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Cowell, Henry Dixon

(Encyclopedia)Cowell, Henry Dixon kouˈəl [key], 1897–1965, American composer and pianist, b. Menlo Park, Calif., largely self-educated, studied musicology in Berlin (1931–32). Cowell experimented with new mus...

Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer, British statesman, soldier, and author

(Encyclopedia)Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer, 1874–1965, British statesman, soldier, and author; son of Lord Randolph Churchill. Churchill was undoubtedly one of the greatest public figures of the 20t...

Davis, Miles

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Miles, 1926–91, American jazz musician, b. Alton, Ill. Rising to prominence with the birth of modern jazz in the mid-1940s, when he was a sideman in Charlie Parker's bop quintet, Davis became...

Gwalior

(Encyclopedia)Gwalior gwäˈlēôr [key], city and former princely state, central India. Part of Madhya Pra...

Bradford, William, 1663–1752, British printer in the American colonies

(Encyclopedia)Bradford, William, 1663–1752, British pioneer printer in the American colonies. Born in Leicestershire, England, he served an apprenticeship under a London printer before emigrating in 1685 to Phila...

Coltrane, John

(Encyclopedia)Coltrane, John kōltrānˈ, kōlˈtrān [key], 1926–67, American jazz musician, b. Hamlet, N.C. He began ...

Watson, Doc

(Encyclopedia)Watson, Doc (Arthel Lane Watson), 1923–2012, American country-music singer and musician, b. Stony Fork, N.C. Blind from infancy, he learned to play the harmonica, banjo, and guitar in his youth. His...

Hogwood, Christopher Jarvis Haley

(Encyclopedia)Hogwood, Christopher Jarvis Haley, 1941–2014, British conductor, musicologist, and harpsichordist, b. Nottingham, grad. Cambridge (1964). He was an leader of the early-music movement, which sought t...

Partch, Harry

(Encyclopedia)Partch, Harry, 1901–74, American composer, b. Oakland, Calif. Highly individualistic and largely self-taught, Partch rejected many of the traditions of Western music. He developed a theory of “cor...

gospel music

(Encyclopedia)gospel music, American religious musical form that owes much of its origin to the Christian conversion of West Africans enslaved in the American South. Gospel music partly evolved from the songs slave...