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étude

(Encyclopedia)étude āˈto͞od [key], a brief musical composition, usually for piano, fashioned to instruct an instrumentalist in a particular technical problem, such as scales or trills. Succeeding the toccata, p...

Southern Alps

(Encyclopedia)Southern Alps, mountain range, on South Island, New Zealand, paralleling the west coast. It rises to 12,349 ft (3,764 m) at Mt. Aorangi (Mt. Cook), New Zealand's highest peak. Extensively glaciated, t...

German Catholics

(Encyclopedia)German Catholics, religious groups founded in 1844 by dissidents from the Roman Catholic Church. They were led by two excommunicated priests, Johann Czerski of Schneidemühl, Posen, and Johann Ronge o...

Musa Daği

(Encyclopedia)Musa Daği mo͞oˈsä däŭˈ [key], peak, 4,445 ft (1,355 m) high, S Turkey, rising from the Mediterranean Sea, W of Antakya. The heroic resistance of the Armenians against the Turks at Musa Daği in...

phrenology

(Encyclopedia)phrenology, study of the shape of the human skull in order to draw conclusions about particular character traits and mental faculties. The theory was developed about 1800 by the German physiologist Fr...

Caldara, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Caldara, Antonio äntôˈnyō käldäˈrä [key], c.1670–1736, Italian composer. In 1714, Caldara obtained a position at the imperial court in Vienna, where he remained until his death. He composed ...

Dumba, Konstantin Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Dumba, Konstantin Theodor kônstäntēnˈ tāˈōdôr do͝omˈbä [key], 1856–1947, Austro-Hungarian diplomat. As ambassador (1913–15) to the United States, he was involved with Franz von Papen an...

Benda, Georg Anton

(Encyclopedia)Benda, Georg Anton gāˈôrkh änˈtôn bĕnˈdä [key], 1722–95, Bohemian composer. Benda, whose Bohemian name was Jiří Antonín Benda, came from a musical family that moved to Prussia in 1742. H...

meteor shower

(Encyclopedia)meteor shower, increase in the number of meteors observed in a particular part of the sky. The trails of the meteors of a meteor shower all appear to be traceable back to a single point in the sky, kn...

Payer, Julius von

(Encyclopedia)Payer, Julius von pīˈər [key], 1842–1915, Austrian explorer and painter. While on an expedition (1872–74) to navigate the Northeast Passage with Karl Weyprecht, Payer accidentally found Franz J...