Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

jazz

(Encyclopedia)jazz, the most significant form of musical expression of African-American culture and arguably the most outstanding contribution the United States has made to the art of music. ...

sulfuric acid

(Encyclopedia)sulfuric acid, chemical compound, H2SO4, colorless, odorless, extremely corrosive, oily liquid. It is sometimes called oil of vitriol. Although sulfuric acid is now one of the most widely used c...

folk song

(Encyclopedia)folk song, music of anonymous composition, transmitted orally. The theory that folk songs were originally group compositions has been modified in recent studies. These assume that the germ of a folk m...

Doumer, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Doumer, Paul pōl do͞omârˈ [key], 1857–1932, president of the French republic (1931–32). He entered the chamber of deputies in 1888, was governor-general of Indochina (1897–1902) and a senato...

crumhorn

(Encyclopedia)crumhorn, J-shaped, double-reed musical instrument used throughout Europe from the 15th cent. through the 17th cent. It possesses a soft, reedy tone. The reed is enclosed by a wooden cap with a hole a...

Friedlander, Leo

(Encyclopedia)Friedlander, Leo, 1890–1966, American sculptor, b. New York City, studied in New York, Paris, Brussels, and at the American Academy in Rome. His many decorative works include sculptures on Washingto...

Wilson, Charles Thomson Rees

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Charles Thomson Rees, 1869–1959, Scottish physicist, educated at Manchester and Cambridge universities. He was Jacksonian professor of natural philosophy at Cambridge from 1925 to 1934. Note...

Bradbury, William Batchelder

(Encyclopedia)Bradbury, William Batchelder băchˈəldər [key], 1816–68, American hymn composer and music editor, b. York, Maine; pupil of Lowell Mason. He organized the Juvenile Music Festivals in New York, and...

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

(Encyclopedia)Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, founded 1895; the Cincinnati Orchestra (est. 1872) formed the nucleus of the orchestra. Since 1896 its concerts have been held in the 3,516-seat Springer Auditorium at t...

Rudel, Julius

(Encyclopedia)Rudel, Julius, 1921–2014, Austrian-American conductor, b. Vienna, grad. Mannes School of Music (1942). A child prodigy on the violin and piano, he studied at the Vienna Academy of Music. After his f...

Browse by Subject