See also: 1889 in music, other events of 1890, 1891 in music and the list of 'years in music'.

Events

• September 9 - Edward Elgar's concert overture Froissart is premiered at the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester
• George W. Johnson records phonograph cylinders
• First full performance of Hector Berlioz's opera, Les Troyens, takes place at Karlsruhe, 21 years after the composer's death

1890 sheet music cover

Published popular music

• "The Commodore Song"
• "Little Pig Went To Market" by J. Cheever Goodwin & Gustave Kerker
• "Maggie Murphy's Home" w. Edward Harrigan m. David Braham
• "Passing By" w. Robert Herrick m. Edward C. Purcell
• "Throw Him Down McCloskey" w.m. John W. Kelly
• "You'll Miss Lots of Fun When You're Married" by John Philip Sousa & Edward M. Taber

Classical music

• Scheherazade m. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Opera

• Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni
• Prince Igor commenced by Alexander Borodin completed by Alexander Glazunov and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
• Queen of Spades by Peter Tchaikovsky

Musical theater

• The Gondoliers     Broadway production
• Love And Law     Broadway production
• Robin Hood     Chicago production
• The Sentry     London production
• Reilly And The 400 Broadway production

Births

• February 27 - Freddie Keppard
• March 20 - Beniamino Gigli
• March 28 - Paul Whiteman
• April 17 - Gussie Mueller
• June 6 - Ted Lewis
• October 1 - Stanley Holloway, English actor and singer
• December 8 - Bohuslav Martinu

Deaths