1871 in music

This article is about music-related events in 1871.

Events

March 29 – The Royal Albert Hall is opened in London incorporating a grand organ by Henry Willis & Sons, the world's largest at this time, on which Anton Bruckner gives a series of recitals.
Autumn – Charles Gounod begins a stay with soprano Georgina Weldon and her husband in London.
December 24 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida premières at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo.
December 26 – The Victorian burlesque Thespis, first of the Gilbert and Sullivan light opera collaborations, premières at the Gaiety Theatre, London. It does modestly well, but the two composers will not again work together until 1875.
Asger Hamerik becomes musical director of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

Published popular music

"The Blue and the Gray" by James W. Long
"Good Bye, Liza Jane"
"The Little Church Around The Corner" w.m. Charles A. White
"The Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane" w.m. William S. Hays
"Mollie Darling" w.m. William S. Hays
"Oh aint I got the Blues!" by A.A. Chapman
"Onward, Christian Soldiers" w. Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould m. Sir Arthur Sullivan
"Reuben and Rachel" w. Harry Birch m. William Gooch
"Susan Jane" w.m. William S. Hays
"The angels are calling me, Mother," words by Samuel N. Mitchell, music by William A. Huntley

Classical music

Georges Bizet – Jeux d'enfants
Dudley Buck – Variations on a Scotch Air, Op.51
Hans von Bülow – Il Carnevale di Milano, Op.21
Peter Cornelius – Chorgesänge
Charles Gounod – Boléro, CG 354
Stephen Heller – Freischütz Studien, Op.127
Adolf Jensen – 12 Lieder aus Joseph Victor Scheffels Gaudeamus, Op.40
Jules Massenet
*Dialogue nocturne
*Le roman d'Arlequin
*Rêvons, c'est l'heure
*Scènes hongroises, premiered November 26 in Paris
Karl Matys – 4 Solostücke, Op.15
Olivier Metra
*Espérance Waltz
*La vague
Johann Rufinatscha
*6 Charakterstücke, Op.14
*Fantasie in B major for piano, Op.15
Camille Saint-Saëns – Romance, Op. 37
Eduard Strauss – Fesche Geister, Op.75
Johann Strauss, Jr.
*Indigo-Quadrille, Op.344
*Tausend und eine Nacht, Op.346
Arthur Sullivan – The Merchant of Venice, premiered November 19 in Manchester
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – String Quartet No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)
Robert Volkmann – Overture to Shakespeare's Richard III, Op.68

Opera

Giovanni Bottesini – Ali Baba premiered 18 January at the Lyceum in London
Johann Strauss Jr. – Indigo und die vierzig Räuber, premiered February 10 in Vienna
Jacques Offenbach – Boule-de-Neige premiered December 14 in Paris
Giuseppe Verdi – Aida 24 December 1871 in Cairo

Musical theatre

Geneviève de Brabant, London productionThe Mascot, London productionLa Mascotte, Vienna productionLe Roi Carotte, London productionThespis, London production

Births

March 1 – Ben Harney, American composer and ragtime pianist
March 4 – Henri Delépine, composer
March 8 – Gaston Borch, composer
March 12 – Helene Wiet, Austrian opera singer
April 21 – Leo Blech, German conductor and composer
May 7 – Paolo Litta, Italian composer
May 30 – Harry Macdonough, Canadian-American singer and music executive
June 17 – James Weldon Johnson, African American songwriter, author, diplomat and educator
June 29 – Luisa Tetrazzini, Italian soprano
July 10 – Franz Evers, lyricist and music publisher
August 1 – Oskar Fried, composer
August 16 – Zacharia Paliashvili, Georgian composer
December 20 – Henry Kimball Hadley, American composer

Deaths

January 4 – Vincent Adler, pianist and composer
February 1 – Alexander Serov, composer and music critic
February 7 – Henry E. Steinway, German-American piano manufacturer
February 11 – Filippo Taglioni, dancer and choreographer
March 26 – François-Joseph Fétis, composer and musicologist
April 27 – Sigismond Thalberg, pianist and composer
May 12 – Daniel Auber, composer
May 26 – Aimé Maillart, composer
July 17 – Karl Tausig, pianist and composer
July 20 – François Delsarte, singer and music teacher
August 12 – Tiyo Soga, composer of hymns
September 3 – Václav Emanuel Horák, church musician and composer
September 26 – Cipriani Potter, pianist and composer
December 12 – Henrik Rung, composer
date unknown
*John Edward Pigot, music collector
*Fernando Quijano, songwriter, composer of the Uruguayan national anthem