Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Lathrop, George Parsons

(Encyclopedia)Lathrop, George Parsons lāˈthrəp [key], 1851–98, American author, b. near Honolulu; studied in Germany (1867–70). He was the husband of Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, the daughter of Nathaniel Hawthor...

Playfair, Sir Nigel

(Encyclopedia)Playfair, Sir Nigel nīˈjəl plāˈfâr [key], 1874–1934, English actor-manager. He made his acting debut in 1902 and later appeared in major London productions of Shaw and Shakespeare. He took on ...

Agostino di Duccio

(Encyclopedia)Agostino di Duccio ägōstēˈnō dē do͞otˈchō [key], b. 1418, d. after 1481, Florentine sculptor. Agostino worked mainly in other parts of Italy; he carved marble narrative reliefs for the facade...

Callas, Maria Meneghini

(Encyclopedia)Callas, Maria Meneghini märēˈä mĕnĕgēˈnē käˈläs [key], 1923–77, Greek-American soprano, b. New York City. At 13, Callas moved to Greece, where she studied at the Royal Conservatory in At...

Viotti, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Viotti, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä vyôtˈtē [key], 1755–1824, Italian violinist, considered the greatest of his day. He made public appearances until 1783, and the next year he ...

castrato

(Encyclopedia)castrato kăsträˈtō [key] [Ital.,=castrated], a male singer with an artificially created soprano or alto voice, the result of castration in boyhood. The combination of the larynx of a youth and the...

Taneiev, Sergei Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Taneiev, Sergei Ivanovich syĭrgāˈ ēväˈnəvĭch tənyāˈəf [key], 1856–1915, Russian composer and teacher. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory under Nicholas Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky, suc...

Verdaguer, Jacinto

(Encyclopedia)Verdaguer, Jacinto zhäsēnˈtō vārdəgārˈ [key], 1845–1902, Catalan poet, considered the national poet of Catalonia and the most beloved poet of the Catalan Renaissance of the 19th cent. Religi...

waltz

(Encyclopedia)waltz, romantic dance in moderate triple time. It evolved from the German Ländler and became popular in the 18th cent. The dance is smooth, graceful, and vital in performance. The waltz in Vicente Ma...

Urban, Joseph Maria

(Encyclopedia)Urban, Joseph Maria ûrˈbən [key], 1872–1933, American architect and scene designer, b. Vienna. He won distinction with his architectural work, including the bridge across the Neva at St. Petersbu...