Babylonian Exile or Babylonian Captivity Forced detention of Jews in Babylonia following Babylonian conquest of Judah in 598/597 and 587/586 bc. The first deportation may have occurred after King Jehoi- achin was deposed in 597 bc or after Nebuchadrezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586. In 538 bc the Persian Cyrus II conquered Babylonia and allowed the Jews to return to Palestine. Some Jews chose to remain in Babylonia, initiating the Jewish Diaspora. During the Babylonian Exile the Jews maintained their national spirit and religious identity despite cultural pres¬ sures in a foreign land, with Ezekiel and other prophets keeping hope alive. Petrarch and other writers designated the Avignon papacy as the Babylo¬ nian Captivity in the 14th century, and Martin Luther used the term in the title of one of his works attacking the papacy and the Roman Catholic church in the 16th century.
baby's breath Either of two species of herbaceous plants of the genus Gypsophila (pink family), having profuse small blossoms. Both G. elegans, an annual, and G. paniculata, a perennial, are cultivated for their fine misty effect in rock gardens and flower borders and in floral arrangements. They are native to Eurasia.
Bacall, Lauren orig. Betty Joan Perske (b. Sept. 6, 1924, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. actress. She worked as a model while seeking Broadway roles; her photograph on a magazine cover led to her casting in the film To Have and Have Not (1944) with Humphrey Bogart, whom she soon married. An instant success, she made three more films with Bogart: The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948). She also appeared in such memorable films as How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and Murder on the Orient Express (1974). On Broad¬ way she won Tony Awards for her performances in Applause (1970), and Woman of the Year (1981).
baccarat Casino card game that resembles a simpler version of black¬ jack. In basic baccarat the house is the bank. In chemin de fer (a more advanced baccarat) the bank passes from player to player. In punto banco, it appears to pass from player to player but is actually held by the house. Casino play involves three or six 52-card decks shuffled together and dealt from a shoe (a box designed to hold several decks of playing cards). Counting spot-cards at face value and face-cards and 10s as 0, the bet¬ tor’s aim is to receive cards that are closer to totaling 9 than those of the banker. For the purpose of totaling these cards, 10 or more counts only as its last digit (for instance, 17 is counted as 7). The banker deals two cards to the bettor and to himself.
Baccarat glass Glassware manufactured since 1765 in Baccarat, France. The firm originally produced soda glass for windows and indus¬ trial use. In 1816 it was acquired by a Belgian manufacturer of lead crys¬ tal; since then it has specialized in this type of glass, especially paperweights. Baccarat exhibited works in the important 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modemes in Paris. Today the company produces tableware in both historical and modern designs.
Bacchanalia \,ba-k3-'nal-y3\ or Dionysia In Greco-Roman religion, any of the festivals of the wine god Bacchus (Dionysus), which probably originated as fertility rites. The most famous Greek festivals included the Greater Dionysia, with its dramatic performances; the Anthesteria; and the Lesser Dionysia, characterized by simple rites. Bacchanalia were intro¬ duced from lower Italy into Rome, where they were at first secret, open only to women, and held three times a year. They later admitted men and became as frequent as five times a month. In 186 bc their reputation as orgies led the Senate to prohibit them throughout Italy, except in special cases.
bacchantes See maenads and bacchantes Bacchus See Dionysus
Bach, Alexander, baron von (b. Jan. 4, 1813—d. 1893) Austrian politician noted for instituting a system of centralized control. He served as minister of the interior (1849-59); after the death of Felix, prince zu Schwarzenberg in 1852, he largely dictated policy in the regime. Bach centralized administrative authority for the Austrian Empire, but he also endorsed reactionary policies that reduced freedom of the press and aban¬ doned public trials.
March 8, 1714, Weimar, Saxe-
Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel (b.
Weimar—d. Dec. 14, 1788, Ham¬ burg) German composer. Second son of Johann Sebastian Bach, he received a superb musical education from his father. In 1740 he became harpsichordist at the court of Freder¬ ick II the Great, where he remained for 28 years, after which he moved to Hamburg to take the city’s lead¬ ing musical position. He was a leader of the Empfindsamkeit (“sensitivity”) movement, which emphasized rhap¬ sodic freedom and sentiment. A founder of the Classical style, he is one of the first composers in whose works sonata form becomes clearly evident. He wrote some 200 works for harpsichord, clavichord, and piano (including dozens of sonatas),
some 50 keyboard concertos, many symphonies, and several oratorios and Passions. His Essay on the True Manner of Playing Keyboard Instruments (1753) was a highly important practical music treatise.
C.P.E. Bach, engraving by A. Stottrup
COURTESY OF HAAGS GEMENTEMUSEUM, THE HAGUE
Bach, Johann Christian (b. Sept. 5, 1735, Leipzig—d. Jan. 1, 1782, London, Eng.) German-born British composer. Youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, he studied with his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in Berlin before moving to Italy. In 1762 he became composer to the King’s Theatre in London, where he would remain the rest of his life, becoming music teacher to the queen, and later the impresario (with Karl Friedrich Abel) of an important series of concerts (1765-81). He wrote some 50 symphonies, some 35 keyboard concertos, and much chamber music. His music, melodious and well formed but far from profound and with no
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146 I Bach ► Bacon
trace of his father’s influence, became an important prototype of the Clas¬ sical style and influenced Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Bach, Johann Sebastian (b. March 21, 1685, Eisenach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxon Duchies—d. July 28, 1750, Leipzig) German composer. Born to a musical family, he became a superbly well-rounded musician; from 1700 he held positions as singer, violinist, and organist. His first major appointment, in 1708, was as organist at the ducal court at Weimar. This was followed by a six-year stay (1717-23) as kapellmeister at the princely court of Kothen, which was in turn followed by his appointment as cantor at the great church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, where he would remain for the rest of his life. Imbued with the northern German contra¬ puntal style (see counterpoint) from early childhood, he encountered the lively Italian style, especially in the works of Antonio Vivaldi, about 1710, and much of his music embodies an immensely convincing melding of the two styles. At St. Thomas he wrote more than 200 church cantatas. His orchestral works include the six Brandenburg Concertos, four orches¬ tral suites, and many harpsichord concertos, a genre he invented. His solo keyboard works include the great didactic set The Well-Tempered Clavier (1722 and 1742), the superb Goldberg Variations (1742), the massive but unfinished Art of the Fugue (1749), numerous suites, and many organ preludes and fugues. His surviving choral works include (in addition to the sacred cantatas) more than 30 secular cantatas, two monumental Pas¬ sions, and the Mass in B Minor. His works, never widely known in his lifetime, went into near-total eclipse after his death, and only in the early 19th century were they revived, to enormous acclaim. He was perhaps the most accomplished organist and harpsichordist of his time. Today Bach is regarded as the greatest composer of the Baroque era, and, by many, as the greatest composer of all time.