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