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Kirchner, Leon

(Encyclopedia)Kirchner, Leon, 1919–2009, American composer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Kirchner studied at the Univ. of California, Berkeley, with Ernest Bloch, Arnold Schoenberg, and Roger Sessions. Although he used many...

Pfitzner, Hans

(Encyclopedia)Pfitzner, Hans häns pfĭtsˈnər [key], 1869–1949, German conductor and composer, b. Moscow. Pfitzner studied music at Hoch's Conservatory in Frankfurt/ Main. His music, conservative in idiom (Pfit...

Tannhäuser

(Encyclopedia)Tannhäuser tänˈhoizər [key], 13th cent., German minnesinger, whose adventurous wanderings became the subject of legend. Sixteen of his own lyrics are extant, including Buszlied (Song of Repentance...

Sorokin, Vladimir Georgevich

(Encyclopedia)Sorokin, Vladimir Georgevich, 1955–, Russian writer. Trained as an engineer, he turned to Moscow's underground writing world in the 1980s. His iconoclastic work was banned by the Soviets; his first ...

Wedekind, Frank

(Encyclopedia)Wedekind, Frank frängk vāˈdəkĭnt [key], 1864–1918, German dramatist. He was also a journalist and publicist, and he worked on the staff of Simplicissimus. A forerunner of the expressionists, he...

Respighi, Ottorino

(Encyclopedia)Respighi, Ottorino ôttōrēˈnō rāspēˈgē [key], 1879–1936, Italian composer, studied with Rimsky-Korsakov and Max Bruch. He was director (1924–25) of the Conservatory of St. Cecilia, Rome, a...

Spontini, Gaspare

(Encyclopedia)Spontini, Gaspare gäsˈpärā spōntēˈnē [key], 1774–1851, Italian opera composer. Spontini studied music in Naples. He went to Paris in 1803, was soon backed by the Empress Josephine, won a pri...

burlesque

(Encyclopedia)burlesque bûrlĕskˈ [key] [Ital.,=mockery], form of entertainment differing from comedy or ...

Ailey, Alvin, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Ailey, Alvin, Jr. āˈlē [key], 1931–89, American modern dancer and choreographer, b. Rogers, Tex. Ailey studied in Los Angeles with Lester Horton, whose strong, dramatic style and views about mult...

Sullivan, Sir Arthur Seymour

(Encyclopedia)Sullivan, Sir Arthur Seymour, 1842–1900, English composer, famous for a series of brilliant comic operas written in collaboration with the librettist W. S. Gilbert. As a boy he sang in the choir of ...