# Composers Lives



## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

We all love the composers because of the music they composed, but whose life fascinates you?

Brahms and Schumanns both do because in certain areas of their lives, they were connected especially when Schumann went into an asylum and Brahms became friends with Clara!


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I've read two biographies of Prokofiev, and love much of his music. He had a very active life, knew and interacted with a lot of the other creative people of his time, was endlessly creative musically as well as being interested in all sorts of extra- and non-musical topics. Got into lots of fights with his contemporaries, and often behaved poorly. I recommend those biographies, by Robinson and Samuel.


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## Eschbeg (Jul 25, 2012)

Stravinsky and Copland. Both lived through most of the major events of the 20th century and responded to them musically in fascinating ways.


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## Omicron9 (Oct 13, 2016)

Shostakovich's life is endlessly fascinating to me. Remaining artistically true to himself while being pressured by Stalin to do otherwise.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Omicron9 said:


> Shostakovich's life is endlessly fascinating to me. Remaining artistically true to himself while being pressured by Stalin to do otherwise.


Interesting story when the Leningrad was premiered. Shostakovich wanted to perform it under terrible circumstances.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Borodin.
Born illegitimate but given an upbringing and education. Showed talent in music and sciences. Became Professor of Chemistry, made discoveries in organic chem that still bear his name. Worked hard for university education for women. Oh yes, wrote some wonderful music in his spare time. Top bloke, fascinating life.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

IMHO Beethoven was the most interesting person in music.


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## Botschaft (Aug 4, 2017)

The tragedy of Beethoven's life is interesting in itself like the mystery of Mozart's death, and Brahms (who would have thought?) had a life similar to a heroic tale (with his mentor Schumann, his sense of destiny, his sacrifice of love, his struggles and insecurities).


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## mathisdermaler (Mar 29, 2017)

Olivier Messiaen taught countless famous and successful musicians, made one of his greatest works as a prisoner of war in Germany (Quartet for the End of Time), had synaesthesia, was an ornithologist (a study which influenced his music), and much more.

I recently purchased the Beethoven biography by Jan Swafford so in a few months I will be able to say how interesting his life was :lol:


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

ST4's life interests me a lot, I can relate a lot to his own view of music and find his life choices to be both fascinating and polarizing


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

>>I recently purchased the Beethoven biography by Jan Swafford so in a few months I will be able to say how interesting his life was <<

Louis Lockwood's is shorter and, in many ways, more interesting.


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## bigboy (May 26, 2017)

I keep revisiting the life of Hildegard of Bingen. Studying the role that the Medieval church had in the development of western thought (be it science, mathematics, theoology, philosophy, art, music or literature) has long been a pet love of mine, and Hildegard worked in the intersection of all these fields. I tend to view her as sort of a microcosm of monastic intellectual life during the time.

It is perhaps anachronistic, but I find looking at her life through the lens of modern feminism is a real trip. Some of what she said and did seemed to support the orthodoxy of the church with respect the roles of men and women. But on the other hand, simply by virtue of being a woman actively engaged "male" activities one can only assume that she was interested in subverting these institutions- how much did she really believe in church doctrine? I don't know if we'll ever know the real answer, but it's worth thinking about.

I also find that in Hildegard there are some residues of the conflicts between pagan and Christian Germany. I read somewhere that the "mystic wise woman" was a central figure in pagan German beliefs, and so one can view Hildegard sensibly as an example of pre-Christian archetype transitioning into a Christian world.

Take these tensions and contradictions and throw in some visionary revelations and in my book that is one profoundly interesting human.


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## Crystal (Aug 8, 2017)

Beethoven's life was interesting.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I agree about Hildegard of Bingen. Xenakis also seemed to live an interesting life as did Wagner. 

Bach, Brahms, Ravel, Debussy, Mozart, Rodrigo, Prokofiev, Bartok, Ives and Monteverdi's lives are of some interest to me because they are my favorite composers.


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