Our greatest connection to a composer is through his music. And as a lot of the music we listen to is so exceptional, it is easy to imagine that the person who created it is also entirely exceptional. While there is no doubt they would have had exceptional musical talent and artistic insight, this almost makes it impossible for us to look at the other parts of their personality and life. Here is a rare photo collection of some famous composers showing some interesting aspects of their day-to-day activities.
Richard Wagner with his family.
Olivier Messiaen with his son, Pascal.
John Corigliano having a beer with an eland.
Benjamin Britten playing tennis.
Pierre Boulez and Simon Rattle chatting at a party in 1989.
Sergei Rachmaninoff cutting his birthday cake.
György Ligeti pouring water on Pierre-Laurent Aimard on a train.
Ennio Morricone playing some ping-pong.
Jules Massenet petting his dog.
Ruth Crawford Seeger chopping wood on a beach with Carl Sandburg.
Antonín Dvořák having a picnic with his family.
George Gershwin painting a picture of Arnold Schoenberg.
Sergei Prokofiev playing chess against violinist David Oistrakh with violinist Liza Gilels watching.
Johannes Brahms having a picnic with violinist Marie Soldat and a couple other ladies.
Jean Sibelius having an afternoon tea.
Giacomo Puccini at the Brooklyn Bridge.
Morton Feldman playing cards on a train.
Krzysztof Penderecki doing yardwork.
Aaron Copland eating an ice cream cone.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky properly dressed for winter.
Igor Stravinsky having breakfast.
Leonard Bernstein going for a swim in Israel.
John Philip Sousa reading daily news.
Dmitri Shostakovich showing off his billiard skills.
Béla Bartók looking trim.
Igor Stravinski rocking a speedo.
John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen flying a cartoon plane.
Camille Saint-Saëns wearing some fancy pajamas.
Arnold Schoenberg and Winfried Zillig rocking one piece bathing suits.
Richard Strauss playing cards.
Gustav Mahler at a party.
Giuseppe Verdi at a garden party surrounded by friends.
Paul Hindemith at an early age playing with a toy carriage.
Samuel Barber smoking under a tree.
Anton Webern bowling.
Heitor Villa-Lobos playing billiards.
Edward Elgar smoking a cigarette with his dog Marco.
Claude Debussy holding an umbrella on a beach.
Tchaikovsky with his family.
Arvo Pärt and Alfred Schnittke reenact their high school yearbook photos.
Wonderful, thanks very much for sharing the wonderful photos.
Terrific photo’s. Thanks very much!!
Very Very interesting! Thank you