There has probably always been a shared sensitivity between various branches of the arts and vegetarianism. Now, a new section of the IVU website attempts to trace a history of music and vegetarianism. It just looks at professional musicians as there would be countless numbers of enthusiastic amateurs, far too many to record.

The story begins way back in 19th century Germany with some famous names, and others who will only be known to those in the profession. As the title of the webpage suggests, the Eastern influence is considerable. We try to look at how much East and West overlapped. Did they all know each other? Did vegetarian musicians prefer working together, more than with meat eaters?

This is NOT a list of whether current pop stars happen to be vegetarian this week, and just as often not next week. But if you're interested in past generations, then go to: www.ivu.org/history/music.html