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Faust

(Encyclopedia)Faust yōˈhän [key], fl. 16th cent., learned German doctor who traveled widely, performed magical feats, and died under mysterious circumstances. According to legend he had sold his soul to the devi...

Castaldi, Pamfilo

(Encyclopedia)Castaldi, Pamfilo pämˈfēlō kästälˈdē [key], c.1398–c.1490, Italian humanist and printer. He was the first printer of the city of Milan. Some credit him with the invention of movable type. Se...

Franck, César Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Franck, César Auguste sāzärˈ ōgüstˈ fräNk [key], 1822–90, Belgian-French composer and organist. He studied at the conservatories of Liège and Paris, taking prizes in piano, composition, and...

ground bass

(Encyclopedia)ground bass, melodic phrase used repeatedly as a bass line. In its earlier form, developed in the 13th and 14th cent., the ground or basso ostinato [Ital.,=obstinate] never varied in harmonization or ...

Szechenyi, Count Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Szechenyi, Count Stephen sāˈchĕnyē [key], Hung. Széchenyi István, 1791–1860, Hungarian politician. Influenced by his studies in England, he championed the modernization of Hungarian economic, ...

treble

(Encyclopedia)treble, highest part in choral music, thus corresponding in pitch to soprano, but associated with the voice of a boy or a girl. The term appeared in 15th-century English polyphony, probably as an angl...

Richter, Sviatoslav

(Encyclopedia)Richter, Sviatoslav rĭkhˈtər [key], 1915–97, Russian pianist, b. Ukraine. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory under Heinrich Neuhaus. After earning an impressive critical reputation, he was aw...

Appian Way

(Encyclopedia)Appian Way ăpˈēən [key], Lat. Via Appia, most famous of the Roman roads, built (312 b.c.) under Appius Claudius Caecus. It connected Rome with Capua and was later extended to Beneventum (now Benev...

Puget, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Puget, Pierre pyĕr püzhāˈ [key], 1622–94, French painter and sculptor. At 17 he went on foot to Italy, where he worked for Pietro da Cortona on the ceilings of the Barberini and Pitti palaces. M...

oboe

(Encyclopedia)oboe ōˈboi, hōˈ– [key], woodwind instrument of conical bore, its mouthpiece having a double reed. The instruments possessing these general characteristics may be referred to as the oboe family, ...