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Jahnn, Hans Henny

(Encyclopedia)Jahnn, Hans Henny häns hĕnˈē yän [key], 1894–1959, German novelist, dramatist, music publisher, and organ builder. Jahnn's early dramas, including Pastor Ephraim Magnus (1919) and Medea (1926),...

Janáček, Leoš

(Encyclopedia)Janáček, Leoš lĕˈôsh yäˈnächĕk [key], 1854–1928, Czech composer, theorist, and collector of Slavic folk music. He studied in Prague and Leipzig and founded a music conservatory at Brno in ...

Loeffler, Charles Martin

(Encyclopedia)Loeffler, Charles Martin lĕfˈlər [key], 1861–1935, American composer and violinist, b. Alsace, France; he studied in Kiev, Berlin, and Paris. In 1881 he emigrated to the United States, and from 1...

Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä pārgōlāˈzē [key], 1710–36, Italian composer of the Neapolitan school. Although he died at the age of 26, he is credited with masterpiece...

mandolin

(Encyclopedia)mandolin mănˌdəlĭnˈ, mănˈdəlĭnˌ [key], musical instrument of the lute family, with a half-pear-shaped body, a fretted neck, and a variable number of strings, plucked with the fingers or with...

Stradella, Alessandro

(Encyclopedia)Stradella, Alessandro älĕs-sänˈdrō strädĕlˈlä [key], 1642?–1682, Italian composer of operas, cantatas, oratorios, and instrumental music. Few facts but many legends exist concerning his lif...

Beach, Amy

(Encyclopedia)Beach, Amy, 1867–1944, American composer and pianist, b. Henniker, N.H., as Amy Marcy Cheney. A child prodigy, she received rather meagre training as a pianist in the United States, and toured there...

Henze, Hans Werner

(Encyclopedia)Henze, Hans Werner häns vĕrˈnər hĕnˈtsə [key], 1926–2012, German composer, b. Gütersloh. Henze was a pupil of Wolfgang Fortner and René Leibowitz. His early works were influenced by Stravin...

John, three epistles of the New Testament

(Encyclopedia)John, three letters of the New Testament. Traditionally, they are ascribed to John son of Zebedee, the disciple of Jesus. All three letters probably date to the end of the 1st cent. a.d., and may have...