Here are 11 very cute pictures of great musicians and their beloved pets

Here are 11 very cute pictures of great musicians and their beloved pets

There's a long and frankly very cute story to be told about the strong bonds forged between musicians and their pets. Here are some of the most life-affirming musician-pet combos

Getty Images

Published: March 13, 2025 at 4:55 pm

Some of the great musicians of the past could themselves be quite beastly. But, as our gallery shows, even the most ferocious lowered their guard in the presence of creatures great and small.

Pictured above: Spanish mezzo Conchita Supervia chats up Joey, a 64-year-old cockatoo, at London Zoo, c1930.

Composer Aaron Copland and cat in 1947
Composer Aaron Copland and cat in 1947 - Getty Images

Soprano Maria Callas enjoys the company of her poodle, Toy
Soprano Maria Callas enjoys the company of her poodle, Toy, 1956 - Getty Images

Musicians and their pets: a long and happy history

Before we go on, let's round up a few other composers who loved their pets but of whose pet-loving ways, alas (mostly because of their pre-photography lifespans) we have no visual record.

Ludwig van Beethoven was a known animal lover. He had a pet parrot and was also known to have a dog. He reportedly enjoyed teaching his parrot to whistle musical phrases. Mozart famously owned a pet starling, which could mimic his music and may have even influenced some of his compositions.

Chopin did not own a pet himself, but he lived with George Sand, who had a dog named Marquis. Chopin’s Minute Waltz was originally known as Valse du Petit Chien (‘The Little Dog Waltz’), and its scurrying, playful music is said to have been inspired by the sight of Marquis chasing his tail.

Italian tenor Tito Schipa shows off his pet albino monkey
Italian tenor Tito Schipa shows off his pet albino monkey - Getty Images

Polish conductor Artur Rodziński and his dog
Polish conductor Artur Rodziński and his poodle - Getty Images

More musicians and their pets... Richard Wagner was a huge dog lover, particularly fond of Newfoundlands. His most famous dog was a King Charles Spaniel named Peps, who was said to have inspired him while he composed. Wagner's rival Johannes Brahms was known to own a pet cat. He allegedly had a mischievous habit of playing the piano to annoy it—sometimes hitting a particular note to make the cat jump.

Igor Stravinsky owned a beloved cat named Delilah, whom he adored. He was also known to enjoy watching animals and observing their behaviour. And Vaughan Williams famously owned a cat named Mrs Tim!

British composer Edmund Rubbra and donkey, Chiltern Hills, England, 1949
British composer Edmund Rubbra and donkey, Chiltern Hills, England, 1949 - Getty Images

Conductor Malcolm Sargent gets to grips with a python, 1955
Conductor Malcolm Sargent gets to grips with a python, 1955 - Getty Images

Camille Saint-Saëns had a pet monkey and was fascinated by animals. Which should come as no surprise, given his masterful suite The Carnival of the Animals, a celebration of animal behaviours in all their glory. After the death of his wife Alice, Edward Elgar spent his final years in the company of two dogs, a spaniel called Marco and a Cairn Terrier named Mina.

And French composers Erik Satie and Maurice Ravel were both known cat lovers - Siamese specifically, in Ravel's case, which somehow fits his rather elegant and fastidious personality and composing style.

Cellist Beatrice Harrison and baby crocs at home in Oxted, Surrey, England, 1929
Cellist Beatrice Harrison and baby crocs at home in Oxted, Surrey, England, 1929 - Getty Images

French author Colette poses with her cats
French author Colette, who wrote the libretto for Ravel's 'L'enfant et les sortilèges', poses with her cats - Bridgeman via Getty Images

English composer and eccentric Lord Berners painting a picture of Mrs Penelope Betjeman and her Arab pony, at his home in Berkshire, 1938
English composer and eccentric Lord Berners painting a picture of Mrs Penelope Betjeman and her Arab pony, at his home in Berkshire, 1938 - Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Musicians Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson and their rat terrier dog Lolabelle
And last but not least, here are musicians and husband-and-wife duo Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, and their beloved rat terrier Lolabelle, 2003 - Getty Images

All pics: Getty Images

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