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Gardiner, Sir John Eliot

(Encyclopedia)Gardiner, Sir John Eliot, 1943–, English conductor, studied King's College, Cambridge, and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Known particularly for performances of baroque music on period instruments, ...

Eschenbach, Christoph

(Encyclopedia)Eschenbach, Christoph, 1940–, German conductor and pianist, b. Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland), as Christoph Ringmann. Orphaned during World War II, he was adopted by Wallydore Eschenbach, h...

Chimu

(Encyclopedia)Chimu chēmo͞oˈ [key], ancient civilization on the desert coast of N Peru. It is believed to have begun c.1200. The Moche, an earlier civilization, was previously known as early Chimu or proto-Chimu...

canon, in music

(Encyclopedia)canon, in music, a type of counterpoint employing the strictest form of imitation. All the voices of a canon have the same melody, beginning at different times. Successive entrances may be at the same...

Beecham, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Beecham, Sir Thomas bēˈchəm [key], 1879–1961, English conductor. Beecham was educated at Oxford but did not attend any formal music school. Early in his career as a conductor and producer, he int...

Espartero, Baldomero, duque de la Victoria, conde de Luchana

(Encyclopedia)Espartero, Baldomero, duque de la Victoria, conde de Luchana bäldōmāˈrō āspärtāˈrō do͞oˈkā dā lä vēktōˈrēä kōnˈdā dā lo͞ochäˈnä [key], 1793–1879, Spanish general and stat...

cognitive psychology

(Encyclopedia)cognitive psychology, school of psychology that examines internal mental processes such as problem solving, memory, and language. It had its foundations in the Gestalt psychology of Max Wertheimer, Wo...

Philadelphia Orchestra

(Encyclopedia)Philadelphia Orchestra, founded 1900 by Fritz Scheel, who was its conductor until his death in 1907. Scheel was followed by Karl Pohlig (1907–12). Under the leadership (1912–38) of Leopold Stokows...

Miller, Sir Jonathan Wolfe

(Encyclopedia)Miller, Sir Jonathan Wolfe, 1934–2019, English director, actor, writer, and physician; during his long career in the performing arts, he at times devoted himself to medicine. Miller made his first L...

melodrama

(Encyclopedia)melodrama [Gr.,=song-drama], originally a spoken text with musical background, as in Greek drama. The form was popular in the 18th cent., when its composers included Georg Benda, J. J. Rousseau, and W...