1886 in music

See also: 1885 in music, other events of 1886, 1887 in music and the list of 'years in music'.

Events

Published popular music

• "The Gladiators" 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 Mothers)" by James W. Wheeler
• "Two Lovely Black Eyes, Oh, What a Surprise" w. Charles Coborn m. Edmund Forman

Classical Music

• Charles Bordes – Paysages Tristes (song cycle)
• Arthur Foote – In the Mountains (tone poem)
• Alexander Glazunov – Five Novelettes for String Quartet, Op. 15
• 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 total run of 931 performances.
• Erminie, Broadway production opened at the Casino Theatre on May 10 and ran for 1256 performances
• The Queen of Hearts, (Music: John Philip Sousa)Broadway production

Births

• January 25 – Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor (d. 1954)
• April 26 – Ma Rainey
• May 26 – Al Jolson (d. 1950)
• June 12 – E. Ray Goetz, US songwriter
• June 13 – Art Hickman, US bandleader
• August 5 – Carlo Giorgio Garofalo, composer
• August 31 – L. Wolfe Gilbert, Russian-born US songwriter
• 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 17 – Amilcare Ponchielli, opera composer
• July 31 – Franz Liszt