Composers That Were (or Are) Good Spouses/Parents?

Started by monafam, August 27, 2009, 06:02:24 AM

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monafam

August 27, 2009, 06:02:24 AM Last Edit: August 27, 2009, 06:27:52 AM by monafam
As a husband and father of four kids, I am always interested in the marital/family interplay for famous people.  This is especially true about composers, which also combines my interest in "classical" (is there a less genre-inspired term, not that I don't like that era of music...) music.  

Does anyone know any composers (it may even be you) who were good husbands/wives and/or fathers/mothers?  I read so much about the composers that were unfaithful to their spouses and those that were really absentee parents (due to the fame of their position or the time needed to devote to it?), that I thought it would be nice to hear some of the good stories.  

I understand that our current concepts of marriage/family life may not necessarily exemplify those of the past, so one could still be considered as a good spouse/parent even if it doesn't match either our current ideals, or those of an era prior to us

karlhenning

#1
August 27, 2009, 06:05:23 AM
After something of a rocky patch early on in his first marriage, I should say Shostakovich.

Chaszz

#3
August 27, 2009, 06:54:55 AM
Wagner, in spite of being a bad character in many ways in his relations with adults, seems to have been a loving and devoted father to his children.

Gabriel

#4
August 27, 2009, 09:34:05 AM
If I'm not mistaken, Spohr was an excellent husband and father.

Tapkaara

#5
August 27, 2009, 10:03:33 AM
Aino Sibelius was a good wife to her husband Jean. Although Jean was an alcoholic and put his wife through many difficult times, she stood by him.

ChamberNut

#7
August 27, 2009, 12:07:05 PM
Beethoven was a great uncle!  Best ever!  ;D

hornteacher

#9
August 27, 2009, 06:27:28 PM
Antonin Dvorak had a great family life.

MishaK

#10
August 27, 2009, 06:35:00 PM
Hovhaness, as far as I know, had a long marriage that produced a daughter.

How 'good' each of these guys posted here were as spouses/parents is kinda hard to judge as outsiders.

Sergeant Rock

#11
August 28, 2009, 07:20:14 AM
Mahler adored his wife and daughters. Alma didn't always reciprocate.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

matti

#12
August 28, 2009, 09:39:01 PM
Mrs Haydn? I hear she was an endearing lady, kept his husband busy.

val

#13
August 29, 2009, 03:55:18 AM
I guess Gesualdo da Venosa would not be a very good choice ...

vandermolen

#14
August 31, 2009, 02:33:10 PM
Dvorak comes to mind and his son-in-law Joseph Suk was devoted to his wife Otilka (Dvorak's daughter) who sadly died young.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Joe Barron

#15
August 31, 2009, 02:44:44 PM
Charles ives and his wife, Harmony, were close for their entire lives. Most of the time, they were within an arm's reach of each other, according to Jan Swafford. They were unable to have children of their own (Harmony miscarried early in the marriage and underwent a hysterectomy), but they adopted a daughter named Edith, and she always spoke of him affectionately.

Chaszz

#16
August 31, 2009, 06:05:25 PM
Quote from: matti on August 28, 2009, 09:39:01 PM
Mrs Haydn? I hear she was an endearing lady, kept his husband busy.

I don't unerstand where the above information comes from....to begin with, Haydn was not happily married. Secondly, he did not have a husband.

Tapkaara

#17
August 31, 2009, 11:05:37 PM
Quote from: Joe Barron on August 31, 2009, 02:44:44 PM
Charles ives and his wife, Harmony, were close for their entire lives. Most of the time, they were within an arm's reach of each other, according to Jan Swafford. They were unable to have children of their own (Harmony miscarried early in the marriage and underwent a hysterectomy), but they adopted a daughter named Edith, and she always spoke of him affectionately.

Ives's wife was named harmony? How...ironic.

Joe Barron

#18
September 01, 2009, 10:03:40 AM
Quote from: Tapkaara on August 31, 2009, 11:05:37 PM
Ives's wife was named harmony? How...ironic.

Yeah, I've been trying to come up with some kind of joke about that for years, but nothing really witty suggests itself.

She was a looker in her early years, too., with a very nice figure. She did social work when she was younger, as many women of her class did in those days, and there's a picture of her in a nurse's uniform. Some standard BDSM fantasies center on women in nurses' uniforms ...

matti

#19
September 02, 2009, 07:37:57 AM
Quote from: Chaszz on August 31, 2009, 06:05:25 PM
I don't unerstand where the above information comes from....to begin with, Haydn was not happily married. Secondly, he did not have a husband.

Sorry, my entry was an attempt on "funny", you know this so called "humour" thing that I've heard people talk of.
I thought everyone was aware about Haydn's miserable marriage.

I never said FJ Haydn had a husband.
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