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