Austria.
• August 14–15 – America's oldest music organization, the Stoughton Musical Society performs at the World's Columbian Exposition.
• October 16–28 – In Saint Petersburg (Russia), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky conducts the first performance of his Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, Pathétique (Патетическая), nine days before his death (attributed to cholera). The second performance takes place 21 days later at a memorial concert conducted by Eduard Nápravník, incorporating minor revisions. Tchaikovsky wrote it between February and the end of August at Klin.
• December 16 – Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" receives its première at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
• December 29 – Claude Debussy's String Quartet is premièred in Paris.
• American sisters Patty and Mildred J. Hill publish Song Stories for the Kindergarten including "Good Morning to All", which later becomes known as "Happy Birthday to You".
• The first sousaphone is built by James Welsh Pepper at the request of bandmaster John Philip Sousa in the United States.^[1]

Selected compositions (words/music indicated by "w.m."):

• "Can't Lose Me, Charlie" w.m. Harry S. Miller
• "The Cat Came Back"     w.m. Harry S. Miller
• "December And May"     w. Edward Marks m. William Lorraine
• "Do Do My Huckleberry Do"     w. Harry Dillon m. John Dillon (the Dillon Brothers)
• "The Fatal Wedding"     w. W. H. Windom m. Gussie L. Davis
• "Good Morning to All"     w. Patty Smith Hill m. Mildred J. Hill
• "I Long to See The Girl I Left Behind"     w.m. John T. Kelly
• "The Liberty Bell" by John Philip Sousa
• "Mamie, Come Kiss Your Honey"     w.m. May Irwin
• "Marguerite" by Charles A. White
• "Oh! Mr Porter"     w. Thomas Le Brunn m. George Le Brunn
• "Private Tommy Atkins"     w. Henry Hamilton m. S. Potter
• "Say 'Au Revoir', But Not 'Good-Bye'" by Harry Kennedy
• "Sweet Marie"     w. Cy Warman m. Raymond Moore
• "They All Take After Me"     w. T. W. Connor m. Harry Randall
• "Two Little Girls in Blue"     w.m. Charles Graham
• "The Volunteer Organist"     w. William G. Gray m. Henry Lamb
• "When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder"     w.m. James M. Black
• "Zacatecas" by Genaro Codina

• "After the Ball (song)" – George J. Gaskin^[2]
• "After the Fair (Parody)" – George H. Diamond
• "Blind Tom" – Brilliant Quartette^[3]
• "The Cat Came Back" – George H. Diamond^[4]
• "Chinese Picnic" – Vess Ossman^[5]
• "Cocoanut Dance" – Vess Ossman^[6]
• "The Commodore Song" – Edward M. Favor^[7]
• "Daisy Bell" – Dan W. Quinn
• "Darkie Tickle" – Vess Ossman^[8]
• "Down On The Farm" – Edward Clarance^[9]
• "High School Cadets" – Vess Ossman^[10]
• "The King's Song" – Edward M. Favor^[11]
• "Love's Sweet Honor" – Vess Ossman^[12]
• "Lovely Woman" – Al Reeves^[13]
• "The Man That Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo” – George H. Diamond^[14]
• "Marriage Bells" – Vess Ossman^[15]
• "O Promise Me" – George J. Gaskin
• "Parody On "After the Ball" – George H. Diamond^[16]
• "Pat Brady and the World Fair at Chicago" – Dan Kelly^[17]
• "The Washington Post (march)" – Vess Ossman^[12]
• "When Summer Comes Again" – George H. Diamond^[18]
• "Why Should I Keep From Whistling?" – John York AtLee & Fred Gaisberg^[19]

• Amy Beach – Gaelic Symphony
• Johannes Brahms
  • Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118
  • Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119
• Claude Debussy – String Quartet in G minor
• Antonín Dvořák – Symphony no. 9 in E minor, "From the New World"
• Edward German – Symphony in A minor, "Norwich"
• Johan Halvorsen – Entry of the Boyars
• Sergei Rachmaninoff
  • Fantaisie-Tableaux, for two pianos, Op. 5
  • Morceaux de salon for violin and piano, Op. 6
• Jean Sibelius – Lemminkäinen Suite
• William Stanley – Bay View Gavotte in A major
• Josef Suk – Quintet for Piano and Strings in G minor
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Symphony no. 6 in B minor, "Pathétique"

