1887 in music

List of years in music       (table)
... 1877 .  1878 .  1879 .  1880  . 1881  . 1882  . 1883 ... 1884 1885 1886 -1887- 1888 1889 1890 ... 1891 .  1892 .  1893 .  1894  . 1895  . 1896  . 1897 ...
Art . Archaeology . Architecture . Literature . Music . Science +...

Events

25 May - A fire during the 745th performance there of Mignon largely destroys the second Salle Favart, home of the Opéra-Comique in Paris; 84 people are recorded dead.

Published popular music

• "Angels Without Wings" w.m. George Dance
• "Away In A Manger" w. anon m. James Ramsey Murray
• "Calvary" w. Henry Vaughn m. Paul Rodney
• "Comrades" Felix McGlennon & George Horncastle
• "The Song That Reached My Heart" w.m. Julian Jordan (1850 - 1929, West Chester, NY).
• "Ti! Hi! Tiddelly Hi!", w.m. Joseph Tabrar
• From the score of Ruddigore (Music: Arthur Sullivan Lyrics: W. S. Gilbert):
  • "I Know A Youth Who Loves A Maid"
  • "I Shipped, D'Ye See, In A Revenue Sloop"
  • "My Boy, You May Take It From Me"
  • "There Grew A Little Flower"
  • "When The Night Wind Howls"

Classical music

• Isaac Albéniz - Sonata for piano Nos. 3, 4 and 5; Concierto fantástico in A minor
• Johannes Brahms - Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra (Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102)
• Ruperto Chapi - La Bruja (zarzuela)
• Gustave Charpentier - Didon (cantata)
• Felix Draeseke - Sonata for Clarinet (or Violin) and Piano in B♭, Op. 38
• Antonín Dvořák - Piano Quintet No. 2 in A, Op. 81
• Robert Fuchs - Symphony No. 2 in E♭, Op. 45
• Edvard Grieg - Third Sonata for Violin and Piano in C minor, opus 45
• Asger Hamerik - Requiem
• Sergei Lyapunov - Symphony No. 1 in B minor, Op. 12
• José Vianna da Motta - Piano Concerto in A major
• Hans Pfitzner - Scherzo in C minor
• Josef Rheinberger - Organ Sonata No. 11 in D minor, op. 148; Suite for organ, violin and cello, op. 149
• Charles Villiers Stanford - An Irish Symphony (Symphony No. 3 in F minor), Op. 28
• Richard Strauss - Violin Sonata in E♭, Op. 18
• Hugo Wolf - Italian Serenade for string quartet

Opera

• Charles Edouard Lefebvre - Zaïre premiered in Lille
• Adolf Neuendorff - Prince Waldmeister
• Johann Strauss II - Simplicius
• Giuseppe Verdi - Otello
• Emmanuel Chabrier - Le roi malgré lui

Musical theater

• Dorothy Broadway production opened at the Standard Theatre on November 5 and transferred to the Grand Opera House on April 16, 1888 for a total run of 51 performances
• Ruddigore London and Broadway productions

Births

• January 28 - Arthur Rubinstein, pianist
• February 7 - Eubie Blake, jazz pianist and composer
• February 23 - Oskar Lindberg, composer (d. 1955)
• March 3 - Hart Wand, composer, fiddler, bandleader
• March 4 - Violet MacMillan, Broadway star
• March 5 - Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer (d. 1959)
• March 7 - Heino Eller, composer (d. 1970)
• March 22 - Chico Marx, piano-playing comedian
• March 23 - Anthony van Hoboken, musicologist
• March 25 - Nicolae Bretan, opera composer
• April 10 - Heinz Tiessen, composer (died 1971)
• May 12 - Bertha Lewis, operatic contralto
• June 25 - George Abbott, US librettist and director
• July 2 - Marcel Tabuteau, oboist
• July 29 - Sigmund Romberg, composer (d. 1951)
• August 25 - Fartein Valen, composer
• September 14 - Paul Kochanski, violinist
• September 16 - Nadia Boulanger, composer, conductor and music teacher (d. 1979)
• September 19 - Rosita Marstini, dancer
• October 6 - Maria Jeritza, operatic soprano
• October 11 - Oscar Shaw, actor and singer
• November 1 - Max Trapp, composer (died 1971)
• December 6 - Joseph Lamb
• December 7 - Ernst Toch, composer
• December 8 - Vicente Emilio Sojo, musicologist and composer
• December 12 - Kurt Atterberg, composer (d. 1974)
• December 24 - Lucrezia Bori, operatic soprano
• December 27
  • Gertie Gitana, music hall singer
  • Bernard van Dieren, composer (died 1936)
• date unknown
  • Carlo Jachino, composer
  • Jose Maria Usandizaga, composer

Deaths

• February 21 - James Lorraine Geddes, songwriter
• February 27 - Alexander Borodin, composer (born 1833)
• March 2 - Wilhelm Troszel, operatic bass and composer (born 1823)
• March 11 - Ludvig Mathias Lindeman, composer (born 1812)
• April 23 - John Ceiriog Hughes, lyricist and collector of folk tunes (born 1832)
• May 12 - Francesco Malipiero, composer (born 1824)
• June 24 - Filippo Filippi, music critic (born 1830)
• July 17 - Louis Mérante, dancer and choreographer (born 1828)
• October 1 - Robert Stoepel, conductor and composer (born 1821)
• October 18 - Matteo Salvi, opera composer (born 1816)
• October 31 - George Alexander Macfarren, composer (born 1813)
• November 2 - Jenny Lind, singer, "the Swedish Nightingale" (born 1820)
• November 18 - Eduard Marxsen, pianist and composer (born 1806)
• December 2 - Thomas Philander Ryder, composer, organist, teacher, conductor, and organ builder (born 1836)
• December 5 - Eliza R. Snow, lyricist (born 1804)
• date unknown - Georg Unger, operatic tenor (born 1837)