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Biber, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von

(Encyclopedia)Biber, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von hīnˈrĭkh ĭgˈnäts fränts fən bēˈbər [key], 1644–1704, Austrian musician. Biber was one of the first notable Central European violinists and may have been th...

Görres, Joseph von

(Encyclopedia)Görres, Joseph von yōˈzĕf fən görˈəs [key], 1776–1848, German historian, journalist, and writer. As lecturer on philosophy at the Univ. of Heidelberg he befriended Joachim von Arnim and Clem...

Mesmer, Friedrich Anton

(Encyclopedia)Mesmer, Friedrich Anton fränts [key], 1734–1815, German physician. He studied in Vienna. His interest in “animal magnetism” developed into a system of treatment through hypnotism that was calle...

Jackson, Frederick George

(Encyclopedia)Jackson, Frederick George, 1860–1938, British arctic explorer. He explored (1893–94) the tundra in arctic Russia and in Lapland, and he commanded (1894–97) the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition that...

étude

(Encyclopedia)étude āˈto͞od [key], a brief musical composition, usually for piano, fashioned to instruct an instrumentalist in a particular technical problem, such as scales or trills. Succeeding the toccata, p...

Southern Alps

(Encyclopedia)Southern Alps, mountain range, on South Island, New Zealand, paralleling the west coast. It rises to 12,349 ft (3,764 m) at Mt. Aorangi (Mt. Cook), New Zealand's highest peak. Extensively glaciated, t...

Musa Daği

(Encyclopedia)Musa Daği mo͞oˈsä däŭˈ [key], peak, 4,445 ft (1,355 m) high, S Turkey, rising from the Mediterranean Sea, W of Antakya. The heroic resistance of the Armenians against the Turks at Musa Daği in...

phrenology

(Encyclopedia)phrenology, study of the shape of the human skull in order to draw conclusions about particular character traits and mental faculties. The theory was developed about 1800 by the German physiologist Fr...

Caldara, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Caldara, Antonio äntôˈnyō käldäˈrä [key], c.1670–1736, Italian composer. In 1714, Caldara obtained a position at the imperial court in Vienna, where he remained until his death. He composed ...

Dumba, Konstantin Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Dumba, Konstantin Theodor kônstäntēnˈ tāˈōdôr do͝omˈbä [key], 1856–1947, Austro-Hungarian diplomat. As ambassador (1913–15) to the United States, he was involved with Franz von Papen an...