Preface -- Table of contents -- A -- A -- Aachen, Hans von (1552-1615) -- Aakjaer, Jeppe (1866-1930) -- Aalto, Alvar (Hugo Alvar Henrik) (1898-1 -- Aaltonen, Wäinö (Valdemar) (1894-1966) -- Aarestrup, Carl Ludvig Emil (1800-1856) -- Aasen, Ivar Andreas (1813-1896) -- ABA form -- a battuta -- (Italian 'at the beat, with the beat') -- Abba -- Abbado, Claudio (1933- ) -- Abbate, Niccolò dell' (1509-1571) -- abbey -- Abbey, Edwin Austin (1852-1911) -- Abbey Theatre -- Abbotsford -- Abbott, Berenice (1898-1991) -- Abbott, George (1887-1995) -- Abbott, Jacob (1803-1879) -- Abbott, Lemuel Francis (1760-1803) -- Abbott and Costello -- stage names of William Alexander Abbott -- Abbt, Thomas (1738-1766) -- à Beckett, Gilbert Abbott (1811-1856) -- Abegg Variations -- Abe Kobo (1924-1993) -- Abell, Kjeld (1901-1961) -- Abendmusik (or Abendmusiken) -- (German 'evening music') -- Abercrombie, (Leslie) Patrick (1879-1957 -- Abercrombie, Lascelles (1881-1938) -- Abington, Mrs Fanny (1737-1815) -- born Francis Barton -- Abish, Walter (1931- ) -- Abney, William de Wiveleslie (1843-1920) -- abominable snowman -- or yeti -- Aboriginal art -- About, Edmond François Valentin (1828-18 -- abracadabra -- abraxas -- Abse, Dannie (1923- ) -- absolute music -- absolute pitch -- or perfect pitch -- abstract art -- abstract expressionism -- Absurd, Theatre of the -- Abu-al-Ala al-Maarri (or Abu'l-'Ala al-M -- Abul Hasan (1589-1616) -- Abú Nuwás, Hasan ibn Háni (c.760-c. 815) -- abutment -- Academy Award -- Academy, the -- a cappella -- (Italian 'in the style of the chapel') -- acatalectic -- Accademia -- (Italian 'academy' from Plato's Academia -- Accademia dei Lincei -- Accademia della Crusca -- or Furfuratorum -- (Italian crusca 'bran that remains after -- Acca Larentia -- accelerando -- (Italian 'quickening') -- accent -- acciaccatura -- (Italian 'crushed').

Acciaiuoli, Donato (1429-1478) -- accidental -- Accius (or Actius or Attius), Lucius (17 -- Accolti, Benedetto (1415-1464) -- Accolti, Francesco (1416-c. 1484) -- also known as Francesco Aretino -- accompaniment -- accordatura -- (Italian 'at pleasure') -- accordion -- acephalous -- (Greek akephalos 'headless') -- Achard, Marcel (1899-1974) -- pseudonym of Marcel-Augustin Ferréol -- Achates -- Achebe, Chinua (1930- ) -- born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe -- Acheron -- Achilles -- Achilles Tatius (lived 2nd century AD) -- Acis -- Ackermann, Rudolph (1768-1834) -- Ackroyd, Peter (1949- ) -- Acmeist movement -- Acontius -- Acosta, José de (c. 1539-1600) -- acoustic -- acoustics -- acrobat -- (Greek 'to walk on tiptoe' or 'to climb -- acronym -- acropolis -- (Greek 'high city') -- acrostic -- (Greek 'at the extremity of a line or ro -- acrylic fibre -- acrylic paint -- act -- Actaeon -- action -- action art -- action painting -- or gesture painting or tachisme -- Actius, Lucius -- actor -- Actor -- Actors Studio -- Acuña, Cristóval de (1597-c. 1650) -- adagio -- (Italian 'at ease', 'leisurely') -- Adam -- Adam, Adolphe Charles (1803-1856) -- Adam, Albrecht (1786-1862) -- Adam, Juliette (1836-1936) -- born Juliette Lamber -- Adam, Paul-Auguste-Marie (1862-1920) -- Adam de la Halle (c. 1240-c. 1290) -- Adamov, Arthur (1908-1970) -- Adams, Ansel Easton (1902-1984) -- Adams, Charles Follen (1842-1918) -- Adams, Douglas (Noël) (1952-2001) -- Adams, Henry Brooks (1838-1918) -- Adams, John Coolidge (1947- ) -- Adams, Maude (1872-1953) -- Adams, Richard (George) (1920- ) -- Adamson, Robert -- Adcock, (Kareen) Fleur (1934- ) -- Adderley, (Julian Edwin) 'Cannonball' (1 -- Addison, Joseph (1672-1719) -- additional accompaniments -- Ade, George (1866-1944) -- Adeler, Max (1847-1915) -- pseudonym of Charles Heber Clark -- Adès, Thomas (1971- ).

