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Nono, Luigi

(Encyclopedia)Nono, Luigi lo͞oēˈjē nôˈnō [key], 1924–90, Italian composer, b. Venice. Nono studied with Hermann Scherchen and Bruno Maderna. He adopted the twelve-tone method of composition (see serial mus...

Pazzi conspiracy

(Encyclopedia)Pazzi conspiracy pätˈtsē [key], 1478, plot against Lorenzo de' Medici (Lorenzo il Magnifico) and his brother Giuliano, designed to end the hegemony of the Medici in the Florentine state and to enla...

Caccini, Francesca

(Encyclopedia)Caccini, Francesca fränchĕsˈkä kät-chēˈnē [key] b. 1587, d. after 1641, Italian composer and singer, known as La Cecchina; daughter of Giulio Caccini. For most of her career she was a musician...

Rossetti, Gabriele

(Encyclopedia)Rossetti, Gabriele rōsĕtˈē [key], 1783–1854, Italian poet and critic; father of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and of Christina Rossetti. Exiled in 1821, he fled first to Malta, where he stayed for thr...

Medici, Giuliano de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Giuliano de' dā mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1479–1516, duke of Nemours (1515–16); younger son of Lorenzo de' Medici (Lorenzo il Magnifico) and brother of Pope Leo X. He enter...

commedia dell'arte

(Encyclopedia)commedia dell'arte kōm-māˈdēä dĕl-lärˈtā [key], popular form of comedy employing improvised dialogue and masked characters that flourished in Italy from the 16th to the 18th cent. The impac...

Montale, Eugenio

(Encyclopedia)Montale, Eugenio āo͞ojĕˈnyō mōntäˈlā [key], 1896–1981, Italian poet, critic, and translator. After working as an editor, Montale became chief librarian of the Gabinetto Vieusseux in Florenc...

Morante, Elsa

(Encyclopedia)Morante, Elsa ĕlˈsə môränˈtā [key], c.1912–85, Italian novelist and poet; wife of Alberto Moravia. Her prose style, which is indebted to surrealism and magic realism, is characterized by the ...

Medici, Piero de', 1471–1503, Italian merchant prince

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Piero de', 1471–1503, Italian merchant prince. He succeeded his father, Lorenzo de' Medici (Lorenzo il Magnifico), as head of the Medici family and as leader of the Florentine state. In 1494...

Hancock, Herbie

(Encyclopedia) Hancock, Herbie (Herbert Jeffrey Hancock), 1940- , American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader, b. Chicago, Il., Grinnell College (B.S.E., 1960, H...