Famous composers' mothers

It’s easy to forget the great composers were ever children – can you imagine Brahms as a young boy, or Tchaikovsky as a toddler? But someone must have told them to eat their greens and dried their tears…

1. 

   1. Beethoven's mother: Maria Magdalena Keverich

   Maria Magdalena Keverich was from a well-to-do family of merchants, councillors and senators. After her first husband died, when Maria was just 18, she met Johann van Beethoven. The pair went on to marry and had three children who survived into adulthood – including the great composer, Ludwig van Beethoven.
2. 

   2. Mahler's mother: Marie Herrmann Mahler

   Marie Herrmann was the daughter of a rich merchant and soap boiler and she married Bernhard Mahler – a man described as having a fiery temper – in 1857. In total the couple had 14 children – one of which was the young Gustav, in 1860 – but eight died in childhood.
3. 

   3. Liszt's mother: Anna Liszt

   Liszt's mother, Maria Anna Liszt, worked as a chambermaid in her youth before marrying Adam Liszt. They only had one child – Franz Liszt. When Adam died, Liszt arranged for his mother to live with him in Paris, where he originally earned money teaching the piano.
4. 

   4. Chopin's mother: Justyna Chopin

   Chopin's mother was a gifted musician in her own right – she played the piano and had a good soprano voice. The young Frédéric Chopin was born in 1810.
5. 

   5. Mozart's mother: Anna Maria Mozart

   Anna Maria married Leopold Mozart in 1747. One historian has said of her: "It was a pure and healthy spirit that reigned in the Mozart household… and Anna Maria must take credit for this. Above all, she was a true mother to her children, who invariably sought refuge with her when their father's strict hand weighed unduly heavily upon them. Wolfgang loved and admired her to distraction." She died when travelling with her family in July 1778.
7. 

   6. Tchaikovsky's mother: Alexandra Andreyevna

   The young Pyotr Tchaikovsky is shown on the far left of this picture, with his mother Alexandra, his sister Alexandra, his brothers Zinaida, Nikolai and Ippolit and his father Ilya. She and Tchaikovsky's father were both trained in the arts, including music. When the young Pyotr had to leave home and his mother to go to boarding school, he was devastated – and the emotional scar of the separations stayed with him for the rest of his life.
8. 

   7. Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn's mother: Lea Mendelssohn Bartholdy

   Lea Mendelssohn Bartholdy was the mother of not one but two great composers – Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn. It was largely thanks to her that her children were so musically talented. A brilliant pianist herself, Lea kicked-off Fanny and Felix's musical education. She was also an advocate for the music of JS Bach, at a time when the composer's music was rarely heard.
9. 

   8. Britten's mother: Edith Rhoda Britten

   Taken around 1914, this charming family portrait shows Benjamin Britten with his mother, Edith Rhoda, and siblings – Charlotte, Robert and Edith.
10. 

    9. Percy Grainger's mother: Rose Grainger

    Percy and Rose Grainger photographed in 1903 in Talma Studios, Sydney. Credit: Grainger Museum collection, University of Melbourne

Meet the muses of the great composers

From Wagner's 'Siegfried Idyll' to Berlioz's 'Symphonie Fantastique', some of the greatest music ever written was inspired by the composers' friends and lovers. But it wasn't always smooth sailing for the men and women who found themselves the object of composers' affections…

1. 

   1. Clara Schumann

   "You are my right hand and you, you must take care of yourself so that nothing happens to you." – Robert Schumann
2. 

   2. George Sand

   When Chopin first met George Sand he said "What an unattractive person – is she really a woman?" But she became the love of his life and his greatest muse.
3. 

   3. Harriet Smithson

   When Berlioz saw actress Harriet Smithson performing he was inspired to write his Symphonie fantastique. The pair went on to marry… But the marriage was disastrous – they divorced seven years later.
4. 

   4. Georgina Weldon

   Charles Gounod was infatuated with Georgina Weldon, even moving in with her and her husband… When his infatuation faded, she returned with one of his manuscripts – with her name written in crayon across each page.
5. 

   5. Brahms and Schumann

   "I wish I could write to you as tenderly as I love you and tell you all the good things that I wish you. You are so infinitely dear to me, dearer than I can say." – Brahms to Clara Schumann
7. 

   6. Countess Josephine von Brunsvik

   "My angel, my everything, my very self… my heart is full with so much to tell you – oh – there are moments when I feel that language is nothing at all." – Beethoven to his 'Immortal Beloved'
8. 

   7. Alma Mahler

   "Three years with him were a single, intense battle of love. Never before have I tasted so much strain, so much hell, so much paradise." – Alma Mahler
9. 

   8. Cosima Wagner

   "Up to the hour in which I recognised my true inner calling my life had been a dreary, unbeautiful dream… and I reject it with the whole of my now purified soul." – Cosima Wagner
10. 

    9. Peter Pears

    "My darling heart – I do love you so terribly, not only glorious you, but your singing… you are the greatest artist that ever was." – Benjamin Britten to Peter Pears.
11. (C) 2017 by ClassicFM London

What were the daily routines of the great composers?

By Kyle Macdonald 

Night owls or early birds - how did Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Richard Strauss structure their day? Their habits in composing, breakfast, socialising and exercise are plotted against those of other great minds in this look at the daily routines of famous creative people. 

In this infographic, the website podio.com has condensed the daily routines of some of history's great creative minds. The hourly habits of Darwin, Freud, Voltaire, Beethoven and others are broken down and plotted against each other in the ultimate diary of genius. 

Beethoven shows how he can power through a long morning's composition on some strong coffee. It's clear that Mozart's compositional muse often visited late at night, after he had been out drinking wine with friends. 

INFOGRAPHIC: How tall were the great composers?

Richard Strauss had a tightly scheduled and disciplined day. No composer listed here comes close to the disciplined early-riser novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac, who set his alarm clock for 1am. A big fan of Nick Bailey's show, possibly. 

Click on the image for a closer, interactive view...

Want to develop a better work routine? Discover how some of the world's greatest minds organized their days.
Click image to see the interactive version (via Podio).

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