Hess, Victor Francis

Educated at the University of Graz, Hess received his Ph.D. from the University of Vienna in 1906. His research

Music, Orchestras and Festivals.

A series of major snowstorms early in the year played havoc with concert producers in the eastern United States. One storm made Philadelphia's Academy of Music inaccessible to many of the Philadelphia Orchestra's musicians, but with the soloists for the February 11 concert of Wagner opera excerpts housed in nearby hotels, music director Wolfgang Sawallisch decided

Eagan, Eddie

After their father died in a railroad accident when Eddie was only a year old, he and his four brothers were raised by their mother, who managed a small income from teaching foreign languages. Inspired by Frank Merriwell,

Floor Covering

Material made from textiles, felts, resins, rubber, or other natural or man-made substances applied or fastened to, or laid upon, the level base surface of a room to provide comfort, durability, safety, and decoration. Such materials include both handmade and machine-made rugs and carpets and smooth-surfaced floor coverings. Although the words carpet and rug are frequently

Philistine

One of a people of Aegean origin who settled on the southern coast of Palestine in the 12th century BC, about the time of the arrival of the Israelites. According to biblical tradition (Deuteronomy 2:23; Jeremiah 47:4), the Philistines came from Caphtor (possibly Crete). They are mentioned in Egyptian records as prst, one of the Sea Peoples that invaded Egypt in about 1190 BC after ravaging

Coligny, Gaspard Ii De, Seigneur (lord) De Ch�tillon

Coligny was the son of Gaspard I de Coligny, the marshal of Châtillon, and Louise de Montmorency, sister of Anne de Montmorency, constable of France. At 22 Coligny came to court and became friendly with François de Lorraine, 2nd duc de Guise. He served

Gauthey, Emiland-marie

Gauthey studied at the École des Ponts et Chaussées (School of Bridges and Highways) in Paris, then taught there while making

Theme

In music, short melody or melodic phrase developed in a musical composition. See melody.

Vihara

Early type of Buddhist monastery consisting of an open court surrounded by open cells accessible through an entrance porch. The viharas in India were originally constructed to shelter the monks during the rainy season, when it became difficult for them to lead the wanderer's life. They took on a sacred character when small stupas (housing sacred relics) and images

Macedonia

Ethnic tensions were on the rise in Macedonia in 1997. Early in the year ethnic Albanian and ethnic Macedonian students demonstrated over the pros and cons of Albanian-language teaching at Skopje University's pedagogical faculty;

Garc�a Lorca, Federico

The publication in 1928 of Romancero gitano (written 1921–27; Gypsy Ballads), a poetry sequence inspired by the traditional Spanish romance, or ballad, catapulted Lorca into the national spotlight. A lyrical evocation of the sensual world of the Andalusian Gypsy, the collection enthralled Spanish readers, many of whom mistook Lorca for a Gypsy. The book's first edition sold out

Br�cke, Die

The group was founded in 1905 in Germany by four architectural students in Dresden—Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, who gave the group its name, Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Other artists joined the organization over the next several

Orange Order

The society was formed in 1795 to maintain the Protestant ascendancy in Ireland in the face of rising demands for Catholic Emancipation. Enmity between Roman Catholics and Protestants had always

Kabul River

Ancient Greek  Cophes,   river in eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, 435 miles (700 km) long, of which 350 miles are in Afghanistan. Rising in the Sanglakh Range 45 miles west of Kabul city, it flows east past Kabul and Jalalabad, north of the Khyber Pass into Pakistan, and past Peshawar; it joins the Indus River northwest of Islamabad. The river has four major tributaries, the Lowgar, the Panjsher, the Konar

Francien Dialect

The medieval dialect of Old French that furnishes the basis for the literary and official form of the modern French language. Francien was spoken in the region of Île-de-France, which included the city of Paris, and its preeminence is an indication of the political and intellectual prominence of Paris in the 13th and 14th centuries. Despite its importance, the dialect

