After 1744,Prince Karl zu Nassau-Usingen founded a music band to entertain the spa guests. Plays and musical performances took place in a wooden building in the Herrengarten. Under the director Johannes Leppert, who had been working in Wiesbaden since 1767, the musical comedies "Doctor and Apothecary" and "Little Red Riding Hood" by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799) were performed, later under Franz Grimmer Mozart's musical comedy "Bastien and Bastienne". There were also the popular melodramas (spoken texts with composed musical accompaniment). In the Schützenhof and the Hoftheater, the audience also experienced works of musical theater, mostly French chamber operas. There was a small opera orchestra, which was reinforced by members of the ducal court orchestra in Biebrich. Performances of "Vestalin" by Gaspare Spontini (1774-1851) and Weber's "Freischütz" took place in the new theater (1827-96) on the site of today's Hotel Nassauer Hof, which had a larger stage and more space for the orchestra. These were later followed by "William Tell" and "The Barber of Seville" by Rossini, "Jessonda" by Louis Spohr (1784-1859) and "Robert the Devil" by Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) as well as several operas by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835).

Duke Adolph zu Nassau dissolved the Biebrich court orchestra in 1842 and integrated it into the newly conceived court theater (with Christian Rummel as court conductor). There was now a theater orchestra with 33 permanent and six additional musicians. There were also 13 vocal soloists and a 27-member opera choir. In 1836, the first music society was founded (performance of Haydn's "Creation" in 1838 in the old Kurhaus), followed in 1841 by a ladies' and a men's choral society, which also gave joint concerts. This ensemble developed into the Cäcilienverein (1854) (since 1938 the choir of the city of Wiesbaden). A large part of the musical performances were given by military ensembles, above all the "Ducal Nassau 2nd Infantry Regiment". Performances of Wagner operas began under Kapellmeister Louis Schindelmeißer: "Tannhäuser" in 1852 as the second performance after the premiere in Weimar in 1850, "Lohengrin" in 1853 - with a production that Wagner did not like at all. Further Wagner operas were staged under Johann Baptist Hagen, including works by Verdi and Albert Lortzing (1801-1851). Hagen also organized large "symphonic concerts" in the Kurhaus. The extremely productive composer Joachim Raff also lived in Wiesbaden at this time.

The court theater engaged numerous famous musicians of the time, even though Wiesbaden did not (yet) have a cosmopolitan aura at the time: the Viennese critic Eduard Hanslick (1825-1904) wrote that the 1865-80 Kapellmeister Wilhelm Jahn "lost his fame in the seclusion of Wiesbaden". Under Jahn, the "New German School" around Wagner and Liszt lost importance in the repertoire; he was friends with Brahms, who was often in Wiesbaden, and concentrated more musically on Gluck, Mozart and Schumann. One exception was the rehearsal of Wagner's "Meistersinger" as part of the Tonkünstlerfest, which took place in the Kurhaus in 1879 under Franz Liszt's direction. From 1887 onwards, all Wagner operas were performed in Wiesbaden under Franz Mannstaedt, and in 1899 the complete "Ring des Nibelungen" was performed for the first time. In addition to the court orchestra, the municipal symphony orchestra was founded in 1872, which aimed to be both a spa orchestra with two daily performances outdoors and at balls as well as a concert orchestra with ambitious aspirations. Under the influence of Raff and Hans von Bülow (1830-1894), the orchestra developed into a high-level ensemble that performed around 15 symphony concerts per season.

Many choral societies were also founded in the originally independent suburbs, some of which still exist today. These include the choral societies in Auringen (1882), Biebrich (1841, 1870 and 1891), Bierstadt (1859 and 1883), Delkenheim (1853 and 1889), Dotzheim (1875), Erbenheim (1861), Frauenstein (1872 and 1906), Igstadt (1869), Kastel (1844), Kloppenheim (1859), Kostheim (1844, 1854 and 1900), Medenbach (1875), Naurod (1860 and 1884), Nordenstadt (1850), Rambach (1862), Schierstein (1842, 1877 and 1904) and Sonnenberg (1865 and 1875).

Since the turn of the century, famous artists from all over Europe have been invited to perform at the Kurhaus. From France, for example, came Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), Eugène d'Albert (1864-1932), Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937), Louis Vierne (1870-1934) and Marcel Dupré (1886-1971, on the large Sauer organ). Clara Schumann (1819-1896), Johannes Brahms, Hans von Bülow, Josef Joachim (1831-1907), Hermine Spies, Adelina Patti (1843-1919) and Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908) were guests, later Felix Mottl (1856-1911), Felix von Weingartner (1863-1942), Arthur Nikisch (1855-1922), Richard Strauss (almost every year since 1889) and Gustav Mahler (performance of his 1st and 4th symphonies). and 4th symphony). Brahms lived in Wiesbaden in the summer of 1883 and completed his third symphony (which he also called his "Wiesbaden Symphony"), which he also conducted here in 1884. In 1885 he presented his fourth symphony in the Kursaal. In 1912, Max Reger conducted the Meiningen court orchestra during a guest performance.

