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