Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

114 results found

stringed instrument

(Encyclopedia)CE5 stringed instrument, any musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibrating strings. Those whose strings are plucked with the finger or a plectrum include the balalaika, banjo, guitar, harp...

lyre

(Encyclopedia)lyre, generic term for stringed musical instruments having a sound box from which project curved arms joined by a crossbar. The strings are stretched between the crossbar and the sound box and are plu...

Sessions, Roger

(Encyclopedia)Sessions, Roger, 1896–1985, American composer and teacher, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Sessions was a pupil of Horatio Parker at Yale and of Ernest Bloch. He taught (1917–21) at Smith, leaving to teach at t...

rosin

(Encyclopedia)rosin or colophony, hard, brittle, translucent resin, obtained as a solid residue from crude turpentine. Usually pale yellow or amber, its color may vary from brownish-black to transparent depending o...

Nielsen, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Nielsen, Carl nēlˈsən, Dan. nĭlˈsən [key], 1865–1931, Danish composer. Nielsen was a pupil of Niels Gade at the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen. Considered Denmark's foremost composer, he is ...

Stern, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Stern, Isaac, 1920–2001, American violinist, b. Kremenets, in what is now Ukraine. Brought to the United States as an infant, Stern began piano lessons at the age of six and violin lessons at eight....

Zimmermann, Bernd Alois

(Encyclopedia)Zimmermann, Bernd Alois, 1918–1970, German modernist composer, b. Bliesheim. He began studying music at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne in 1938, was drafted into the military (1939–42), then ...

sound

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Sound waves: An air pressure wave radiating outward from a loudspeaker is perceived as sound. sound, any disturbance that travels through an elastic medium such as air, ground, or water to be ...

Goodman, Benny

(Encyclopedia)Goodman, Benny (Benjamin David Goodman), 1909–86, American clarinetist, composer, and band leader, b. Chicago. Goodman studied clarinet at Hull House. In Chicago he had the opportunity to hear (and ...

Fiedler, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Fiedler, Arthur, 1894–1979, American conductor, b. Brookline, Mass. Fiedler, who ultimately became a grandfatherly American musical icon, studied violin with his father, a member of the Boston Symph...