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