# If Music was Food...



## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

... which composer/ or pieces would be each food? Kind of a strange thought, I know- but would Stravinsky be seafood, perhaps Rite of Spring is clams or mussels? For some reason Stravinsky reminds me of seafood.

Bach seems like vegetables, and Mozart and Haydn like oranges or citrus.

Does anyone else think of a specific food when listening to a composer/piece, or am I just crazy?


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Sounds like you have a form of synesthesia.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

With Beethoven I think of beets, with Mozart I think of mozarella.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Interesting thought. I do tend to label pieces of music in some way as colors in my brain. Beethoven 7 is blue, 9 is brown, 5 is yellow, Prokofiev 5 is silver or white.


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

20centrfuge said:


> Interesting thought. I do tend to label pieces of music in some way as colors in my brain. Beethoven 7 is blue, 9 is brown, 5 is yellow, Prokofiev 5 is silver or white.


Synaesthesia is likely to apply to this also. It's all good though - we all experience music in our own ways.


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## Sol Invictus (Sep 17, 2016)

Tchaikov6 said:


> ... which composer/ or pieces would be each food? Kind of a strange thought, I know- but would Stravinsky be seafood, perhaps Rite of Spring is clams or mussels? For some reason Stravinsky reminds me of seafood.
> 
> Bach seems like vegetables, and Mozart and Haydn like oranges or citrus.
> 
> Does anyone else think of a specific food when listening to a composer/piece, or am I just crazy?


You sound like my parents, "Eat your vegetables". I like to think of Mozart's music as sweet as a dessert but I also agree it has a citric quality so I'll meet you in the middle. Mozart's music is like lemon cakes.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

CD covers tend to get associated with the music in my mind as well.


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## lextune (Nov 25, 2016)

Scriabin would be the richest, most nectarous treat...

...at first...

...and as one went through his oeuvre chronologically, we could slowly add psilocybin mushrooms...


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## Nevum (Nov 28, 2013)

I am vegetarian. So Schoenberg, and atonal music in general, is like meat.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

The best I can do is the type of adult beverages that go well with each composer, imo of course:


Mozart - Fine Wine
Beethoven - Hard Liquor 
Schonberg - Beer
Bach - Fancy mixed drinks ladies usually enjoy; Strawberry Daiquiris and such.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Hindemith is like shredded wheat.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

With Mozart I think of Mozartkugel:










With Anton Webern and Alban Berg I think of Anthon Berg:


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## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

I believe there's a Chopin Vodka.
Of course, I doubt that Chopin drank vodka. We know that he often drank chocolate for breakfast. And I am addicted to chocolate!


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

This thread is probably the weirdest I've seen.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

MarkW said:


> Hindemith is like shredded wheat.


That invoked a literal LOL.


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Rezsõ & Miklós Sugár remind me of something sweet. I wonder why? 

Boccherini reminds some people of Bocconcini cheese balls apparently. Or maybe they are confusing Bocconcini for Beethoven? We all know the 3 big Bs are Bach, Brahms, and Bocconcini :lol:



> *Bocconcini cheese balls mistaken for classical composer*
> _Britons are clueless when it comes to classical music with some mistaking Bocconcini - small Italian cheese balls - for a composer, a survey revealed._
> 
> One in three (33 per cent) have never listened to classical music and three out of four (75 per cent) did not know that Elgar wrote Pomp and Circumstance, the music for Land of Hope and Glory.
> ...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/7958598/Bocconcini-cheese-balls-mistaken-for-classical-composer.html

Mozart did like his liver dumplings as evidenced by this book cover:









Mozart did like ice cream too, but it seemed to hurt his decaying teeth as evidenced by aria KV 209a, _Un dente guasto e gelato_ (A tooth decayed and sensitive to cold).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22372186


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## Tallisman (May 7, 2017)

Stravinsky is capers.


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## Nevum (Nov 28, 2013)

Bruckner is a like a mix of vodka, scotch and ouzo.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Sloe said:


> With Mozart I think of Mozartkugel:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They did the Berg chocolates wrong. There should only have been 12 in the box. :lol:


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Once again, the great Rossini comes through for us:



> The corpulent composer claimed he only cried three times in his life: once when his first opera was a fiasco; the second time when he heard Paganini play; and the third time when sailing to a picnic lunch and seeing a turkey stuffed with truffles, his favourite treat, fall overboard.


Also, I can see where Mozart got his sense of humor from:



> In 1769 the Mozarts stopped at Kalterl in the Tyrolean Mountains on their way to Verona. 'We had some potted veal for lunch,' Mozart Snr noted, 'accompanied by the most fearful smell; we washed it down with a few draughts of good beer as the wine was no better than a laxative.'


I guess Leopold would not be interested in some vintage 1987 Ex-Lax. :lol:

http://www.classical-music.com/article/15-composers-who-loved-their-food


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

If music was food....I would probably weigh 1600 pounds. Glad it's not!!


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## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Who is potatoes? 'Cuz I _love _potatoes ....


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Klassik said:


> *Once again, the great Rossini comes through for us:
> *
> 
> Also, I can see where Mozart got his sense of humor from:
> ...


