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White, Sir George Stuart

(Encyclopedia)White, Sir George Stuart, 1835–1912, British field marshal. He first achieved distinction in the Afghan War of 1878–80. In Myanmar (1885–87), where he was knighted in 1886, in Baluchistan (1889�...

Ventris, Michael George Francis

(Encyclopedia)Ventris, Michael George Francis, 1922–56, English linguist. Ventris was a student of architecture, but he became interested in the untranslated Mycenaean scripts, particularly Linear B, which was fo...

Metastasio, Pietro

(Encyclopedia)Metastasio, Pietro pyĕˈtrō mātästäˈzēō [key], 1698–1782, Italian poet and librettist, whose original name was Antonio Bonaventura Trapassi. A prodigy at poetic improvisation, he became cour...

Halle, city, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Halle, city, Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany, on the Saale River. It is an industrial center and a major transportation hub. Manufactures include chemica...

Amadis of Gaul

(Encyclopedia)Amadis of Gaul ämädēsˈ də gōl [key], famous prose romance of chivalry, first composed in Spain or Portugal and probably based on French sources. Entirely fictional, it dates from the 13th or 14t...

figured bass

(Encyclopedia)figured bass, in music, a system of shorthand notation in which figures are written below the notes of the bass part to indicate the chords to be played. Called also thorough bass and basso continuo, ...

Ariadne

(Encyclopedia)Ariadne ărēădˈnē [key], in Greek mythology, Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë. She loved Theseus, and gave him the skein of thread that enabled him to make his way out of the labyr...

Lloyd George, David, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor

(Encyclopedia)Lloyd George, David, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor do͞oˈēvôr [key], 1863–1945, British statesman, of Welsh extraction. Lloyd George was a brilliantly eloquent, forceful, and creative statesman...

Gardiner, Sir John Eliot

(Encyclopedia)Gardiner, Sir John Eliot, 1943–, English conductor, studied King's College, Cambridge, and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Known particularly for performances of baroque music on period instruments, ...

Morris, Mark

(Encyclopedia)Morris, Mark 1956–, American dancer and choreographer, b. Seattle, Wash. After training in Balkan folk dance, flamenco, and ballet, he went on to dance for Eliot Feld, Laura Dean, and Lar Lubovitch....