1881 in music

This article is about music-related events in 1881.

Specific locations

March 23 â A fire caused by a gas explosion destroys the OpÃ©ra de Nice in the south of France with fatalities
February 10 â Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann debuts in Paris
February 20 â Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 is given its public premiere in Vienna under the baton of Hans Richter
June 11 â The National Theatre (Prague) receives a royal opening with the premiere of Smetana's opera LibuÅ¡e (written 1871â72); however, a subsequent fire delays public opening for a further 2 years, when the same work reinaugurates the theatre
September 3 â Anton Bruckner completes his Symphony No. 6; it will not be performed complete during the composer's lifetime
November 9 â Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 is given its public premiere in Budapest with the composer as soloist
December 4 â Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto is premiered in Vienna with Adolph Brodsky as soloist

Victor Bendix â Symphony No. 1 in C op. 16 Mountain Climbing
Alexander Borodin â String Quartet No. 2 in D
Johannes Brahms
- Tragic Overture op. 81 revised; NÃ¤nie op. 82
- Piano Concerto No. 2 Op. 83
Max Bruch â Kol Nidre for cello and orchestra finished
Anton Bruckner â Symphony No. 6 (Bruckner)
Emmanuel Chabrier â PiÃ¨ces pittoresques for piano
Ernest Chausson â Piano Trio in G minor, op. 3
Gabriel FaurÃ© & AndrÃ© Messager â Messe des pÃªcheurs de Villerville
CÃ©sar Franck â RÃ©becca (oratorio)
Robert Fuchs â Cello Sonata No.1, Op.29
Franz Liszt â Nuages Gris
Giuseppe Martucci â Fantasia for piano op. 51
Camille Saint-SaÃ«ns â Hymne Ã Victor Hugo
Eduard Strauss
- Glockensignale, Op.198
- Schleier und Krone, Op.200
Richard Strauss
- String Quartet in A major, Op.2
- 5 KlavierstÃ¼cke, Op.3
- Cello Sonata, Op.6
Charles-Marie Widor â First Sonata for Piano and Violin op. 50 ()
Bernard Zweers â Symphony No. 1 in D major
WÅadysÅaw Å»eleÅski â 2 Mazurkas, Op.31

The Tales of Hoffmann (Les contes d'Hoffmann; Jacques Offenbach) â Paris production opened at the OpÃ©ra-Comique on February 10
Johann Strauss Jr. â Der lustige Krieg, premiered November 24 in Vienna
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky â The Maid of Orleans
Giuseppe Verdi â Simon Boccanegra, revised version of the 21st Verdi opera premieres at La Scala in Milan

The Mascot (translation of Edmond Audran's La Mascotte) â Broadway production opened at the Bijou Theatre (Manhattan) on May 5
Patience (Gilbert and Sullivan) â London production opened at the Opera Comique on April 23 and transferred to the new Savoy Theatre on October 10 for a total run of 578 performances

January 4 â Nikolai Roslavets, Ukrainian composer (d. 1944)
February 6 â Karl Weigl, Austrian composer (d. 1949)
February 12 â Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina and actress (d. 1931)^[1]
February 21 â Kenneth J. Alford, English band composer (d. 1945)
March 10 â Frank Mullings, English tenor (d. 1953)
March 16 â Fannie Charles Dillon, American composer (d. 1947)^[2]
March 18 â Paul Le Flem, French composer (d. 1984)
March 23 â Egon Petri, Dutch-born pianist (d. 1962)
April 15 â David Thomas, Welsh composer (d. 1928)
April 17 â Anton Wildgans, lyricist and playwright (died 1942)
April 20 â Nikolai Myaskovsky, Polish-born Russian composer and teacher (d. 1950)
May 11 â Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer (d. 1944)
May 29 â Frederick Septimus Kelly, Australian-born musician (k. 1916)
July 6 â Nancy Dalberg, Danish composer (d. 1949)
August 15 â Ted Snyder, American composer and music publisher (d. 1965)
August 18 â Hermann Zilcher, German composer (died 1948)
August 19 â George Enescu, Romanian composer (d. 1955)
August 29 â Edvin Kallstenius, Swedish composer (d. 1967)
November 22 â Ethel Levey, American singer, dancer and actress (d. 1955)
November 28 â Stefan Zweig, Austrian librettist of Richard Strauss's Die schweigsame Frau (suicide 1942)
December 3 â Henry Fillmore, American band composer (d. 1956)
December 24 â Charles Wakefield Cadman, American composer and songwriter (d. 1946)

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