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treble

(Encyclopedia)treble, highest part in choral music, thus corresponding in pitch to soprano, but associated with the voice of a boy or a girl. The term appeared in 15th-century English polyphony, probably as an angl...

Ussachevsky, Vladimir

(Encyclopedia)Ussachevsky, Vladimir vlədyēˈmĭr o͞osəchĕfˈskē [key], 1911–90, Russian-American composer, b. Manchuria. Ussachevsky emigrated to the United States in 1931 and studied at the Eastman School....

syncopation

(Encyclopedia)syncopation sĭngˌkəpāˈshən, sĭnˌ– [key] [New Gr.,=cut off ], in music, the accentuation of a beat that normally would be weak according to the rhythmic division of the measure. Although th...

Szymanowski, Karol

(Encyclopedia)Szymanowski, Karol käˈrôl shĭmänôfˈskē [key], 1882–1937, Polish composer; studied in Berlin and Warsaw. His early works show marked German, French, and Russian influences, but in his later c...

Paine, John Knowles

(Encyclopedia)Paine, John Knowles, 1839–1906, American composer, organist, and educator, b. Portland, Maine, studied in Berlin. In 1862 he began to teach music at Harvard and held (from 1875) the first chair of m...

Pepusch, John Christopher

(Encyclopedia)Pepusch, John Christopher pāˈpo͝osh [key], 1667–1752, German musician, who lived in London from 1700 until his death. As a theorist he became expert in Greek music and helped found (1710) the Aca...

lava

(Encyclopedia)lava läˈvə [key], molten rock that erupts on the earth's surface, either on land or under the ocean, by a volcano or through a fissure. It solidifies into igneous rock that is also called lava. Bef...

folk song

(Encyclopedia)folk song, music of anonymous composition, transmitted orally. The theory that folk songs were originally group compositions has been modified in recent studies. These assume that the germ of a folk m...

Cornish hen

(Encyclopedia)Cornish hen or Cornish chicken, breed of poultry that originated in Cornwall, England, but gained prominence only after it was established in the United States. Its body shape is quite different from ...

petroglyphs

(Encyclopedia)petroglyphs: see rock carvings and paintings. ...