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