Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Mahler, Gustav go͝osˈtäf mäˈlər [key], 1860–1911, composer and conductor, born in Austrian Bohemia of Jewish parentage. Mahler studied at the Univ. of Vienna and the Vienna Conservatory. He wa...

(Encyclopedia) stellar populations, two broadly contrasting distributions of star types that are characteristic of different parts of a galaxy. Population I stars are young, recently formed stars, whereas population...

(Encyclopedia) Vehmgericht fāˈmĭk [key], in medieval Germany, a type of criminal tribunal. The inability of the Holy Roman emperors to exercise effective central control over their lands and the extensive feudal ...

(Encyclopedia) Tyler, Wat, d. 1381, English rebel. His given name appears in full as Walter; his surname signifies the trade of a roof tiler. He came into prominence as the leader of the rebellion of 1381, known as ...

(Encyclopedia) Goliardic songs gōlēärˈdĭk [key], Late Latin poetry of the “wandering scholars,” or Goliards. The Goliards included university students who went from one European university to another, schol...

(Encyclopedia) outsider art, artwork created by typically unconventional and untrained artists from the margins of society and the art world. The term was coined in 1972 by British scholar and art critic Roger Cardi...

(Encyclopedia) Guiana gēănˈə, –änˈ– [key], region, NE South America. It faces the Atlantic Ocean on the north and east and is enclosed on the west and south within a vast semicircle formed by the linked ri...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Michigan mĭshˈĭgən [key], upper midwestern state of the United States. It consists of two peninsulas thrusting into the Great Lakes and has borders with Ohio and Indiana (S), Wisconsin (W),...

(Encyclopedia) Carter, Elliott Cook, Jr., 1908–2012, American composer, b. New York City. Carter is considered by many to be the most important late-20th-century American composer. Mentored early in life by Charle...

(Encyclopedia) Dia Art Foundation, American foundation that supports contemporary art and artists, est. 1974 by art dealer Heiner Friedrich and his wife, art patron Philippa de Menil. The foundation, which commissio...