Living descendants

Started by Ten thumbs, November 19, 2007, 07:53:11 AM

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Ten thumbs

November 19, 2007, 07:53:11 AM
It would be interesting to know which classical composers still have living descendants. Obviously the composer must have had progeny in the first place. For instance, Mendelssohn had four children but who is alive now from his blood line and possessing some of his genetic material? Obtaining this information from the web seems to be very difficult.
A day may be a destiny; for life
Lives in but little—but that little teems
With some one chance, the balance of all time:
A look—a word—and we are wholly changed.

Mark

#1
November 19, 2007, 08:04:43 AM
Quote from: Ten thumbs on November 19, 2007, 07:53:11 AM
It would be interesting to know which classical composers still have living descendants. Obviously the composer must have had progeny in the first place. For instance, Mendelssohn had four children but who is alive now from his blood line and possessing some of his genetic material? Obtaining this information from the web seems to be very difficult.

Interesting you mention Mendelssohn - BBC Music magazine ran an article on one of his descendants about a year ago. Try searching old features on their website. ;)

mahlertitan

#2
November 19, 2007, 08:44:00 AM
there is a girl on Facebook, who claimed to be the descendant of Gustav Mahler.

Renfield

#3
November 19, 2007, 12:30:16 PM
Quote from: GBJGZW on November 19, 2007, 08:44:00 AM
there is a girl on Facebook, who claimed to be the descendant of Gustav Mahler.

Not impossible. I think I've seen mention of Mahler's descendants in an article, at some point.

Concerning the general topic, I hope I don't need to mention Wolfgang Wagner, or Maxim Shostakovich. ;) ;D

Mark

#4
November 19, 2007, 12:32:10 PM
Quote from: Renfield on November 19, 2007, 12:30:16 PM
Concerning the general topic, I hope I don't need to mention Wolfgang Wagner, or Maxim Shostakovich. ;) ;D

Good call, sir. ;)

Kullervo

#5
November 19, 2007, 01:25:03 PM
Schoenberg's children are alive and well and living in the US. His son is a math teacher. :)

Renfield

#6
November 19, 2007, 03:33:28 PM
Quote from: Corey on November 19, 2007, 01:25:03 PM
Schoenberg's children are alive and well and living in the US. His son is a math teacher. :)

Hah, unsurprisingly! ;D

Ten thumbs

#7
November 20, 2007, 06:06:21 AM
Quote from: Renfield on November 19, 2007, 12:30:16 PM
Concerning the general topic, I hope I don't need to mention Wolfgang Wagner, or Maxim Shostakovich. ;) ;D
I was sure the Wagners were alive and well.
I have a piano selection of Fanny Mendelssohn made by her great-granddaughter, Fanny Kistner-Hensel in 1986. However, I don't know how old she was then, whether or not she's still alive or has children of her own. Obviously one does not wish to intrude on people's private lives.
A day may be a destiny; for life
Lives in but little—but that little teems
With some one chance, the balance of all time:
A look—a word—and we are wholly changed.

Great Gable

#8
November 20, 2007, 06:14:11 AM
The Wagner family still run the Bayreuth festival.

Wendell_E

#9
November 20, 2007, 07:00:35 AM
Author Richard Bach claims to be a direct descendent of Johann Sebastian.  With all the kids Bach had, I imagine there are quite few out there.
"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ― Mark Twain

bwv 1080

#10
November 20, 2007, 07:06:25 AM
I worked once with a woman who was a direct descendant of Mahler.  As one might expect, a large portion of the family was killed by the Nazis.  Her branch of the family settled in the NY area in the 1930's

Scion7

#11
July 21, 2015, 03:43:10 PM
Mahler has living relations, but no living direct descendants (as in children, grandchildren ...)
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

ZauberdrachenNr.7

#12
July 21, 2015, 03:50:22 PM
Poulenc's daughter was still alive last I read several years ago.

EigenUser

#13
July 21, 2015, 03:56:39 PM
A few years ago I was in email contact with Peter Bartok, the son of Bela Bartok. He helped me find a copy of the two-piano score for the 1st PC (I was trying to order it, but kept getting replies from the distributor saying it wasn't for sale in the US). I also told him how much I loved the book he had written about his father, which was outstanding.
Beethoven's Op. 133 -- A fugue so bad that even Beethoven himself called it "Grosse".

(poco) Sforzando

#14
July 21, 2015, 06:43:19 PM
Stravinsky's grandson John is a sports writer, son of Stravinsky's pianist son Soulima.
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

Todd

#15
July 21, 2015, 06:50:05 PM
A few years ago, I worked with one of Adrian Boult's great-grandsons (with the surname Boult, natch).  Once he found out I liked classical music, he showed me his framed, signed LP copy of Boult's recording of "Tchaikovsky Spectaculars."  Okay, Boult wasn't a composer, but he's close enough.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

(poco) Sforzando

#16
July 21, 2015, 07:01:54 PM
Quote from: Todd on July 21, 2015, 06:50:05 PM
A few years ago, I worked with one of Adrian Boult's great-grandsons (with the surname Boult, natch).  Once he found out I liked classical music, he showed me his framed, signed LP copy of Boult's recording of "Tchaikovsky Spectaculars."  Okay, Boult wasn't a composer, but he's close enough.

Stretching it even further, the receptionist in my doctor's office has the last name Bergonzi. Turns out she was a cousin of the tenor and knew him.
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

Luke

#17
July 21, 2015, 10:07:20 PM Last Edit: July 21, 2015, 10:09:45 PM by Luke
Quote from: Scion7 on July 21, 2015, 03:43:10 PM
Mahler has living relations, but no living direct descendants (as in children, grandchildren ...)
Yes, indeed. In fact, I'm one - although in about the most ridiculously distant way possible, as this screen grab shows. If one goes to these lengths, probably most of us are related to quite a few composers, though.

(what makes me laugh is the fact that no one, anywhere, has uploaded a picture of Uncle Gustav - or Gussie, as I knew him  ;D  - onto that genealogy site. Maybe they are hard to find.)

Luke

#18
July 21, 2015, 10:23:45 PM
(although having said that, coincidentally the little clip art blank face they use when there is no photo uploaded is not a million miles away from Gussie, as the simple addition of a pair of glasses shows  ;D)

pjme

#19
July 21, 2015, 10:41:05 PM
Quote from: ZauberdrachenNr.7 on July 21, 2015, 03:50:22 PM
Poulenc's daughter was still alive last I read several years ago.

Indeed, Poulenc may have had a brief afair with a woman. Does anybody know if this has been documented?

P.

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