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Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra

(Encyclopedia)Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis, Mo. Founded in 1880, it is the country's second-oldest orchestra (the New York Philharmonic is the oldest). It performed in the Kiel Opera House until 1966, ...

mysteries

(Encyclopedia)mysteries, in Greek and Roman religion, some important secret cults. The conventional religions of both Greeks and Romans were alike in consisting principally of propitiation and prayers for the good ...

Terence

(Encyclopedia)Terence (Publius Terentius Afer) tĕrˈəns [key], b. c.185 or c.195 b.c., d. c.159 b.c., Roman writer of comedies, b. Carthage. As a boy he was a slave of Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, who brou...

Dorians

(Encyclopedia)Dorians, people of ancient Greece. Their name was mythologically derived from Dorus, son of Hellen. Originating in the northwestern mountainous region of Epirus and SW Macedonia, they migrated through...

Nono, Luigi

(Encyclopedia)Nono, Luigi lo͞oēˈjē nôˈnō [key], 1924–90, Italian composer, b. Venice. Nono studied with Hermann Scherchen and Bruno Maderna. He adopted the twelve-tone method of composition (see serial mus...

Duncan, Isadora

(Encyclopedia)Duncan, Isadora ĭzˌədôrˈə dŭngˈkən [key], 1878–1927, American dancer, b. San Francisco. She had little success in the United States when she first created dances based on Greek classical ar...

Philemon, ancient Greek poet

(Encyclopedia)Philemon fīlēˈmən [key], c.360–c.265 b.c., Greek poet of the New Comedy. He was in ancient times considered second only to Menander. Fragments of his plays, originally numbering 97, survive. ...

Villa-Lobos, Heitor

(Encyclopedia)Villa-Lobos, Heitor āˈtôr vēˈlä-lôˈbôs [key], 1887–1959, Brazilian composer, educated in Brazil but self-taught in composition. He developed an interest in Brazilian folk music, which becam...

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 ...

ode

(Encyclopedia)ode, elaborate and stately lyric poem of some length. The ode dates back to the Greek choral songs that were sung and danced at public events and celebrations. The Greek odes of Pindar, which were mod...