Adjani, Isabelle (1955- ) -- Adler, Larry (Lawrence) (1914-2001) -- ad lib(itum) -- (Latin 'freely') -- adobe -- Adolphus, John Leycester (1795-1862) -- Adonis -- (Semitic Adon 'the Lord') -- Adorno, Theodor Wiesengrund (1903-1969) -- Adrastus -- adventure novel -- Ady, Endre (1877-1919) -- Aeacus -- Aegean art -- Aegeus -- Aegir -- aegis -- Aelfric (c. 955-1020) -- Aeneas -- Aeneid -- Aeolian harp -- Aeolian mode -- Aeolus -- aerial photography -- aerophone -- Aertzen (or Aartsen), Pieter (c. 1509-15 -- Aeschylus (c. 525-c. 456 BC) -- Aesculapius -- Aesir -- Aesop -- aestheticism -- Aesthetic Movement -- aesthetics -- aetherophone -- Affleck, Ben(jamin) Geza (1972- ) -- African art -- African literature -- African music -- African traditional dance -- Afro-American tradition in dance -- Agamemnon -- Agasias (lived 1st century BC) -- Agate, James (Evershed) (1877-1947) -- Agee, James (Rufus) (1909-1955) -- agitato -- (Italian 'agitated') -- Aglaia -- ('brilliance') -- Agni -- Agnon, Shmuel Yosef (1888-1970) -- pseudonym of Samuel Joseph Czaczkes -- agogic -- agréments -- Aguilera, Christina Maria (1980- ) -- Aidoo, Ama Ata (1940- ) -- Aiken, Conrad Potter (1889-1973) -- Ailey, Alvin (1931-1989) -- Ailly, Pierre d' (1350-1420) -- Ainsworth, William Harrison (1805-1882) -- air -- airbrush -- aisle -- (Latin ala 'wing') -- Aitmatov, Chingiz (1928- ) -- Ajanta -- Ajax -- Akbar-nama -- Deeds of Akbar -- Akhmatova, Anna (1889-1966) -- pen-name of Anna Andreevna Gorenko -- Akins, Zoe (1886-1958) -- Akongo -- Aksakov, Sergei Timofeyevich (1791-1859) -- Akutagawa, Ryunosuke (1892-1927) -- Al -- alabaster -- Aladdin -- Alaïa, Azzedine (1940- ) -- Alain-Fournier (1886-1914) -- pen-name of Henri-Alban Fournier -- Alamanni, Luigi (1495-1556) -- Alarcón, Juan Ruiz de (c. 1581-1639) -- Alarcón, Pedro Antonio de (1833-1891) -- Alas, Leopoldo (1852-1901).

