For The Spirit...

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." --Berthold Auerbach

"Music speaks of Platonic truth--the ideal river rather than the polluted reality, love as we dream it rather than as we experience it, grief noble and uplifting rather than our distracted weeping. It is necessary to our survival and our sanity." --Pamela Brown

"Music by Tim" String Quartet--I play with this quartet for weddings and other special occasions in the northern Chicago area.

Music Jokes--a collection of my favorite jokes about musicians and the field of music in general...if you're a musician, check this out! :)

How to Enjoy an Orchestra Concert--This is a short report I wrote for a technical writing course in college. It gives a quick introduction to symphony music for those unfamiliar with the genre.

Classical Insights--a complete source for classical music--history, performers, news, and resources.

Classical Net--another exhaustive site on classical music, with a great section for those new to the genre, as well as complete lists of the works of most major composers.

"Mozart is sweet sunshine." --Antonin Dvorak

"I declare to you on my honor that he is the greatest composer
who ever lived." --Joseph Haydn, referring to Mozart.

Fun Music Factoid:

For a while Frederic Chopin, the composer and pianist, wore a beard on only one side of his face. 'It does not matter,' he explained. 'My audience sees only my right side.'

Art

I'm not a particularly accomplished or knowledgeable art buff by any means, but I do enjoy a good painting. ;) Here are a couple of my favorite art-related links...

The Van Gogh Gallery--I discovered my love for Van Gogh's works after a recent trip to the Art Institute of Chicago. I love his use of rich colors and, especially, his paintings of nighttime scenes, such as Cafe At Night. This site is the most comprehensive Van Gogh site on the web, with large jpegs of every one of his paintings, and great biographical information.

Thomas Kinkade Homepage--The popular "Painter of Light" is a favorite of mine, especially his pictures of rustic stone houses, cottages and trails. Despite the recent over-commercialization of his work, I enjoy almost everything he has painted and have two of his prints in my home.