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