Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

260 results found

French architecture

(Encyclopedia)French architecture, structures created in the area of Europe that is now France. Engineers and architects, including François Hennebique, Auguste Perret, and Tony Garnier, pioneered the use of rei...

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

(Encyclopedia)Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus mōtˈsärt, Ger. vôlfˈgäng ämädāˈo͝os mōˈtsärt [key], 1756–91, Austrian composer, b. Salzburg. Mozart represents one of the great peaks in the history of music. ...

opera

(Encyclopedia)opera, drama set to music. In the early part of the 20th cent. the foremost operatic composer was Richard Strauss. Although influenced by Wagner, he composed operas with even richer and more stunnin...

sculpture

(Encyclopedia)sculpture, art of producing in three dimensions representations of natural or imagined forms. It includes sculpture in the round, which can be viewed from any direction, as well as incised relief, in ...

Vatican City

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Vatican City vătˈĭkən [key] or Holy See, officially Holy See (State of the Vatican City), independent state (2015 est. pop. 1,000), 108.7 acres (44 hectares), within the city of Rome, Italy...

Prague

(Encyclopedia)Prague präg, prāg [key], Czech Praha, Ger. Prag, city (1993 pop. 1,216,500), capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and former capital of Czechoslovakia, on both banks of the Vltava (Ger. Mo...

comet

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Comet: Whatever the direction of a comet's flight, its “tail” always points away from the sun. The tail disappears when the comet is far from the sun. comet [Gr.,=longhaired], a small cele...

theater

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Plan of Greek amphitheater CE5 Proscenium theater CE5 Theater-in-the-round theater, building, structure, or space in which dramatic performances take place. In its broadest sense theater...

orchestra and orchestration

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Typical seating plan of a symphony orchestra orchestra and orchestration, an orchestra is a musical ensemble of mixed instruments based on strings and winds, under the direction of a conductor...

Gothic architecture and art

(Encyclopedia)Gothic architecture and art, structures (largely cathedrals and churches) and works of art first created in France in the 12th cent. that spread throughout Western Europe through the 15th cent., and i...