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