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.
John Corigliano having a beer with an eland.
Duke Ellington playing baseball.
Richard Strauss playing cards.
John Philip Sousa reading daily news.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky properly dressed for winter.
Anton Webern bowling.
Giuseppe Verdi at a garden party surrounded by friends.
Pierre Boulez and Simon Rattle chatting at a party in 1989.
Igor Stravinski rocking a speedo.
Igor Stravinsky having breakfast.
Morton Feldman playing cards on a train.
Claude Debussy holding an umbrella on a beach.
Samuel Barber smoking under a tree.
George Gershwin painting a picture of Arnold Schoenberg.
Béla Bartók looking trim.
John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen flying a cartoon plane.
Antonín Dvořák having a picnic with his family.
Theodor Adorno at the beach.
Jules Massenet petting his dog.
Jean Sibelius having an afternoon tea.
Tchaikovsky with his family.
György Ligeti pouring water on Pierre-Laurent Aimard on a train.
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.
Arvo Pärt and Alfred Schnittke reenact their high school yearbook photos.
Olivier Messiaen with his son, Pascal.
Giacomo Puccini at the Brooklyn Bridge.
Sergei Rachmaninoff cutting his birthday cake.
Leonard Bernstein going for a swim in Israel.
Ruth Crawford Seeger chopping wood on a beach with Carl Sandburg.
Erik Satie having a drink.
Edward Elgar smoking a cigarette with his dog Marco.
Zoltán Kodály playing with his children.
Dmitri Shostakovich showing off his billiard skills.
Krzysztof Penderecki doing yardwork.
Arnold Schoenberg and Winfried Zillig rocking one piece bathing suits.
Gustav Mahler at a party.
Manuel de Falla checking out a menu.
Camille Saint-Saëns wearing some fancy pajamas.
Paul Hindemith at an early age playing with a toy carriage.
Wonderful, thanks very much for sharing the wonderful photos.
Terrific photo’s. Thanks very much!!
Very Very interesting! Thank you