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fugue

(Encyclopedia)fugue fyo͞og [key] [Ital.,=flight], in music, a form of composition in which the basic principle is imitative counterpoint of several voices. Its main elements are: (1) a theme, or subject, stated fi...

fantasia

(Encyclopedia)fantasia făntāˈzhə [key] [Ital.,=fancy], musical composition not restricted to a formal design, but constructed freely in the manner of an improvisation. In the 16th and 17th cent., however, the t...

Reger, Max

(Encyclopedia)Reger, Max mäks rāˈgər [key], 1873–1916, German composer; he studied with Hugo Riemann in Wiesbaden. Through his sensitive interpretations of Mozart and Bach he won acclaim as a pianist. In 1901...

absolute music

(Encyclopedia)absolute music, term used for music dependent on its structure alone for comprehension. It is the antithesis of program music. It is not associated with extramusical ideas or with a pictorial or narra...

canzone, in music

(Encyclopedia)canzone or canzona, in music, a type of instrumental music in Italy in the 16th and 17th cent. The term had previously been given to strophic songs for five or six voices; usually the canzone had thre...

Weinberger, Jaromir

(Encyclopedia)Weinberger, Jaromir Czech yäˈrômēr wīnˈbĕrgĕr [key], 1896–1967, Czech composer. Weinberger studied at the conservatories of Prague and Leipzig. In 1939, after extensive travels, he settled i...

Leonhardt, Gustav

(Encyclopedia)Leonhardt, Gustav, 1928–2012, Dutch harpsicordist, organist, and conductor, studied Schola Cantorum, Basel, Switzerland (1947–50). Leonhardt researched Baroque performing styles and was a key figu...

Bach, Johann Sebastian

(Encyclopedia)Bach, Johann Sebastian bäkh [key], 1685–1750, German composer and organist, b. Eisenach; one of the greatest and most influential composers of the Western world. He brought polyphonic baroque musi...

imitation

(Encyclopedia)imitation, in music, a device of counterpoint wherein a phrase or motive is employed successively in more than one voice. The imitation may be exact, the same intervals being repeated at the same or d...

Tovey, Sir Donald Francis

(Encyclopedia)Tovey, Sir Donald Francis tōˈvē [key], 1875–1940, English pianist and musicologist, grad. Oxford, 1898. As a pianist he appeared in England and on the Continent after 1900 and in the United State...

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