Composers Personalities?

You have listened to their music, you know how famous they are, but do you know their characteristics? If you somehow meet them in real life, how would they act towards you and others? Here are some composers characteristics and personalities. I hope you see your favorite composer here

1.) Beethoven
The talented Ludwig van Beethoven was often irascible and may have suffered from bipolar disorder. But he had a close and devoted circle of friends all his life, thought to have been attracted by his strength of personality. Toward the end of his life, Beethoven's friends competed in their efforts to help him cope with his incapacities



Sources show Beethoven's disdain for authority, and for social rank. He stopped performing at the piano if the audience chatted amongst themselves, or afforded him less than their full attention. At soirées, he refused to perform if suddenly called upon to do so. Eventually, after many confrontations, the Archduke Rudolph decreed that the usual rules of court etiquette did not apply to Beethoven..

2.) Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's physical appearance was described by tenor Michael Kelly, in his Reminiscences: "a remarkably small man, very thin and pale, with a profusion of fine, fair hair of which he was rather vain". As his early biographer Niemetschek wrote, "there was nothing special about [his] physique. [...] He was small and his countenance, except for his large intense eyes, gave no signs of his genius." His facial complexion was pitted, a reminder of his childhood case of smallpox. He loved elegant clothing. Kelly remembered him at a rehearsal: "[He] was on the stage with his crimson pelisse and gold-laced cocked hat, giving the time of the music to the orchestra." Of his voice Constanze later wrote that it "was a tenor, rather soft in speaking and delicate in singing, but when anything excited him, or it became necessary to exert it, it was both powerful and energetic".



Mozart usually worked long and hard, finishing compositions at a tremendous pace as deadlines approached. He often made sketches and drafts; unlike Beethoven's these are mostly not preserved, as Constanze sought to destroy them after his death. He was raised a Roman Catholic and remained a member of the Church throughout his life.

 3.) Vivaldi

(If i ever met vivaldi, I would scream and ask for hundreds autograph on all my t-shirts) Antonio Vivaldi's personality can be compared to the likes of Donald Trump - cocky! He claimed he could compose a concerto in all its parts faster than it could be copied. Many of his claims, however, could not be proved.

Antonio Vivaldi was trained in the priesthood in 1693 and was ordained in 1703. During these years Antonio Vivaldi was taught to play violin by his father. His earliest known performance was in 1696. After Antonio’s ordination, he put an end to saying Mass. Antonio Vivaldi claimed “his chest was too tight” (the asthma), while others believed he quit because he was forced to become a priest. Often, lower class families would send their children into the priesthood because the schooling was free.

4.) Bach
Charles Francis wrote:
< For myself, Bach's spirituality is central to his music; by which I mean he is rooted in the Collective Unconscious rather than the personal ego. In this regard, the biographer Forkel noted Bach's exceptional modesty and tolerance. >

Bach wasn't patient with incompetents, or tolerant of effrontery that got in the way of his work (witness his reactions to the Scheibe attacks). Recall the incident in which he pulled off his wig and threw it at another musician, exclaiming, "You should have been a cobbler!" And the one where he disagreed with Silbermann's organ tuning so vehemently that he called 1/3 of it "barbaric". And the one where he launched into a piece in A-flat major on purpose, i.e. the worst key in Silbermann's tuning, to pique Silbermann to his face (nevertheless, he and Silbermann were friends and colleagues, and this may have been as a joke). And the one where Bach pulled a dagger on a bassoonist (nobody injured, fortunately; and according to Bach the dagger was only in self-defense against the other guy's attack; the bassoonist was upset because Bach had compared his playing with the sound of a nanny-goat). And the one where Bach got a reprimand from his boss that he had played the organ too long in a service, so at the next opportunity he deliberately stopped too early, just to tork him off. And see Bach's official complaint that he had to work with a bunch of students who were "not at all talented for music". And the one where he and two colleagues examined an organ in 1716 and reported it so seriously defective (they provided several pages describing the design flaws) that it wasn't even playable without a necessary further overhaul. And there's the famous report that no one, no one, could tune keyboards to Bach's satisfaction; he had to do it himself.
(Bach's personalities source = http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Topics/Personality.htm)