Sculpture, Western, Romanesque

The term Romanesque—coined in 1818 —denotes in art the medieval synthesis of the widespread Roman architectural and artistic heritage and various regional influences, such as Teutonic, Scandinavian, Byzantine, and Muslim. Although derived primarily from the remains of a highly centralized imperial culture, the Romanesque flowered during a period of fragmented

Lorain, John

Lorain apparently went to the North American colony of Maryland when he was a child. After managing a farm there for many years; he moved in 1795 to

Venezuela

Officially  Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,  Spanish  República Bolivariana de Venezuela  country located at the northern end of South America. It occupies a roughly triangular area of 352,144 square miles (912,050 square km)—larger than the combined areas of France and Germany. Venezuela is bounded by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the southwest and west. The national capital, Caracas, is Venezuela's

Kerogen

Complex mixture of compounds with large molecules containing mainly hydrogen and carbon but also oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. It is the organic component of oil shales, hence their alternative names of kerogen shales or kerogenites. Kerogen is insoluble in water; upon heating, it breaks down into recoverable gaseous and liquid substances resembling petroleum.

Printmaking, France

Most 18th-century French etchings were drawings transferred to copper, in which the effects of pencil, pen, or chalk were imitated. Although some distinguished painters, such as Antoine Watteau, made etchings, no prints of importance were produced. Jean-Honoré Fragonard made a few lovely etchings reminiscent of Tiepolo. They have a luminous, transparent quality and

France, History Of, Society since 1940

The surge of economic growth that lasted from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s brought extensive changes in French lifestyles and in some of the society's basic structures. As the century neared its end, most French people had come to enjoy greater comfort and security than their forebears; they took for granted such luxuries as automobiles, modern household appliances, and

Arts, Central Asian, Sculpture

The art of casting images in bronze and other metals entered Tibet from Nepal and India. Having first followed foreign models, the Tibetans gradually developed their own styles

Aquatic Locomotion

Free-swimming locomotion is found in animals ranging from protozoans to whales. For effective swimming the animal controls its buoyancy and has a propulsion system able to compete with the resistance of water movements. Many invertebrates

Oannes

In Mesopotamian mythology, an amphibious being who taught mankind wisdom. Oannes, as described by the Babylonian priest Berosus, had the form of a fish but with the head of a man under his fish's head and under his fish's tail the feet of a man. In the daytime he came up to the seashore of the Persian Gulf and instructed mankind in writing, the arts, and the sciences. Oannes was

Advocate Of Moral Reform

First published in New York City in 1835, the Advocate of Moral Reform gained some 20,000 subscribers over the next few years. Serving as a voice for members of the moral reform movement, the journal's mission

Osaka-kobe Metropolitan Area, Cultural life

Osaka and Kyoto long have been leading centres of culture—Osaka, famous for its cuisine, has a more bustling, democratic tone than Kyoto, which is one of the great centres of Japanese culture. Traditional and modern Japanese drama and music are performed at theatres and halls in the metropolitan area, as are Western music, operas, and plays. There are numerous museums, galleries,

Sun Rose

Helianthemum apenninum, H. cinereum, H. glaucum, and H. hirsutum are dwarf

Chelif River

Also spelled  Chéliff, or Sheliff,   the longest and most important river of Algeria. Its farthest tributary, the Sebgag River, rises in the Amour ranges of the Saharan Atlas Mountains near Aflou. Crossing the Hauts Plateaux for most of the year as a chain of marshes and muddy pools, the river loses most of its water but is replenished by a stream near Chabounia, the Nahr Ouassel River. The Chelif then turns

Computers, The Analytical Engine

The Analytical

Han-k'ou

Pinyin  Hankou , conventional  Hankow  large urban area and river port in Wu-han Municipality (shih), Hupeh Province (sheng), central China. Located on the left bank of the Han Shui (river) at its confluence with the Yangtze, it is the largest of the three Wu-han (q.v.) cities (Han-k'ou, Han-yang, and Wu-ch'ang). It was founded as Hsia-k'ou under the Sung dynasty (960–1279). Han-k'ou was one of the first Chinese cities opened to foreign trade

Tzetzes, John

Tzetzes was for a time secretary to a provincial governor, then earned a meagre living by teaching and writing. He has been described as the perfect specimen of the Byzantine pedant.

