Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Joplin, Scott

(Encyclopedia)Joplin, Scott jŏpˈlĭn [key], 1868–1917, American ragtime pianist and composer, b. Texarkana, Tex. Self-taught, Joplin left home in his early teens to seek his fortune in music. He lived in St. Lo...

Wuorinen, Charles Peter

(Encyclopedia)Wuorinen, Charles Peter wûrˈĭnən [key], 1938–2020, American composer, conductor, and pianist, b. New York City. Wuorinen studied at Columbia (B.A., 1961; M.A., 1963) and taught there, at the Man...

Mendelssohn, Felix

(Encyclopedia)Mendelssohn, Felix (Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn) mĕnˈdəlsən, Ger. yäˈkôp lo͝otˈvĭkh fāˈlĭks mĕnˈdəls-zōnˌ [key], 1809–47, German composer; grandson of the Jewish philosopher Mos...

musical notation

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Musical notation musical notation, symbols used to make a written record of musical sounds. Two different systems of letters were used to write down the instrumental and the vocal music of anc...

North Texas, University of

(Encyclopedia)North Texas, University of, at Denton, Tex.; coeducational; est. 1890 as Texas Normal College, became North Texas State Normal College in 1899, North Texas State Teachers College in 1923. In 1949 the ...

Lewis, Jerry Lee

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Jerry Lee, 1935–2022, American singer and composer, b. Ferriday, La. Combining country music elements with an energetic performance style, he w...

Bellman, Carl Michael

(Encyclopedia)Bellman, Carl Michael mēˈkäĕl bĕlˈmän [key], 1740–95, Swedish poet; protégé of Gustavus III. His early poetry was chiefly religious. His dithyrambic odes in Fredmans Epistlar (1790) and Fre...

Dargomijsky, Aleksandr Sergeyevich

(Encyclopedia)Dargomijsky, Aleksandr Sergeyevich əlyĭksänˈdər syĭrgāˈəvĭch därgōmēˈskī [key], 1813–69, Russian composer. He and Glinka brought nationalism to Russian music, strongly influencing the...

organum

(Encyclopedia)organum ôrˈgənəm [key], in music, compositional technique, developed in Europe during the 10th cent., in which each note of Gregorian chant melody was doubled by another note. In the earliest exam...

O'Shaughnessy, Arthur William Edgar

(Encyclopedia)O'Shaughnessy, Arthur William Edgar ōshônˈəsē [key], 1844–81, English poet and naturalist. He was a member of the zoological department of the British Museum. He wrote four volumes of poetry—...