Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Allston, Washington

(Encyclopedia)Allston, Washington ôlˈstən [key], 1779–1843, American painter and author, b. Georgetown co., S.C. After graduating from Harvard (1800), where he composed music and wrote poetry (published in 181...

Lutosławski, Witold

(Encyclopedia)Lutosławski, Witold, 1913–94, Polish composer, b. Warsaw, studied Univ. of Warsaw, Warsaw Conservatory. His early works were mainly neoclassical and often included elements from Polish folk music, ...

Frémont, John Charles

(Encyclopedia)Frémont, John Charles, 1813–90, American explorer, soldier, and political leader, b. Savannah, Ga. He taught mathematics to U.S. naval cadets, then became an assistant on a surveying expedition (18...

Malipiero, Gian Francesco

(Encyclopedia)Malipiero, Gian Francesco jän fränchāˈskō mälēpyāˈrō [key], 1882–1973, Italian composer. Malipiero studied in Venice and Bologna with Enrico Bossi and taught at the Conservatory of Parma, ...

foreign exchange

(Encyclopedia)foreign exchange, methods and instruments used to adjust the payment of debts between two nations that employ different currency systems. A nation's balance of payments has an important effect on the ...

standard of living

(Encyclopedia)standard of living, level of consumption that an individual, group, or nation has achieved. The evaluation of a standard of living is relative, depending upon the judgment of the observer as to what c...

Johnson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Robert, 1911–38, African-American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter, b. Hazelhurst, Miss. A sharecropper's son, he grew up absorbing the music of Delta bluesmen, learning the harmonic...

Ireland, John, English composer

(Encyclopedia)Ireland, John, 1879–1962, English composer. Inspired by visits to the Channel Islands, he wrote music of a simple, rugged beauty. His many songs include the cycle Songs of a Wayfarer (1903) and Sea ...

Terry, Sir Richard Runciman

(Encyclopedia)Terry, Sir Richard Runciman, 1865–1938, English organist and musicologist. He was organist and choir director (1901–24) of Westminster Cathedral. Terry studied and made collections of early Englis...

Butler, Samuel, 1835–1902, English author

(Encyclopedia)Butler, Samuel, 1835–1902, English author. He was the son and grandson of eminent clergymen. In 1859, refusing to be ordained, he went to New Zealand, where he established a sheep farm and in a few ...