1851 in music

Events

• February – Operatic tenor Sims Reeves returns to perform in Dublin with his new wife, soprano Charlotte Emma Lucombe.
• February 6 – Schumann's Symphony No. 3 receives its première in Düsseldorf, the composer conducting.
• March 11 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto is first performed at La Fenice in Venice.
• April 5 – Jenny Lind visits the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, USA.
• July 23 – Richard Wagner writes down the leitmotif for the "Ride of the Valkyries".
• Operatic baritone Hans von Milde marries soprano Rosa Agthe.
• Eight-year-old Adelina Patti sings in public for the first time.

  Published popular music

• "Cora, the Indian Maiden's Song" – w. Shirley Brooks m. Alexander Lee
• "Old Folks at Home" by Stephen Foster
• "Ring, Ring, de Banjo" by Stephen Foster
• "I Would Not Die in Summer Time" by Stephen Foster
• "Laura Lee" by Stephen Foster

  Classical music

• Woldemar Bargiel – Piano Trio No. 1 in F major, Op. 6
• Johannes Brahms
• *Scherzo in E-flat minor for solo piano, Op. 4
• *Heimkehr for voice and piano, Op. 7 No. 6
• Franz Liszt
• *Transcendental Études for Piano, S 139
• *Grandes études de Paganini
• Jacques Offenbach – Concerto Rondo for cello and orchestra.
• George Onslow – Wind Quintet Op. 81
• Anton Rubinstein – Symphony No. 2
• Robert Schumann
• *Symphony No. 4 from 1841, revised
• *Violin Sonata No. 1
• *Violin Sonata No. 2
• *Der Rose Pilgerfahrt, oratorio
• *Mädchenlieder, Op. 103
• *7 Lieder, Op. 104
• *6 Gesänge, Op. 107
• *Piano Trio No. 3, Op. 110
• *3 Gedichte, Op. 119
• *Julius Cäsar Ouverture, Op. 128
• *3 Fantasiestücke, for piano
• *Märchenbilder, for piano and viola

  Opera

• Félicien-César David – La Perle du Bresil
• Charles Gounod – Sapho
• Albert Lortzing – Die Oprnprobe
• Joachim Raff – König Alfred
• Giuseppe Verdi – Rigoletto

  Births

• January 25 – Jan Blockx, pianist, composer and music teacher
• January 27 – Gaspar Villate, composer
• February 12 – Anna Yesipova, pianist
• March 27
• *Ruperto Chapí, composer
• *Vincent d'Indy, composer
• May 1 – Ludvig Hegner, composer
• May 6
• *Aristide Bruant, French singer
• *Jean-Alexandre Talazac, operatic tenor
• May 7 – Julius Buths, pianist, conductor and composer
• May 17 – Victor Bendix, pianist, conductor and composer
• June 11 – Oscar Borg, composer
• June 12 – Pol Plançon, operatic bass
• August 8 – Walborg Lagerwall, Swedish violinist
• October 11 – Josif Marinković, composer
• October 16 – Viggo Bielefeldt, composer
• November 5 – Émile Pierre Ratez, composer
• November 16 – Minnie Hauk, operatic soprano
• probable – Marie Heilbron, operatic soprano

  Deaths

• January 21 – Albert Lortzing, composer
• January 24 – Gaspare Spontini, composer
• February 20 – Josef Alois Ladurner, Austrian composer and pedagogue
• March 6
• *Alexander Alyabyev, composer
• *Emma Hartmann, composer
• April 8 – John Parry, harpist and composer
• July 4 – Martin-Joseph Mengal, composer
• July 17 – Béni Egressy, composer and librettist
• August 8 – James Shudi Broadwood, piano-maker
• October 8 – George Alexander Lee, singer, songwriter and opera producer
• December 1 – Carl Dahlén, ballet dancer and choreographer