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