The Association of Artists and Friends of the Arts was founded in 1872 and the Wiesbaden Conservatory in 1888. In 1912, Carl Schuricht took over the direction of the municipal symphony orchestra, which was expanded to 65 members. He attracted international attention with his performances of major symphonic works; he had a strong influence on the city's musical life until 1944. In 1908, the Bach Society was founded, which performed works by the composer with its own children's choir, mixed choir and orchestra. One year later, the Wiesbaden Philharmonic Society was formed. The Wiesbaden Orchestra Society was founded in 1916.

After the fall of the monarchy, the theater continued to operate as the Prussian State Theater Wiesbaden from 1919. The state orchestra now consisted of 77 musicians and the theater's chorus of 52 singers. Otto Klemperer worked as General Music Director until 1927, also directing. Under the then artistic director Paul Bekker, numerous world premieres of modern operas took place in Wiesbaden. The collaboration between the theater orchestra and the municipal orchestra began to intensify. Guest conductors included Max von Schillings (1868-1933), Eugène d'Albert, Richard Strauss, Hans Pfitzner (1869-1949) and Max Korngold, as well as Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961), Leo Blech (1871-1958) and Fritz Busch (1890-1951).

During the Nazi era, new ensembles were formed (Nazi string orchestra, Nazi choral society), which performed works that corresponded to the prevailing ideology, whereby such pieces were later also performed by the city's musicians (e.g. "Deutsches Heldenrequiem" by Gottfried Müller, 1914-1993). In 1934, the "First German Musicians' Festival in the Third Reich" was held in Wiesbaden. At the centenary celebrations of the Cäcilienverein in 1938, a municipal choir school for children was established.

After the end of the war, concerts were held again in the autumn of 1945 (Mozart Requiem), the theater played from 1946 in the Walhalla, from 1947 in the Great House (opening with Mahler's 3rd Symphony). The May Festival was re-established in 1950 and the Kurhaus was once again used for musical performances from 1951. In the same year, the new Small House of the State Theater was inaugurated with Hans Werner Henze 's "Symphonic Variations". In 1958, the two previously independent orchestras, the municipal spa and symphony orchestra (48 musicians) and the theater orchestra (76 musicians), were merged (90 permanent positions). The "Orchestra of the Wiesbaden State Theatre" appears several times a season in concerts in the Kurhaus in addition to its opera duties and also has its own chamber music formation. In 1958, Wiesbaden had 49 male choirs and 17 mixed choirs (with 3,566 active members) as well as 34 church choirs (with 1,225 active members). There were also three string, mandolin and accordion orchestras, four trombone choirs (Protestant church) and three secular brass groups.

A further list of musical groups, clubs and institutions dates from 1990 and covers the entire spectrum of musical forms of expression. In addition to church choirs and choral societies, this also includes choirs that are linked to large companies or institutions, e.g. the choirs of the city cleaning office (founded in 1952), the bakers' guild (since 1937), the water police (since 1969), the Federal Criminal Police Office (1961), the municipal utilities (1905, ESWE Versorgungs AG), R+V Versicherung (1978) and the Kalle company in Biebrich (1888, Chemische Fabrik Kalle & Co.). Larger instrumental ensembles include the Johann Strauss Orchestra, the Hessian Police Orchestra, the Wiesbadener Orchesterverein and the arco musicale Wiesbaden orchestra. There are also several wind, accordion and mandolin/pluck orchestras, numerous music clubs and marching bands that are often associated with carnival clubs. Many jazz ensembles and bands are also active in Wiesbaden. Many schools have choirs and instrumental ensembles that also perform in public. Since the end of the 1960s, a culture of rock and pop has also developed in Wiesbaden.

In addition to the municipal music schools, there are numerous private music schools, e.g. the Youth Music School founded in 1953. Several music societies have dedicated themselves to the work of outstanding composers: the Mozart Society, the Bach Society, the Wagner Society (founded in 1977), the Brahms Society, the Rachmaninoff Society (founded in 1987) and the Raff Society (founded in 1996). They hold concerts and lectures, organize trips and award scholarships.

The nationally renowned musicians Paul Kuhn and Hans Zender (*1936) were born and (at least partially) trained in Wiesbaden. Regular annual music events include the Bach Weeks and the Musikherbst, as well as the Tage für Neue Musik. The programs of the Rheingau Music Festival and the Eltville Burghofspiele also include concerts in Wiesbaden. Spread throughout the year are the cycle and symphony concerts of the Hessian State Orchestra as well as the Master Concerts, which also take place in the Kurhaus, and the concerts at Henkellsfeld. The "amici dell'arte" association, founded in 1994, organizes chamber music concerts in the historic hall of the Hessian Ministry of Justice. Numerous parishes offer concerts or musical vespers, and there are also events organized by music societies. The annual Culture Days in various parts of the city also include musical performances.