Dogs in the life of composers

If you have a pet, you will surely agree: as soon as we take responsibility for someone – be it a cat, a dog, a ferret, a parrot, a horse, anyone! – these creatures become an important part of our lives, whether we want it or not.

As a rule, we know great composers by their musical heritage, this is exactly why we love them. But, like all ordinary people, musical geniuses led the most ordinary "non-musical" life, which often significantly influenced their work. We bring to your attention some interesting stories about composers and dogs. For some, a pet has become a source of inspiration. Someone was happy to communicate with other people's dogs, and someone was greatly distracted from the work process by four-legged friends.

Let's start with Frédéric Chopin. No, he didn't have a dog. His mistress George Sand had a dog, and his name was Marquis. Chopin got along well with the dog and often mentioned it with special warmth in letters to Sand. The Marquis was also reflected in the composer's work: the Waltz "Minute" (Waltz Op.64 No.1 in D-flat major), composed by Chopin in 1847, was originally called "Waltz of a Little Dog". It is generally accepted that the composer was inspired to write this cheerful work by the Marquis, who was trying to catch his tail.

Another example of a composer's affection for someone else's dog is the case of Ludwig van Beethoven and Guigons. Guigons is the name of the dog that belonged to Teresa Malfatti. Theresa was a student of Beethoven, as well as his secret passion. The famous Bagatelle "To Elise" was dedicated to the young lady in 1810, when Beethoven revealed his feelings and proposed to her. Alas, the girl refused to marry the famous composer, who at that time was 20 years older than her. The only connection with Teresa was her dog: Beethoven mentioned him more than once in letters to his friend, describing his joy with the dog with special love.

Speaking of true dog lovers, it is impossible not to mention Edward Elgar - he was one of the most devoted fans of these animals. It was a pity that his wife Alice could not stand them. In the entire history of their 30-year marriage, Elgar could not get his own dog and only occasionally enjoyed walks in the company of his dog Dan, the favourite of his friend George Robertson Sinclair. By the way, Dan was later depicted in “Enigma variations” (No. 11). After the death of his wife, Elgar was accompanied by two dogs for the rest of his life - Marco and Mina (English cocker spaniel and cairn terrier). Even during his business trips, he addressed his pets on the radio, and they reacted enthusiastically when they heard the owner's voice from the speaker. On one occasion, Elgar even spoke on the phone with Marco and Mina, strictly ordering them not to bite the pillows.

However, dogs did not always serve as a source of inspiration for composers. In some cases, they were a big distraction from work! For example, the English composer Ethel Smith once took her dog, St. Bernard Marco, to a rehearsal of a piano quintet written by Brahms. The composer himself was also present in the room. Much to Smith's embarrassment, in the middle of the rehearsal, Marco walked into the room and accidentally knocked over the music stand of one of the cellists. Fortunately, Johannes Brahms turned out to be a dog lover himself and was only happy to see Marco.

A more serious incident was in the life of Richard Wagner. Being an avid dog lover (the composer at one time had a spaniel of King Charles, a Labrador and a Newfoundland), he suffered significantly from the dog in 1861. This incident occurred at a time when Wagner was desperately trying to complete his new opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg on time. One day he saw a bulldog tied up in front of the house in which he then lived and decided to free it from its chain. So he did, but the animal managed to bite his hand, which caused an infection of the thumb of his right hand. The inability to write music for six months was, of course, a valid reason for the postponement. However, the bite of an ungrateful dog resulted in a five-year period that the composer needed to complete the work.

Some of the relationship between the composer and the dog was completely strange. Louis Hardin, for example, took the pseudonym Moondog after his dog Lindy, who, according to the composer, howled at the moon like a wolf. Moondog dressed up as a Viking and wandered for a long time along the 6th Avenue of New York.

The German composer Hans Werner Henze was a big fan of all things "English" and therefore addressed his dog, named James, exclusively in English. And the master of French song Reynaldo An named his dog in honour of the philosopher from Voltaire's novel - Zadig. He wrote him letters, telling him how much he would like to be a dog himself.

Probably one of the biggest dog fans among modern avant-garde composers is George Crum. Not only does he love these animals in general, but he has dedicated part of his repertoire to them. This is, first of all, the suite Mundus Canis ('the world of dogs'), written in 1998, dedicated to all the dogs that have ever belonged to the Crum family. One of them, a white fluffy dog named Yoda, is featured on the cover of the DVD "Bad Dog!: Portrait of George Crum” (2009).

And one more unusual case. In 2010, the American composer Laurie Anderson, together with her husband Lou Reed, organised a concert in Sydney for a very specific audience: there were only dogs among the listeners. The concert took place at the foot of the Sydney Opera House and was played at a very high frequency (too high for the human ear). Anderson said that during the preparation of the performance, she took "professional advice" from her dog Lolabel.