See also: 1877 in music, other events of 1878, 1879 in music and the list of 'years in music'.

Events

• May 28 - Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore debuts in London

Published popular music

• "Aloha Oe" w.m. Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii
• "Carry Me Back To Old Virginny" w.m. James A. Bland
• "De Gospel Raft" by Frank Dumont
• "Emmet's Lullaby" Joseph K. Emmet
• "I Am The Captain Of The Pinafore" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "I Am The Ruler Of The Queen's Navee" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "I'm Called Little Buttercup" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "In The Evening By the Moonlight" w.m. James A. Bland
• "Keep In De Middle Ob De Road"     w.m. Will Hays
• "Kind Captain" w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan
• "Never Mind The Why And Wherefore " w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan

Classical music

• Niels Gade - Capriccio for violin and orchestra in A minor
• Sergei Taneyev - Symphony no 2 in B flat minor

Opera

• Polyeucte - Charles Gounod

Musical theater

• Gilbert & Sullivan - H.M.S. Pinafore, London production
• Madame Favart , Paris production

Births

• March 4 - Egbert Van Alstyne, US songwriter
• March 29 - Albert Von Tilzer, US songwriter
• May 25 - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, American tap dancer, singer, actor
• July 4 - George M. Cohan, US songwriter, entertainer
• July 21 - Ernest R. Ball , US composer
• October 19 - Alphonse Picou, clarinetist

Deaths