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Křenek, Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Křenek, Ernst krĕˈnĕk, Czech kerzhĕˈnĕk [key], 1900–1991, Austrian-American composer, b. Vienna. to Czech parents. He studied in Vienna and Berlin, and in the early 1920s he composed chamber ...

essay

(Encyclopedia)essay, relatively short literary composition in prose, in which a writer discusses a topic, usually restricted in scope, or tries to persuade the reader to accept a particular point of view. Although ...

Gabrieli, Andrea

(Encyclopedia)Gabrieli, Andrea jōvänˈnē [key], c.1555–1612. Giovanni was for a time a singer in the court choir under Lasso in Munich and became (1585) second organist at St. Mark's, succeeding to first organ...

Brubeck, Dave

(Encyclopedia)Brubeck, Dave (David Warren Brubeck) bro͞oˈbĕk [key], 1920–2012, American pianist an...

Adrian IV, pope

(Encyclopedia)Adrian IV, d. 1159, pope (1154–59), an Englishman (the only English pope), b. Nicholas Breakspear at Langley, near St. Albans. He was successor of Anastasius IV. At an early age he went to France. T...

Césaire, Aimé

(Encyclopedia)Césaire, Aimé (Aimé Fernand Césaire) ĕmāˈ fĕrnäNˈ sāzârˈ [key], 1913–2008, West Indian poet and essayist who wrote in French. After studying in Paris he became concerned with the plight...

Constance, Council of

(Encyclopedia)Constance, Council of, 1414–18, council of the Roman Catholic Church, some of its sessions being reckoned as the 16th ecumenical council. It was summoned to end the Great Schism (see Schism, Great),...

melodrama

(Encyclopedia)melodrama [Gr.,=song-drama], originally a spoken text with musical background, as in Greek drama. The form was popular in the 18th cent., when its composers included Georg Benda, J. J. Rousseau, and W...

Atkins, Chet

(Encyclopedia)Atkins, Chet (Chester Burton Atkins), 1924–2001, American country guitarist, singer, and record company executive, b. Luttrell, Tenn. Part of a musical family, he played fiddle and guitar as a young...

serial music

(Encyclopedia)serial music, the body of compositions whose fundamental syntactical reference is a particular ordering (called series or row) of the twelve pitch classes—C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B—t...