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