1880 in music

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Events

• Richard Strauss' first major work, a symphony in D minor, is premiered.
• Gustav Mahler obtains work as a conductor at a summer theatre at Bad Hall.
• Richard Wagner publishes his autobiography.

Published popular music

• "Away, Away! My Heart's On Fire"     w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "Blow The Man Down"     trad
• "Funiculì Funiculà"     w. G. Turco m. Luigi Denza
• "Now for The Pirates' Lair"      w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "Oh, Better Far To Live And Die"      w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "A Rollicking Band Of Pirates, We"      w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "Roses From The South Waltz"     m. Johann Strauss II
• "Sailing, Sailing"     w.m. Godfrey Marks
• "To Gain A Brief Advantage"      w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "When A Felon's Not Engaged"      w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "When The Foeman Bares His Steel"      w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold"      w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "Yes! I Am Brave! Oh, Family Descent"      w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan

Classical music

• Jan Levoslav Bella - String Quartet No. 2 in C minor
• Giovanni Bottesini - Gran Duo Concertante
• Johannes Brahms - Tragic Overture, Academic Festival Overture
• Felix Draeseke - Weihestunden. Six songs for baritone (or mezzo-soprano) and piano
• Antonín Dvořák - Symphony No. 6 in D major, op. 60, Songs My Mother Taught Me
• Niels Gade - Concerto for violin and orchestra in D minor
• Ion Ivanovici - The Danube Waves
• Hubert Parry - Piano concerto
• Giacomo Puccini - Messa di Gloria
• Hans Rott - Symphony in E major
• Pablo Sarasate - Spanish Dances for Violin and Piano
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture, Serenade for Strings

Opera

• Dudley Buck - Deseret, or A Saint's Affliction
• Léo Delibes - Jean de Nivelle
• Miguel Marqués - Florinda
• Adolf Neuendorff - The Rat-Charmer of Hamelin/Der Rattenfänger von Hameln
• George Stephanescu
  • Peste Dunare
  • Sinziana si Pepelea

Musical theater

• La Mascotte     Paris production
• The Pirates Of Penzance     London production

Births

• January 5 - Nikolai Karlovich Medtner, Russian pianist and composer. (d. 1951)
• February 3 - Lina Abarbanell, German singer and actress
• June 13 - Vincent Rose, Italian-born US bandleader and composer
• July 5 - Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist (d. 1940)
• July 24 - Ernest Bloch, Swiss-born American Jewish composer (d. 1959)
• October 12 - Healey Willan - England-born Canadian composer (d. 1968)
• November 10 - Ildebrando Pizzetti - Italian composer (d. 1968)
• unknown date - Blind Uncle Gaspard - American vocalist and guitarist.

Deaths

• March 31 - Henryk Wieniawski, violinist and composer (b. 1835) (heart attack)
• May 1 - Samuel Naumbourg, composer (b. 1817)
• May 9 - Hermann Berens, composer (b. 1826)
• August 17 - Ole Bull, Norwegian violinist (b. 1810)
• October 4 - Jacques Offenbach, composer (b. 1819)
• October 7 - Fredrika Stenhammar, operatic soprano (b. 1836)
• November 24 - Napoléon Henri Reber, composer (b. 1807)
• December 2 - Josephine Lang, composer (b. 1815)
• December 27 - Alessandro Nini, composer (b. 1805)
• date unknown - Knut Eriksson Helland, Hardanger fiddle maker (b. 1851)