Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

computer music

(Encyclopedia)computer music, term used to describe music composed or performed with the aid of a computer. The first substantial piece of music composed on a computer was the Illiac Suite (1956) by the avant-garde...

Cincinnati

(Encyclopedia)Cincinnati sĭnsənătˈē, –nătˈə [key], city (2020 pop. 309,317), seat of Hami...

jew's-harp

(Encyclopedia)jew's-harp or jews'-harp, musical instrument of ancient lineage composed of a small metal frame containing a flexible metal tongue. The frame is held between the teeth and the metal tongue is plucked ...

Zukerman, Pinchas

(Encyclopedia)Zukerman, Pinchas, 1948–, Israeli violinist and conductor, b. Tel Aviv. A violin protégé of Isaac Stern, he came to the United States in 1962 and made his New York City debut the following year. Z...

reed instrument

(Encyclopedia)reed instrument, in music, an instrument whose sound-producing agent is a thin strip of cane, wood, plastic, or metal that vibrates as air is passed over it. The predecessor of these instruments is th...

Juilliard School, The

(Encyclopedia)Juilliard School, The jo͞olˈyärd [key], in New York City; school of music, drama, and dance; coeducational; est. 1905 as the Institute of Musical Art, chartered 1926 as the Juilliard School of Musi...

radiosonde

(Encyclopedia)radiosonde rāˈdēōsŏnd [key], group of instruments for simultaneous measurement and radio transmission of meteorological data, including temperature, pressure, and humidity of the atmosphere. The ...

Bürgi, Joost

(Encyclopedia)Bürgi, Joost or Jost, 1552–1632, Swiss mathematician and instrument maker. As the official clockmaker (1579–92) to Duke Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Kassell, he developed the first clock with a minute han...

Pickering, Edward Charles

(Encyclopedia)Pickering, Edward Charles, 1846–1919, American astronomer and physicist, b. Boston, grad. Harvard (B.S., 1865); brother of W. H. Pickering. He was professor of physics (1868–77) at the Massachuset...

Damrosch, Frank Heino

(Encyclopedia)Damrosch, Frank Heino hīˈnō dămˈrŏsh [key], 1859–1937, German-American conductor and educator, attended the College of the City of New York; son of Leopold Damrosch. In 1885, after a few years...