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.
Sergei Rachmaninoff cutting his birthday cake.
Richard Wagner with his family.
Leonard Bernstein going for a swim in Israel.
Anton Webern bowling.
Dmitri Shostakovich showing off his billiard skills.
Ruth Crawford Seeger chopping wood on a beach with Carl Sandburg.
Jean Sibelius having an afternoon tea.
Richard Strauss playing cards.
John Philip Sousa reading daily news.
John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen flying a cartoon plane.
Erik Satie having a drink.
Edward Elgar smoking a cigarette with his dog Marco.
Arvo Pärt and Alfred Schnittke reenact their high school yearbook photos.
Tchaikovsky with his family.
George Gershwin painting a picture of Arnold Schoenberg.
Sergei Prokofiev playing chess against violinist David Oistrakh with violinist Liza Gilels watching.
Arnold Schoenberg and Winfried Zillig rocking one piece bathing suits.
Pierre Boulez and Simon Rattle chatting at a party in 1989.
Antonín Dvořák having a picnic with his family.
Jules Massenet petting his dog.
Manuel de Falla checking out a menu.
Duke Ellington playing baseball.
Krzysztof Penderecki doing yardwork.
Theodor Adorno at the beach.
Giuseppe Verdi at a garden party surrounded by friends.
Paul Hindemith at an early age playing with a toy carriage.
Heitor Villa-Lobos playing billiards.
Claude Debussy holding an umbrella on a beach.
Aaron Copland eating an ice cream cone.
Johannes Brahms having a picnic with violinist Marie Soldat and a couple other ladies.
Béla Bartók looking trim.
Zoltán Kodály playing with his children.
John Corigliano having a beer with an eland.
Samuel Barber smoking under a tree.
Gustav Mahler at a party.
Gian Carlo Menotti walking his dog in the rain.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky properly dressed for winter.
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