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