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