Albani, Francesco (1578-1660) -- Albee, Edward (Franklin) (1928- ) -- Albéniz, Isaac (1860-1909) -- Albers, Anni (1899-1994) -- born Anneliese Fleischmann -- Alberti, Leon Battista (1404-1472) -- Alberti, Rafael (born 1902) -- Albert Memorial, the -- Albinoni, Tomaso (1671-1751) -- Alcaeus (c. 611-c. 580 BC) -- Alcamenes (lived 5th century BC) -- alcázar -- (Arabic 'fortress') -- Alcestis -- Alcinoüs -- Alciphron -- Alcmaeon -- Alcman (lived 7th century BC) -- Alcmene -- Alcoforado, Marianna (1640-1723) -- Alcott, Louisa May (1832-1888) -- Alcyone -- or Halcyone -- Alda, Alan (1936- ) -- Aldeburgh Festival -- Aldington, Richard (1892-1962) -- pen-name of Edward Godfree Aldington -- Aldiss, Brian W(ilson) (1925- ) -- Aldrich, Robert (1918-1983) -- Aldrich, Thomas Bailey (1836-1907) -- Aldridge, Ira Frederick (1804-1867) -- Alea, Tomás Gutiérrez (1928-1996) -- Aleardi, Aleardo (1812-1878) -- adopted name of Gaetano Aleardi -- aleatory -- (Latin alea 'dice') -- aleatory music -- (Latin alea 'dice') -- Alecsandri, Vasile (1821-1890) -- Aleijadinho (c. 1738-1814) -- born António Francisco Lisboa -- Aleixandre, Vicente (1898-1984) -- Alemán, Mateo (1547-post 1615) -- Alexander, George (1858-1918) -- pseudonym of G A Gibb Samson -- Alexander, William (1567-1640) -- Earl of Stirling -- alexandrine -- Alexandros -- Alexandru, Ion (1942- ) -- Alfadir -- Alfieri, Vittorio (1749-1803) -- Count Alfieri -- Alford, Henry (1810-1871) -- Algardi, Alessandro (1595-1654) -- Alger, Horatio (1832-1899) -- Algren, Nelson Abraham (1909-1981) -- Alhambra -- Alhambra -- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland -- aliquot scaling -- or aliquot strings -- Alishan, Leon (1820-1901) -- Alkan (1813-1888) -- pseudonym of Charles Valentin Morhange -- Alken, Henry Thomas (1785-1851) -- alla breve -- or cut time -- Allan, David (1744-1796) -- Allan, William (1782-1850) -- allargando.

(Italian 'broadening') -- allegory -- allegretto -- (Italian, diminutive of 'allegro' ('merr -- Allegri, Gregorio (1582-1652) -- allegro -- (Italian 'merry, lively') -- allemande -- Allen, (William) Hervey (Jr) (1889-1949) -- Allen, Viola (1869-1948) -- Allen, Woody (1935- ) -- adopted name of Allen Stewart Konigsberg -- Allende, Isabel (1942- ) -- All Hallows Barking -- or All Hallows by the Tower -- Allingham, Margery Louise (1904-1966) -- Allingham, William (1824-1889) -- alliteration -- Allori, Cristofani (1577-1621) -- Allston, Washington (1779-1843) -- Allyson, June (1917-2006) -- stage name of Ella Geisman -- Almagest -- (Arabic al 'the' and a corruption of the -- Alma-Tadema, Lawrence (1836-1912) -- Almeida-Garrett, João Baptista da Silva -- almérie -- Almodóvar, Pedro (1951- ) -- Almqvist, Carl Jonas Love (1793-1866) -- Aloidae -- Alonso, Alicia (1921- ) -- born Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad dei -- Alonso, Dámaso (1898-1990) -- alpaca -- Alpert, Herb (1935- ) -- alphorn -- Alston, Richard (1948- ) -- Altamira -- altarpiece -- Altdorfer, Albrecht (c. 1480-1538) -- Alte Pinakothek -- English Old Pinakothek -- altered chord -- alternative theatre -- Altman, Robert (1925-2006) -- alto -- (Italian 'high') -- alto clef -- alto flute -- alto recorder -- Álvarez, José (1768-1827) -- Alvarez de Cienfuegos, Nicasio (1764-180 -- Alvarez Quintero, Serafin (1871-1938) an -- Alvaro, Corrado (1895-1956) -- Alwyn, William (1905-1985) -- Amalthaea -- Amari, Michele (1806-1889) -- Amaterasu -- Amati (lived 16th-17th centuries) -- Amaya, Carmen (1913-1963) -- Amazon -- ambiguity -- Ambler, Eric (1909-1998) -- Amboise, Jacques d' (1934- ) -- ambrosia -- (Greek 'immortal') -- Ambrosian chant -- ambulatory -- Ameche, Don (1908-1993) -- stage name of Dominic Amici -- Amentet -- American Academy of Art and Letters -- American Ballet Theater -- ABT.

American Indian art.