Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

399 results found

Barclay, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Barclay, Alexander bärˈklē, –klā [key], 1475?–1552, Scottish clergyman and poet. Although the first to write pastoral eclogues in English, he is best known for The Ship of Fools (1509), a tran...

Cabot, John

(Encyclopedia)Cabot, John, fl. 1461–98, English explorer, probably b. Genoa, Italy. He became a citizen of Venice in 1476 and engaged in the Eastern trade of that city. This experience, it is assumed, was the sti...

Albinoni, Tomaso

(Encyclopedia)Albinoni, Tomaso älbēnôˈnē [key], 1671–1751, Italian violinist and composer. He wrote more than 50 operas, 40 cantatas, and instrumental works of many kinds. His orchestral music was admired by...

gavotte

(Encyclopedia)gavotte gəvŏtˈ [key], originally a peasant dance of the Gavots in upper Dauphiné, France. A type of circle dance characterized by lively, skipping steps, it was introduced at the court of Louis XI...

Sweelinck, Jan Pieterszoon

(Encyclopedia)Sweelinck, Jan Pieterszoon yän pēˈtərsōn swāˈlĭngk [key], 1562–1621, Dutch organist and composer, called the “maker of German organists” because the succession of his pupils descended di...

cantata

(Encyclopedia)cantata kəntäˈtə [key] [Ital.,=sung], composite musical form similar to a short unacted opera or brief oratorio, developed in Italy in the baroque period. The term was first used in 1620 to refer ...

Dusek, Jan Ladislav

(Encyclopedia)Dusek, Jan Ladislav yän läˈdēsläf do͞oˈshĕk [key], 1760–1812, Czech pianist and composer; pupil of C. P. E. Bach. One of the earliest piano virtuosi, he was famous for his lyrical touch in s...

Martini, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Martini, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä märtēˈnē [key], 1706–84, Italian composer and teacher, also known as Padre Martini. Martini became a priest in 1722. He acquired great pres...

polonaise

(Encyclopedia)polonaise pŏlˌənāzˈ, ōˌ– [key], Polish national dance, in moderate 3–4 time and of slow, stately movements. It evolved from peasant and court processions and ceremonies of the late 16th cen...

Dolci, Carlo

(Encyclopedia)Dolci, Carlo or Carlino kärˈlō, kärlēˈnō dōlˈchē [key], 1616–86, Florentine painter. Among his best-known paintings are the heads and half-figures of Jesus and the Mater Dolorosa, in which...