# Composers' Controlling Parents



## TrazomGangflow (Sep 9, 2011)

I have been reading up on composers' biographies lately and have been quite interested with their early family lives, especially how they were treated by parents. Everyone's parents are different but can be classified into a few groups: The one's that care but don't push their children to do what they feel is successful, the ones that that push their children to do what the parents think is important, and the one's that simply don't care. 

For example: Schubert's parents seemed to care by paying for a music teacher for him when they saw his talent even though their family was poor but did not seem as controlling as other parents. What is your knowledge of parents and family of composers? How did they treat their little prodigies?


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

It's alleged that Beethoven's old man was a drunk, a bully and generally speaking a rather unsavoury piece of work. It seems that he pushed young Ludwig to the limit when teaching him in order to make a prodigy out of him but may also have been secretly jealous of his growing talent even then.

Berlioz' father, a physician, wasn't exactly impressed when his son gave up studying medicine (which he hated anyway) at the age of about 20 in order to pursue a career in music and to generally let his impulsive Romantic nature run riot.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

My parents can be nice people.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I think Liszt's parents didn't push him beyond what was reasonable. They cared not to overwork him and just pull a profit from him (eg. like Mozart's dad did).

I agree Beethoven's father was vile.

A number of Russian composers were encouraged by their parents to be qualified in other professions for a stable "day job" other than music. Tchaikovsky with the law for example. Most here know eg. Borodin was an academic in the field of chemistry. Myaskovsky also I think was trained in engineering. I think that Russia at end of c19th, the music academies where only being set up there, music was not yet seen as a worthwhile or secure profession, not as much as in Western Europe, anyway.

I think Charles Ives had a nurturing home environment. His father was a band-leader and encouraged him to experiment with music. I'm not sure how he came to be an insurance broker, but I know the reason was that he would not have a chance to make any money with his music. Eg. "I don't want my wife and children to starve on my dissonances," that's a famous quote from Ives, in my words...


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

^Ives was more proud of his skill for baseball than music. When someone asked him what he plays (expecting the name of a musical instrument), he would gruffly reply "Shortstop!'


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Glazunov had a great relationship with his parents from what can be told, but his mother was known to be a little controlling. She wouldn't let him grow up as it were, and there's a few stories about that told by Shostakovich in _Testimony _.

One funny story I can remember was he was leaving the house to go on some carriage, when the mother came out saying something like, "Ah! It's a public carriage! It's going to turn over in the streets!" And Glazunov's sarcastic response was, "Mother, are you going to put a _guard rail_ on this carriage?" She didn't respond, and he went on his way.


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