List of years in music (Table)
… 1876 • 1877 • 1878 • 1879 • 1880 • 1881 • 1882 •    1883 • 1884 • 1885 – 1886 – 1887 • 1888 • 1889 •    1890 • 1891 • 1892 • 1893 • 1894 • 1895 • 1896 …
Related time period or subjects
… 1883 • 1884 • 1885 – 1886 – 1887 • 1888 • 1889 … … 1850s • 1860s • 1870s – 1880s – 1890s • 1900s • 1910s … … 18th century – 19th century – 20th century …
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Celesta invented.

Events

• March 21 - Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 is performed for the first time publicly in Vienna, conducted by Hans Richter. This is his breakthrough work.
• Eight countries adopt the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, an historic international agreement on copyright protection. The new laws came into force on December 5 1887. Other countries follow suit.
• The celesta is invented by Auguste Mustel.

Published popular music

• "The Gladiator" m. John Philip Sousa
• "Johnny Get Your Gun" w.m. Monroe H. Rosenfeld
• "Semper Fidelis" m. John Philip Sousa
• "Somebody's Mother" (The Song of All Mother Songs) by James W. Wheeler
• "Two Lovely Black Eyes, Oh, What a Surprise" w. Charles Coborn m. Edmund Forman

Classical Music

• Johannes Brahms - Cello Sonata No. 2 op. 99 in F, Violin Sonata No. 2 op. 100 in A, Piano Trio No. 3 op. 101 in C minor
• Charles Bordes - Paysages Tristes (song cycle)
• George Whitefield Chadwick - Symphony No. 2 op. 21 in B-flat (revision)
• Felix Draeseke - String Quartet No. 2 op. 35 in E minor, Piano Concerto op. 36 in E-flat, Symphony No. 3 in C major Tragica
• Arthur Foote - In the Mountains (tone poem)
• Alexander Glazunov - Five Novelettes for String Quartet, Op. 15, Symphony No. 2, Op. 16 (To the Memory of Liszt)
• Vincent d'Indy - Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français
• Camille Saint-Saëns - The Carnival of the Animals, Symphony No. 3 (Organ)
• Ludwig Thuille - Symphony
• Emil Waldteufel - España

Musical theater

• Adonis, London production opened at the Gaiety Theatre on May 31 and ran for 110 performances.
• Dorothy, London production opened at the Gaiety Theatre on September 25. It transferred to the Prince of Wales Theatre on December 20 and to the Lyric Theatre on December 17, 1888 for a record-setting total run of 931 performances.
• Erminie - the Broadway production of this British show opened at the Casino Theatre on May 10 and ran for a very successful 571 performances.
• The Queen of Hearts, (Music: John Philip Sousa)Broadway production

Births

• January 22 - John Joseph Becker, American composer and editor (of Ives' music)
• January 25 - Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor (d. 1954)
• April 26 - Ma Rainey
• May 3 - Marcel Dupré, French composer and organist (d. 1971)
• May 13 - Joseph Achron, Lithuanian Jewish composer
• May 24 - Paul Paray, conductor and composer
• May 26 - Al Jolson (d. 1950)
• June 12 - E. Ray Goetz, US songwriter
• June 13 - Art Hickman, US bandleader
• July 4 - Heinrich Kaminski, German composer
• August 5 - Carlo Giorgio Garofalo, Italian composer and organist
• August 19 - Robert Heger, German composer and conductor
• August 27 - Eric Coates, English composer and conductor
• August 31 - L. Wolfe Gilbert, Russian-born US songwriter
• September 1 - Othmar Schoeck, Swiss composer
• September 11 - Launy Grøndahl, Danish composer and conductor
• September 25 - Jesus Guridi, composer
• October 6 - Edwin Fischer, pianist and conductor
• November 6 - Gus Kahn, German-born US lyric writer
• December 25 - Kid Ory, jazz musician (d. 1973)

Deaths

• January 16 - Joseph Maas, operatic tenor
• January 17 - Amilcare Ponchielli, opera composer
• July 31 - Franz Liszt, pianist and composer
• September 10 - John Liptrot Hatton, composer
• date unknown
  • Sonya Adler, actress and singer
  • Heraclio Fernández, composer and journalist