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ballad

(Encyclopedia)ballad, in literature and music, short, narrative poem or song usually relating a single, dramatic event. Two forms of the ballad are often distinguished—the folk ballad, dating from about the 12th ...

Congregationalism

(Encyclopedia)Congregationalism, type of Protestant church organization in which each congregation, or local church, has free control of its own affairs. The underlying principle is that each local congregation has...

musical notation

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Musical notation musical notation, symbols used to make a written record of musical sounds. Two different systems of letters were used to write down the instrumental and the vocal music of anc...

mountain men

(Encyclopedia)mountain men, fur trappers and traders in the Rocky Mts. during the 1820s and 30s. Their activities opened that region of the United States to general knowledge. Since the days of French domination th...

Northwest Passage

(Encyclopedia)Northwest Passage, water routes through the Arctic Archipelago, N Canada, and along the northern coast of Alaska between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Even though the explorers of the 16th cent. de...

Whitman, Walt

(Encyclopedia)Whitman, Walt (Walter Whitman), 1819–92, American poet, b. West Hills, N.Y. Considered by many to be the greatest of all American poets, Walt Whitman celebrated the freedom and dignity of the indivi...

Liberal party, former British political party

(Encyclopedia)Liberal party, former British political party, the dominant political party in Great Britain for much of the period from the mid-1800s to World War I. By 1914 the Liberal government had passed subst...

Bryan, William Jennings

(Encyclopedia)Bryan, William Jennings brīˈən [key], 1860–1925, American political leader, b. Salem, Ill. Although the nation consistently rejected him for the presidency, it eventually adopted many of the refo...

rain

(Encyclopedia)rain, precipitation in liquid form. It consists of drops of water falling from clouds; if the drops are very small, they are collectively termed drizzle. Rain plays a key role in the hydrologic, or wa...

Bach, Johann Sebastian

(Encyclopedia)Bach, Johann Sebastian bäkh [key], 1685–1750, German composer and organist, b. Eisenach; one of the greatest and most influential composers of the Western world. He brought polyphonic baroque musi...