Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

325 results found

saxophone

(Encyclopedia)saxophone, musical instrument invented in the 1840s by Adolphe Sax. Although it uses the single reed of the clarinet family, it has a conical tube and is made of metal. By 1846 there was a double fami...

zydeco

(Encyclopedia)zydeco zīˈdĭkōˌ [key], American musical form originating among the African-American Creoles of Louisiana. Drawing on elements of traditional Cajun music as well as jazz, country and western, blue...

variation, in music

(Encyclopedia)variation, in music, a compositional device in which certain features of a musical unit, e.g., phase, are altered while others are retained in a subsequent statement of the unit. Modifications include...

Brooklyn Academy of Music

(Encyclopedia)Brooklyn Academy of Music, performing arts center located in the borough of Brooklyn, N.Y. and popularly known as BAM. Founded in 1859 and opened in 1861, it is the oldest such institution still in op...

Levertov, Denise

(Encyclopedia)Levertov, Denise lĕvˈərtôfˌ [key], 1923–97, Anglo-American poet, b. Ilford, England. Educated in England, she came to the United States in 1948. Her spare, emotional poems hint at an intuitive ...

Gilberto, João

(Encyclopedia)Gilberto, João (João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira), 1931–2019, Brazilian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. With Carlos Jobim and others, he created the cool, sophisticated Brazilian popular...

Tyler, Anne

(Encyclopedia)Tyler, Anne, 1941–, American novelist, b. Minneapolis. Her witty and perceptive fiction, which is often set in the American South and frequently in and around Baltimore, portrays vivid contemporary ...

double bass

(Encyclopedia)double bass, bowed stringed musical instrument, the contrabass of the modern orchestral string section. It originated as a double-bass viol, an instrument described as early as 1566. A true double-bas...

eisteddfod

(Encyclopedia)eisteddfod īstĕᵺˈvəd, –vôd [key] [Welsh,=session], Welsh competitive festival. Contests traditionally are held in all the arts and crafts, with special emphasis on music and poetry. The Natio...

Ellis, Havelock

(Encyclopedia)Ellis, Havelock (Henry Havelock Ellis), 1859–1939, English psychologist and author. He became a qualified physician but devoted himself to scientific study and writing. Although the first volume of ...