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Work Projects Administration

(Encyclopedia)Work Projects Administration (WPA), former U.S. government agency, established in 1935 by executive order of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the Works Progress Administration; it was renamed th...

Mendelssohn, Felix

(Encyclopedia)Mendelssohn, Felix (Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn) mĕnˈdəlsən, Ger. yäˈkôp lo͝otˈvĭkh fāˈlĭks mĕnˈdəls-zōnˌ [key], 1809–47, German composer; grandson of the Jewish philosopher Mos...

musical notation

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Musical notation musical notation, symbols used to make a written record of musical sounds. Two different systems of letters were used to write down the instrumental and the vocal music of anc...

Dargomijsky, Aleksandr Sergeyevich

(Encyclopedia)Dargomijsky, Aleksandr Sergeyevich əlyĭksänˈdər syĭrgāˈəvĭch därgōmēˈskī [key], 1813–69, Russian composer. He and Glinka brought nationalism to Russian music, strongly influencing the...

North Texas, University of

(Encyclopedia)North Texas, University of, at Denton, Tex.; coeducational; est. 1890 as Texas Normal College, became North Texas State Normal College in 1899, North Texas State Teachers College in 1923. In 1949 the ...

Lewis, Jerry Lee

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Jerry Lee, 1935–2022, American singer and composer, b. Ferriday, La. Combining country music elements with an energetic performance style, he w...

Paisiello, Giovanni

(Encyclopedia)Paisiello, Giovanni jōvänˈnē päēzyĕlˈlō [key], 1740–1816, Italian composer. Paisiello served in St. Petersburg at the court of Catherine II from 1776 to 1784. He was also briefly Napoleon's...

Byrd, William, English composer

(Encyclopedia)Byrd, William, 1543–1623, English composer, organist at Lincoln Cathedral and, jointly with Tallis, at the Chapel Royal. Although Roman Catholic, he composed anthems and services for the English Chu...

Bortniansky, Dmitri Stepanovich

(Encyclopedia)Bortniansky, Dmitri Stepanovich dəmēˈtrē styĭpäˈnəvĭch bûrtnyänˈskē [key], 1751–1825, Russian composer, studied with Galuppi in St. Petersburg and Venice. After producing two operas in ...

solfège

(Encyclopedia)solfège sōlfĕdˈjō [key] [Ital.], in music, systems of vocal exercises employing the solmization syllables of Guido d'Arezzo (ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la). Solfège has the dual purpose of vocalizatio...