No TELL-ing what can happen when one has the WILL.


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

Tchaikov6 said:


> ... which composer/ or pieces would be each food? Kind of a strange thought, I know- but would Stravinsky be seafood, perhaps Rite of Spring is clams or mussels? For some reason Stravinsky reminds me of seafood.
> 
> Bach seems like vegetables, and Mozart and Haydn like oranges or citrus.
> 
> Does anyone else think of a specific food when listening to a composer/piece, or am I just crazy?


about Mozart and fruits. It reminded me of an old chat with a friend where he compared Mozart's music with mangoes - it's our favorite fruit .

As for Bach I have no gastronomic associations. Baroque composers are all juices for me and then later on chronological staircase the heavier it becomes as food, richer in calories , more dense, but it doesn't necessary mean it's more delicious


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

laurie said:


> Who is potatoes? 'Cuz I _love _potatoes ....


Satie might go for some mashed potatoes. White gravy only though.



helenora said:


> about Mozart and fruits. It reminded me of an old chat with a friend where he compared Mozart's music with mangoes - it's our favorite fruit .


It's too bad Mozart never lived long enough to write _The Magic Fruit_. It seems like something he would have done. Maybe he would have lived longer if he ate more beans. "Beans, beans, good for the heart..."


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## Daniel Atkinson (Dec 31, 2016)

If music was food, most of us would be dead


Daniel


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Daniel Atkinson said:


> If music was food, most of us would be dead
> 
> Daniel


But not by starving for hunger, overeaten more like.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

4'33" is like being served an empty plate at a restaurant. :lol:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bettina said:


> 4'33" is like being served an empty plate at a restaurant. :lol:


Ouch............but wit a drink I guess?


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

This sounds bizarrely random, but I just realized that Satie's piano music reminds me of pistachio ice cream. Smooth, elegant, and quirky. I know that some people might associate pistachios with Mozart, because of the famous Mozart candies with pistachio nougat, but I think that those candies should be renamed for Satie!


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Bettina said:


> 4'33" is like being served an empty plate at a restaurant. :lol:


You beat me to it - I was going to say it would be like fasting, or watching other people eat. 

Prokofiev: something spicy.
Mahler: a very big plate with absolutely frickin' everything on it.
Glass: boiled vegetables and more boiled vegetables and boiled and vege and vege and tables and boiled and vegetables boiled in vegetables and tables and boiled...
Bartok: prickly pears before removing the prickly bits.
Rachmaninov: black pudding seasoned with nightshade
Mozart: Zoo Biscuits
Salieri: Capezolli di Venere (Nipples of Venus)
Beethoven: any soup that can be slurped really rudely.
Penderecki: irradiated habanero


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Some of my associations have more to do with word similarity than with sound. For example, the word presto makes me think of pesto, even though the actual _sound _of a presto piece has nothing to do with pesto!! :lol:


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Bettina said:


> Some of my associations have more to do with word similarity than with sound. For example, the word presto makes me think of pesto, even though the actual _sound _of a presto piece has nothing to do with pesto!! :lol:


If you eat nothing but pesto, you'll lose weight presto.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Related question: are there any classical pieces that refer to food? I can only think of two: Satie's Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear, and Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges. But maybe I'm forgetting some really obvious ones...


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

^ Oh, and there's Bach's Coffee Cantata, but coffee isn't actually _food _(although it probably should be its own food group! :lol


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Bettina said:


> Related question: are there any classical pieces that refer to food? I can only think of two: Satie's Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear, and Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges. But maybe I'm forgetting some really obvious ones...


The "Trout" quintet?


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Phil loves classical said:


> The "Trout" quintet?


You beat me to it. And what about Belshazzar's Feast?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Beethoven: Beef Wellington's Victory.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

brianvds said:


> You beat me to it. And what about Belshazzar's Feast?


I'm seriously getting hungry. Kind of late though...


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

brianvds said:


> If you eat nothing but pesto, you'll lose weight presto.


That depends on how much pesto you eat.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

The song _Stormy Weather _calls to mind Tornadoes Rossini.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

brianvds said:


> Prokofiev: something spicy.
> Mahler: a very big plate with absolutely frickin' everything on it.
> Glass: boiled vegetables and more boiled vegetables and boiled and vege and vege and tables and boiled and vegetables boiled in vegetables and tables and boiled...
> Bartok: prickly pears before removing the prickly bits.
> ...


BRILLIANT!!!

I tried to add to it and was trying to think of a food for Morton Feldman, but I kept thinking "Valium is not a food!"


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Sloe said:


> That depends on how much pesto you eat.


I think if you eat nothing but pesto, you'll find that you don't want to eat all that much of it. What's more, it contains very little carbs. Thus, I think there might be something to this pesto diet: perhaps I should start a new fad.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

laurie said:


> Who is potatoes? 'Cuz I _love _potatoes ....


You are spud on! I love 'em too!


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## dillonp2020 (May 6, 2017)

Radetzky March, to me, feels so Austrian that the thought of veal goulash mit spaetzles comes to mind.


