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Serkin, Rudolf

(Encyclopedia)Serkin, Rudolf, 1903–91, Austrian-American pianist, b. Bohemia. Serkin gave joint recitals with Adolf Busch (his father-in-law from 1935) and made his U.S. debut (1933) with the Busch chamber player...

Rudel, Julius

(Encyclopedia)Rudel, Julius, 1921–2014, Austrian-American conductor, b. Vienna, grad. Mannes School of Music (1942). A child prodigy on the violin and piano, he studied at the Vienna Academy of Music. After his f...

Tavener, Sir John Kenneth

(Encyclopedia)Tavener, Sir John Kenneth tăvˈənər, –nə [key], 1944–2013, English composer, b. London; studied Royal Academy of Music. Tavener, whose work shows a consistent but evolving tonal or modal style...

Nielsen, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Nielsen, Carl nēlˈsən, Dan. nĭlˈsən [key], 1865–1931, Danish composer. Nielsen was a pupil of Niels Gade at the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen. Considered Denmark's foremost composer, he is ...

Stern, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Stern, Isaac, 1920–2001, American violinist, b. Kremenets, in what is now Ukraine. Brought to the United States as an infant, Stern began piano lessons at the age of six and violin lessons at eight....

Sessions, Roger

(Encyclopedia)Sessions, Roger, 1896–1985, American composer and teacher, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Sessions was a pupil of Horatio Parker at Yale and of Ernest Bloch. He taught (1917–21) at Smith, leaving to teach at t...

concerto

(Encyclopedia)concerto kənchârˈtō [key], musical composition usually for an orchestra and a soloist or a group of soloists. In the 16th cent. concertare and concertato implied an ensemble, either vocal or instr...

Fiedler, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Fiedler, Arthur, 1894–1979, American conductor, b. Brookline, Mass. Fiedler, who ultimately became a grandfatherly American musical icon, studied violin with his father, a member of the Boston Symph...

Goodman, Benny

(Encyclopedia)Goodman, Benny (Benjamin David Goodman), 1909–86, American clarinetist, composer, and band leader, b. Chicago. Goodman studied clarinet at Hull House. In Chicago he had the opportunity to hear (and ...

klezmer

(Encyclopedia)klezmer klĕzˈmər [key], form of instrumental folk music developed in the Eastern European Jewish community. The style had its beginnings in the Middle Ages; its name is a Yiddishized version of the...