If it sounds like the composer might be a vampire, it's Bach.

If it sounds like the composer is trying to set the violins on fire, it's Vivaldi.

If it sounds like the composer is trying to sell you fancy mustard, it's Haydn

If it sounds like the composer is making fun of you, it's Mozart.

If it sounds like your high school graduation, it's Elgar.

If it sounds like the composer is trying to make you as deaf as he is, it's Beethoven.

If it sounds like the composer is trying to shoot you, it's Tchaikovsky.

If it sounds like the composer is mansplaining to you, it's Wagner.

If it sounds like you bought Star Wars on Temu, it's Holst.

If it sounds like a fancy costume party with rich old people dancing, it's Strauss.

If it sounds like an angry costume party with rich old people trying to kill each other, it's Brahms.

If it sounds like it's ripping off Celene Dion, it's Rachmaninoff.

If it sounds like the composer is trying to incite a riot, it's Stravinsky.

If it sounds like there's 10 hands playing a single piano, itโ€™s Liszt.

If it sounds like there's 10 hands playing a single piano and all of them are clinically depressed, it's Chopin.

If it sounds like every single choir kid in the entire city is on stage at the same time, it's Mahler.

If it sounds like the composer tried to make a piano out of feathers, it's Debussy.

If it sounds like it's in the shape of a pear don't make me laugh sea foam you're tickling me, it's Satie.

If it sounds like two marching bands playing different songs meeting at the 0 yard line, it's Ives.

If it sounds like it's very urgent that you do something IMMEDIATELY but you don't know what, it's Orff.

If it sounds if it sounds if it sounds if it sounds if it sounds if it sounds like this, it's Glass.

If it sounds like someone spilled all the notes and now they're all coming out in a random order, it's Schรถnberg.

If it sounds like , it's Cage.

@Schattenente ๐Ÿ‘†

@xilebo @Schattenente

No. You can't do this to me at 2AM, because I have to not laugh and wake up the entire neighborhood.

Brilliant.

Spot on.

ยซthinks of Mussorgsky, and flying through the airยป

@Lana This is genius. 10/10 no notes.
@msbellows @Lana no notes? she mentioned John Cage already ๐Ÿคฃ
@Lana @xisca if it sounds like angels trying to out-harmonise each other, itโ€™s Whitacre
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.6 !!!!!HAMMER!!!!

YouTube
@jchaven
๐Ÿ˜ฎ I really need to start studying Mahler!
@Lana
@Schattenente
Mahler is obligatory subject for my music A-level next year, looking forward to it now!
@jchaven @Lana

@Lana

Wow. This is a really good list. I'm reading through it going "yep, yep, yep..."

@Lana if it sounds like the composer it's a bit clumsy but in the end it was playing really elegant, it's Debussy

@isblagi @Lana

Was just looking for Debussy! Guess he is more difficult to sum up?

@FediThing @isblagi I guess I do find it tough to sum up Debussy yeah
@FediThing @isblagi there. I think I got it.

@Lana @isblagi

Yay! Wasn't complaining by the way, the original post is brilliant!

@FediThing @Lana @isblagi the Debassy one is lovely. When I read it, my mind immediately started playing Claire de lune ๐Ÿ™‚
@Lana if it sounds like the composer is summoning fae, itโ€™s Schubert
@Lana
If it sounds like Darth Vader is depressed, it's also Chopin.
@Schattenente assfgghjkl how dare you say something so bold and yet so accurate
@Lana
๐Ÿ˜Ž That will be the depressed side of the force giving me strength and courage.
@Lana for 4:33 straight

@MascarellDiego @Lana

I love the John Cage joke / reference. That made my evening! ๐Ÿ˜

And now, I will play the original recording on 45 RPM just to mess with everybody.

@Lana
I

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it's Glass

@Klepsis @Lana if it sounds like, if it sounds like, if it sounds like, if it, if it, if it sounds, itโ€™s Glass
@Lana if the two marching bands have 10 robot hands and you're searching for the setting to put it back to 1x speed, it's Nancarrow

@georgebaily

Thank you for ruining my weekend with that rabbit hole! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

@cthulku thru the rabbit hole of perception

@Lana If it sounds like the essence of eldritch horror and existential dread boiled down into a format a human brain can comprehend, itโ€™s The Caretaker (John Leyland Kirby).

To this day, I have not been able to listen to the entirety of #EverywhereAtTheEndOfTime, especially the later stages, even though I really, really *want* to.

@Lana ha! Just forwarded this to my kiddo who has a degree in music composition. :)
@Lana So how you interpret a performance is up to the listener ๐Ÿ˜„?
@Lana If the pianist sounds like they could have their back to the audience but spin their head around 180 degrees to leer at the audience, it can only be Bartok
@TeflonTrout
Yes! I was at my first Bartรณk concert this year and the piano concerto was quite something. Very funny, too, though.
@Lana

@Schattenente @Lana In middle school, a friend of mine was practicing The Bear Dance in the orchestra room after he got set up (because he's also a damned violinist, they undo 2 buckles, tighten their bow, and they're set. Signed, a salty cellist) and blew my mind. He's a very good musician, and was rocking the SHIT out of our poor old school piano.

What a composer, and WHAT a piece!

@Lana WTF... ...oooh, the other Strauss.
@Lana By now, I got 14 edit notifications for this toot. Please stop.
@frumble I actually didn't know people got notified by edits.
@Lana @frumble The rest of us appreciates the edits. Please continue ๐Ÿ˜
@Lana And if it sounds like youโ€™re trying to compose in a totalitarian regime without losing your mind or your life - and not doing a good job of either - itโ€™s Shostakovich.
@Lana If it sounds like you've heard it before, it's Zimmer.
@Lana If it sounds like Sting, it's Prokofiev.
@Lana Poor Bach really paying for that toccata and fugue in D minor.
@Lana If it sounds like someone with OCD counting really fast it's Philip Glass.

@Lana

I am now only going to describe any opera by Wagner as "Mansplaining: the Musical"

@Lana What about Schostakowitsch?
@fugeldich if it sounds like you spilled a drink in the piano and all the notes are randomly organized now, it's Shostakovich
@Lana
If it sounds like Bach on acid, it's possibly Busoni.

@Lana

A friend many years ago said that Mozart is easy to identify. If there's a passage that rhythmically goes

"It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a MoZART!"

then it's definitely Mozart.

@jgamble omg the accuracy ๐ŸคŒ๐Ÿผ

@Lana

Credit to H. Tanya Gilham, if it's quotable.

@Lana
Thank you! This is the first time someone has explained #ClassicalMusic in a way I can understand. In my university days, there was a less technical class called "Physics for Poets." I've saved your post and a lot of the replies in a document I called, "Music for Engineers". I'm going to revisit the music I have, and look up the composers I've never heard of.
@Lana Saw this boosted by someone I follow and wanted to make sure I follow you too and I already did, so my Friday is good. This is fantastic. Although, if you listen to Bach's church stuff and compare it to his Brandenburg Concertos, it is very different in my mind - might need two versions. Also, Orff, spot on. Strauss too...