Overview of the events of 1854 in music
February 27 – Robert Schumann unsuccessfully attempts suicide by throwing himself from a bridge into the River Rhine .
June 13 – Anthony Faas patents the 1st US accordion, having made improvements to both the keyboard, and to enhance the sound (11,062). US patent No.US11062A
Anton Rubinstein begins a four-year concert tour of Europe, establishing his reputation as the leading piano virtuoso of his generation.
Richard Wagner completes Das Rheingold .
Published popular music [ edit ]
January 21 – Georges Ernest Street , composer (died 1908)
January 31 – William Hall Sherwood , composer (died 1911)
February 5 – Laura Emeline Newell , hymnist and songwriter (died 1916)
March 10 – Dolores Paterno , composer (died 1881)
March 14 – Fred Whishaw , musician (died 1934)
April 13
April 30 – Alexandre Rey Colaço , pianist (died 1928)
May 1 – Percy French , songwriter (died 1920)
May 5 – Antonio Smareglia , composer (died 1929)
May 6 – Laura Joyce Bell , contralto singer and actress (d. 1904)
May 13 – Paul Klengel , violinist (died 1935)
May 15 – Pavel Pabst , pianist (died 1897)
May 17 – Georges Gillet , oboist (died 1920)
May 18 – Bernard Zweers , composer (died 1924)
June 14 – Frederik Rung , composer (died 1914)
June 19 – Alfredo Catalani , composer (died 1893)
June 27 – Ladislao Bonus , Filipino composer (died 1908)
July 3 – Leoš Janáček , composer (d. 1928)
July 10 – John Lloyd Williams , musician (died 1945)
July 14 – Alexander Kopylov , violinist and composer (d. 1911)
August 23 – Moritz Moszkowski , composer (died 1925)
August 24 – Alfred Dudley Turner , composer (some sources have b.1853) (d.1888)
October 16 – Oscar Wilde , poet and lyricist (died 1900)
October 22 – James A. Bland , minstrel performer (died 1911)
October 30 – Julie Rivé-King , pianist (died 1937)
September 1 – Engelbert Humperdinck , composer (d. 1921)
September 22 – Ovide Musin , violinist (died 1929)
November 1 – W. Paris Chambers , composer (died 1913)
November 6 – John Philip Sousa , composer (d. 1932)
November 14 – Dina Edling , opera singer (d. 1935)
January 12 – Philip Klitz , composer (born 1805)
February 4 – Iwan Müller , clarinetist (born 1786)
March 3 – Giovanni Battista Rubini , operatic tenor (born 1794)
March 26 – Emilie Hammarskjöld , pianist, singer and composer (born 1821)
April 18 – Józef Elsner , composer and teacher (born 1769)
April 30 – James Montgomery , hymnist (born 1771)
May 1 – Jean Coralli , dancer and choreographer (born 1779)
May 3 – William Beale , composer (born 1784)
May 18 – Henry Lemoine , composer and music publisher (born 1786)
May 31 – Vatroslav Lisinski , composer (born 1819)
June 17 – Henriette Sontag , operatic soprano (born 1806) (cholera)
July 14 – Louis-Pierre Norblin , cellist (born 1781)
August 21 – August Ferdinand Anacker , composer (born 1790)
October – Luigi Tarisio , violin dealer and collector (born c. 1790)
November 2 – Anton Pann , poet, musicologist and composer (born c. 1790)
November 17 – Alberich Zwyssig , composer of the Swiss national anthem (born 1808)