Agapetus I, Saint

Pope from 535 to 536. Of noble birth, he was an archdeacon at the time of his election (May 13, 535). At the urging of the Ostrogothic king Theodahad, he headed an unsuccessful mission to Constantinople to deter the emperor Justinian I from his plans to reconquer Italy. While there he secured the election of, and consecrated,

Wu Ch'eng-en

Wu received a traditional Confucian education and became known for his clever composition of poetry and prose in the classical style. Throughout his life he displayed

Furniture, Transitional modern

Conservative in style (but not imitative), well-constructed, and carefully finished, the best modern furniture earned its reputation of being in good, correct taste. Often relying on handcraft details and on wood, most factories used speeded-up variations of earlier cabinetmaking operations. This, along with the United States' emphasis on artificially stimulated

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are found primarily in plants and are especially common in certain families of flowering plants. More

Syracuse

The site, once the territory of the Onondaga Indians and headquarters of the Iroquois Confederacy, was visited by explorers Samuel de Champlain in 1615 and Pierre Esprit, sieur de Radisson (while a captive of the Mohawks), in 1651. The Jesuit

Earth, Results of structural geologic studies

Deformed rocks typically occur in long, linear belts along the trend of present or past mountain belts. In many parts of the world, mountain belts end rather abruptly at the edges of continents and commonly occur in pairs located on opposite sides of an ocean. The Appalachian mountain belt, for example, extends from Georgia and Alabama through southeastern Pennsylvania,

Xerxes I

Soured by this failure, which modern historians consider the beginning of Achaemenian decline, Xerxes retired to Susa and Persepolis. He then furthered the depletion of the once-enormous resources he had gathered, through multiple taxation, by launching a vast construction program. At the capital city of Persepolis, Darius' architects, working from a unified plan

Fairchild, Mary Salome Cutler

Salome Cutler graduated from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1875 and taught there from 1876 to 1878. After a period of ill health, she became interested in the

Shah Jahan Period Architecture

Indian building style that flourished under the patronage of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–58); its crowning achievement is the magnificent mausoleum at Agra, the Taj Mahal (q.v.). Among the other landmarks of the style are several mosques at the emperor's first capital, Agra, and another great mosque and a huge fortress-palace complex at his second capital, Delhi. The use

Kaganovich, Lazar Moiseyevich

As a young Jewish shoemaker, Kaganovich became involved in the Bolshevik wing of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (in 1911) and in 1920 was made head of the Soviet government of Tashkent. His success in consolidating Soviet

Auger

Tool (or bit) used with a carpenter's brace for drilling holes in wood. It looks like a corkscrew and has six parts: screw, spurs, cutting edges, twist, shank, and tang. The screw looks like a tapered wood screw and is short and small in diameter; it centres the bit and draws it into the work. At the working end of the twist there are two sharp points called spurs, which score a circle

Quintana, Manuel Jos�

After studying law at the University of Salamanca, he went to Madrid to begin his

Yama

The second stage, niyama (Sanskrit: “discipline”), in its ethical

Kwakiutl

Indians of the northwest Pacific coast of North America. The Kwakiutl live in British Columbia, Canada, along the shores of the waterways between Vancouver Island and the mainland opposite. They speak one of three major dialects: Haisla, spoken on the Gardner Canal and Douglas Channel; Heiltsuq, spoken from Gardner Canal to Rivers Inlet; and southern Kwakiutl, spoken

Bearden, Romare (howard)

Bearden studied at the Art Students League in New York City with George Grosz (1936–37) and at Columbia University (1943). His early paintings were realistic and often