• Granville Bantock – Caedmar
• Julius Bechgaard – Frode premiered on May 11 in Copenhagen
• Engelbert Humperdinck – Hänsel und Gretel
• Isidore de Lara – Amy Robsart
• Emile Pessard
  • Une nuit de Noël premiered at the Ambigu, Paris
  • Mam'zelle Carabin premiered on November 3 at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, Salle Choiseul, Paris
• Giacomo Puccini – Manon Lescaut
• Camille Saint-Saëns – Phryné
• Giuseppe Verdi – Falstaff

• A Gaiety Girl – London production opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on October 14 and ran for 413 performances
• Jane Annie – London production opened at the Savoy Theatre on May 13 and ran for 50 performances
• Little Christopher Columbus – London production opened at the Lyric Theatre on October 10 and ran for 279 performances
• Morocco Bound (music Frank Osmond Carr lyrics: Adrian Ross) – London production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on April 13 and transferred to the Trafalgar Square Theatre on January 8, 1894, for a total run of 295 performances.
• A Trip To Chinatown – Broadway production
• Utopia Limited – London production opened at the Savoy Theatre on October 7 and ran for 245 performances

• February 10 – Jimmy Durante, American comedian and singer (died 1980)
• February 15 – Walter Donaldson, American songwriter (died 1947)
• February 21 – Andrés Segovia, Spanish classical guitarist (died 1987)
• March 8 – Mississippi John Hurt, American country blues singer and guitarist (died 1966)
• April 2 – Sergei Protopopov, Russian composer and music theorist (died 1954)
• April 16 – Federico Mompou, Spanish classical composer (died 1987)
• April 18 – Georges Boulanger, Romanian violinist (died 1958)
• June 10 – Hattie McDaniel, singer and actress (died 1952)
• June 26 – Big Bill Broonzy, American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist (died 1958)
• June 28 – Luciano Gallet, Brazilian composer, pianist and conductor (died 1931)
• July 25 – Dorothy Dickson, American-born British singer and actress (died 1995)
• July 28 – Rued Langgaard, Danish composer and organist (died 1952)
• August 21 – Lili Boulanger, French composer (died 1918)
• August 22 – Dorothy Parker, American writer, poet and lyricist (died 1953)
• September 13 – Larry Shields, American Dixieland jazz clarinetist (died 1953)
• September 24 – Blind Lemon Jefferson, blues musician (died 1929)
• October 1 – Cliff Friend, American Tin Pan Alley songwriter (died 1974)
• October 23 – Jean Absil, Belgian composer and organist (died 1974)
• November 8 – Clarence Williams, American jazz pianist, composer, promoter, vocalist, theatrical producer and publisher (died 1965)
• December 7 — Fay Bainter, American actress (d. 1968)
• December 24 – Harry Warren, born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna, American film songwriter (died 1981)

• January 18 – Julius Eichberg, composer (b. 1824)
• February 13 – George Lichtenstein, pianist and music teacher (b. 1827)
• May 2 – Daniel Friedrich Eduard Wilsing [de], composer (b.1809)
• May 25 – Johann Rufinatscha, composer and music teacher (b. 1812)
• June 10 – Elek Erkel, Hungarian composer, son of Ferenc Erkel (b. 1843)
• June 25 – Ferenc Erkel, Hungarian composer (b. 1810)
• July 16 – Antonio Ghislanzoni, librettist (b. 1824)
• August 7 – Alfredo Catalani, composer (b. 1854)
• August 31 – Sir William Cusins, instrumentalist, conductor and composer; Master of the Queen's Music (b. 1833)
• September 8 – Michel Lentz, lyricist of the national anthem of Luxembourg (b. 1820)
• September 13 – Carl Ludvig Gerlach, opera singer and composer
• October 16 – Carlo Pedrotti, conductor and composer (b. 1817)
• October 18 – Charles Gounod, composer (b. 1818)
• November 6 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composer (b. 1840)
• December 23 – Benedict Randhartinger, composer (b. 1802)
• date unknown – Félix Battanchon, cellist (b. 1814)