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Visiting ViennaBy Robert Farley (cl_kaulana) | cl_kaulana@oocities.com | Vienna Strasse/7000 Lots of midi sites adorn this month's edition of "Visiting Vienna." Here you will find links for everything from Celtic jigs to practically every classical composer you can think of, not to mention sites with Russian ballet information and lush backgrounds that will make you drool all over your keyboard. Or maybe not. Just in case, lay a towel in front of yourself and read on.
This extremely popular stopping point on the Internet is a treasure trove of information on Russian ballet, including ballet companies, great names in Russian ballet, soloists, choreographers, scenography, ballet education, and even links to Ballet magazine. One of the more ambitious links is the Ballet events in Moscow, the hometown of Mr. Moiseyev. If you are interested in ballet, this a must-see site for you. Vienna Strasse 7353, Nancy's Musical Meanderings is a site with many unique midis and lots of information about weird instruments, including the Theremin synthesiser, a guitar-based sound imager (my own terminology). Nancy Bower, the site's camera-shy webmistress, says she enjoys collecting information about the many one-of-a-kind and other odd instruments she features, and even plans on someday building her own "gourdolin." Nancy's pages exhibit some of the most beautiful backgrounds I've seen. She freely admits they increase her site's download time, but the effect is well worth it. She is considerate enough, however, to provide a text-only version. With the large amount of information available on the site, even that avenue is worth the trip. The Celtic music link was one of my favorite experiences. And while Nancy doesn't spend a lot of space collecting midis and putting them on her site, she does provide excellent links to sites that do provide midis to download. A good example of the cheery kind of music extant on this site is The Merry Maiden. Sequenced by Brian Hicks, the song is a traditional Irish double-jig and you can almost see the hammered dulcimers being played as you listen to the 31-second melody. Vienna 3249, Classical Midis Incorporated, is the best collection of classical midis and biographies I have seen. Not only excellent quality midis, but well written biographies of many composers are available here. The site's creator makes every effort to locate midis that he doesn't have when someone asks, as well as accepts high-quality submissions from visitors. This page is a learning experience in the true meaning of classical musical, from the baroque right through to the romantic and contemporary. I highly recommend this page to anyone wanting to become immersed in classical music. CL_Kaulana (Robert) has been a resident of Vienna Strasse since September 1997, and an active community leader since March 1998. It's during his block scanning that he finds the sites to include in his "Visiting Vienna" column. All CLs and residents of Vienna are invited to submit brief paragraphs to CL_K about interesting sites they have seen in Vienna. Photos and sounds are welcome, and, of course, all credit will be given where due. CL_K reserves the right to edit all submissions. Find out how to join the Vienna Community Leaders. Why not make your browsing count? |
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