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

Tchaikov6 said:


> ... which composer/ or pieces would be each food? Kind of a strange thought, I know- but would Stravinsky be seafood, perhaps Rite of Spring is clams or mussels? For some reason Stravinsky reminds me of seafood.
> 
> Bach seems like vegetables, and Mozart and Haydn like oranges or citrus.
> 
> Does anyone else think of a specific food when listening to a composer/piece, or am I just crazy?


you're just crazy and probably on a diet or something :lol:


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

It probably would have been thrown against the wall!

Schroeder was awfully optimistic about marriage given Beethoven's problems. It's too bad Beethoven didn't have Kraft Mac & Cheese. Perhaps his music would have been less emotional if he could have had his mac & cheese in an instant?


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Locatelli reminds me of cheese .


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Honegger's Danse da le chèvre (Dance of the goat) makes me think of goat cheese, because in the grocery store I often see pieces of goat cheese labeled "chèvre." I guess the word can refer either to a goat (which is how Honegger used it) or to the cheese made from goat milk.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

The Miraculous Mandarin Orange?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Tchaikov6 said:


> ... which composer/ or pieces would be each food? Kind of a strange thought, I know- but would Stravinsky be seafood, perhaps Rite of Spring is clams or mussels? For some reason Stravinsky reminds me of seafood.
> 
> Bach seems like vegetables, and Mozart and Haydn like oranges or citrus.
> 
> Does anyone else think of a specific food when listening to a composer/piece, or am I just crazy?


Some substantiation, please.

References, footnotes.......


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## Tallisman (May 7, 2017)

I think Schoenberg would be a Carolina Reaper


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Don't have stomach for this kind of threads


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Bettina said:


> 4'33" is like being served an empty plate at a restaurant. :lol:


To keep more accurately with the spirit of 4'33" you would have to give them a plate of crickets and other edibles that people don't often think of as edibles.


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## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

if music was food i would have type-3 diabetes.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Heliogabo said:


> Don't have stomach for this kind of threads


You are not supposed to eat threads.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

violadude said:


> To keep more accurately with the spirit of 4'33" you would have to give them a plate of crickets and other edibles that people don't often think of as edibles.


And empty plate is not empty there are microorganisms on it that you can lick off the plate.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

If music be the food of love ... let's eat!


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Hummel's name always makes me think of hummus. In fact, I'm listening to Hummel right now (Piano Concerto in F Major) and eating hummus!


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Bettina said:


> Hummel's name always makes me think of hummus. In fact, I'm listening to Hummel right now (Piano Concerto in F Major) and eating hummus!


 The funny thing is that I just got done listening to Tartini's Devil's Trill Sonata and one his violin concertos. I grabbed a bowl of strawberries to eat while listening and they were, yes, tart! I knew I had to write about this on the "If Music was Food" thread!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> If music be the food of love ... let's eat!


Lets make a bacchanal


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

The Brazilian composer Octavio Pinto - every time I listen to his music, I think of pinto beans! :lol:Anyway, let me take this opportunity to recommend him - he's extremely obscure and underrated. Here's his Scenes Infantis:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bettina said:


> The Brazilian composer Octavio Pinto - every time I listen to his music, I think of pinto beans! :lol:Anyway, let me take this opportunity to recommend him - he's extremely obscure and underrated. Here's his Scenes Infantis:
> 
> ]


Dare I ask if that is you playing?


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Pugg said:


> Dare I ask if that is you playing?


No, it's not me playing - I don't think I could play it that well! I've never really tried learning Scenes Infantis (I've read through it a few times, but no serious practice). I might give it a try someday.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bettina said:


> No, it's not me playing - I don't think I could play it that well! I've never really tried learning Scenes Infantis (I've read through it a few times, but no serious practice). I might give it a try someday.


We are way off topic but to me it sounds very mechanical ( the playing)
Don't know the score but just my first impression.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Pugg said:


> We are way off topic but to me it sounds very mechanical ( the playing)
> Don't know the score but just my first impression.


I agree, it does sound mechanical! As far as I know, it is supposed to sound that way...at least, that's how I've usually heard it played. The first movement represents someone running (the title of it is Run, Run), so I guess that Pinto wanted it to be a steady stream of fast notes without any variations.


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Bettina said:


> The Brazilian composer Octavio Pinto - every time I listen to his music, I think of pinto beans! :lol:Anyway, let me take this opportunity to recommend him - he's extremely obscure and underrated.


I'm not so sure if I want to hear this if it reminds you of beans! 

Many Ford Pinto cars came with engines called the Ford Lima engine. No wonder Ford Pintos were famed for exploding! :lol:

It's too bad that living composers Miklós Sugár and Sonja Beets have not gotten married and gone with hyphenated last names. Sugár-Beets would be interesting!


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Pugg said:


> Lets make a bacchanal


We'll put the 'Bach' back into bacchanal.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

brianvds said:


> We'll put the 'Bach' back into bacchanal.


We can ask if Camille Saint-Saëns will rearrange it.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Pugg said:


> We can ask if Camille Saint-Saëns will rearrange it.


One would think he'd be too, er, saintly to be dragged into something like that.


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