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