Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Work Projects Administration

(Encyclopedia)Work Projects Administration (WPA), former U.S. government agency, established in 1935 by executive order of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the Works Progress Administration; it was renamed th...

Mendelssohn, Felix

(Encyclopedia)Mendelssohn, Felix (Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn) mĕnˈdəlsən, Ger. yäˈkôp lo͝otˈvĭkh fāˈlĭks mĕnˈdəls-zōnˌ [key], 1809–47, German composer; grandson of the Jewish philosopher Mos...

musical notation

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Musical notation musical notation, symbols used to make a written record of musical sounds. Two different systems of letters were used to write down the instrumental and the vocal music of anc...

Dargomijsky, Aleksandr Sergeyevich

(Encyclopedia)Dargomijsky, Aleksandr Sergeyevich əlyĭksänˈdər syĭrgāˈəvĭch därgōmēˈskī [key], 1813–69, Russian composer. He and Glinka brought nationalism to Russian music, strongly influencing the...

North Texas, University of

(Encyclopedia)North Texas, University of, at Denton, Tex.; coeducational; est. 1890 as Texas Normal College, became North Texas State Normal College in 1899, North Texas State Teachers College in 1923. In 1949 the ...

Paisiello, Giovanni

(Encyclopedia)Paisiello, Giovanni jōvänˈnē päēzyĕlˈlō [key], 1740–1816, Italian composer. Paisiello served in St. Petersburg at the court of Catherine II from 1776 to 1784. He was also briefly Napoleon's...

O'Shaughnessy, Arthur William Edgar

(Encyclopedia)O'Shaughnessy, Arthur William Edgar ōshônˈəsē [key], 1844–81, English poet and naturalist. He was a member of the zoological department of the British Museum. He wrote four volumes of poetry—...

organum

(Encyclopedia)organum ôrˈgənəm [key], in music, compositional technique, developed in Europe during the 10th cent., in which each note of Gregorian chant melody was doubled by another note. In the earliest exam...

Lewis, Jerry Lee

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Jerry Lee, 1935–2022, American singer and composer, b. Ferriday, La. Combining country music elements with an energetic performance style, he w...

Petrucci, Ottaviano dei

(Encyclopedia)Petrucci, Ottaviano dei ōtˌtävyäˈnō dāˈē pātro͞otˈchē [key], 1466–1539, Venetian printer. Petrucci was the inventor of printing music by movable metal type. His patent for the process w...