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