1862 in music

Events

• February 1 - "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" by Julia Ward Howe is published in Atlantic Monthly.
• August 9 - Béatrice et Bénédict, opera by Hector Berlioz, debuts in Baden-Baden.
• November 10 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera La forza del destino debuts in Saint Petersburg.
• Ludwig von Köchel publishes Chonologisch-thematisches Verzeichnis sämtlicher Tonwerke Wolfgang Amadé Mozarts (Catalogue of Mozart's Works or "The Köchel Catalog").
• Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray wins the Prix de Rome in the Musical Composition category.
• The Saint Petersburg Conservatory is founded by Anton Rubinstein.
• Edvard Grieg gives his first concert in his home town of Bergen, Norway.
• Stephen Heller and Charles Hallé performMozart's E-flat concerto for two pianos at The Crystal Palace.

Published popular music

• "Here's Your Mule - C. D. Benson
• "The Merry, Merry Month of May" - Stephen Foster
• "Maryland, My Maryland" - James R. Randall
• "We Are Coming, Father Abra'am, 300,000 More", a poem by James S. Gibbons, set to music by eight different composers, including Stephen Foster.

Classical music

• Felix Draeseke - Fantasiestücke in Walzerform, opus 3: Nr. 1 in B; Nr. 2 in A-flat
• Asger Hamerik - Quintetto
• Joachim Raff - Piano quintet opus 107 in A minor

Opera

• Julius Benedict - The Lily of Killarney
• Frederic Clay - Court and Cottage (libretto by Tom Taylor)
• Charles Gounod - La Reine de Saba
• Franz von Suppé - Die Kartenschlägerin

Births

• January 29 - Frederick Delius, composer (d. 1934)
• January 30 - Walter Damrosch, conductor (d. 1950)
• February 13 - Karel Weis, composer (d. 1944)
• February 17 - Edward German, composer (d. 1936)
• May 2 - Maurice Emmanuel, composer (d. 1938)
• June 27 - May Irwin, actress and singer (d. 1938)
• August 11 - Carrie Jacobs-Bond, US songwriter (d. 1946)
• August 22 - Claude Debussy, composer (d. 1918)
• September 25 - Léon Boëllmann, composer and organist (d. 1897)
• October 10 - Arthur De Greef, composer and pianist (d. 1940)
• November 1 - Johan Wagenaar, organist and composer (d. 1941)
• December 18 - Moriz Rosenthal, pianist (d. 1946)
• date unknown - Marcelle Lender, French singer-dancer and entertainer (d. 1926)

Deaths

• February 5 - Ignaz Franz Castelli, dramatist and songwriter (b. 1780)
• February 7 - František Škroup, composer (b. 1801)
• February 16 - Leopold Schefer, composer and poet (b. 1784)
• March 17 - Fromental Halévy, composer (b. 1799)
• May 21 - Edwin Pearce Christy, founder of Christy's Minstrels (b. 1815) (suicide)
• May 25 - Johann Nestroy, singer and actor (b. 1801)
• August 31 - Ignaz Assmayer, composer (b. 1790)
• December 24 - Joseph Funk, composer and music teacher (b. 1778)
• date unknown
  • Joseph Fonclause, bow-maker (b. 1799)
  • Jon Eriksson Helland, Hardanger fiddle maker (b. 1790)
  • Luigi Piccioli, singer and music teacher (b. 1812)
  • Geltrude Righetti, operatic contralto (b. 1793)
  • Friedrich Ruthardt, oboist and composer (b. 1800)

References