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