Slonimsky, Nicolas, 1894-1995

Composed 1933. First performance Hollywood Bowl, 13 July 1933, the composer conducting.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Fragment of chorus from "Orestes" of Euripides : from a conjectural version (400 B.C.) / arranged by Nicolas Slonimsky. [19--] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 54759973

Movements 1-6 and 8 originally composed 1928 in Studies in Black and White for piano. Transcribed and Valse added, 1941. First performance Buenos Aires, 31 October 1941, Grupo Renovación concert, the composer conducting.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Suite : for flute, oboe, clarinet, percussion and a portable typewriter / Nicolas Slonimsky. [19--] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 54759989

Commissioned by Arthur Cohn. Composed 1942.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of [Fanfare for the W.P.A. Music Copying Project of the Free Library of Philadelphia] / Nicolas Slonimsky ; edited by Arthur Cohn. [1942] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 54759953

Originally composed 1928 as part of Studies in Black and White for piano. Transcribed 1933. First performance Hollywood Bowl, 23 July 1933, the composer conducting.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Little march for the big bowl : alternate title--Marche grotesque / by Nicolas Slonimsky ; edited by Arthur Cohn. 1943. (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 54759968

Slonimsky was a conductor, composer, writer, and editor of a number of reference books on music.

From the description of Letter, 1991. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232008507

Russian-born American musicologist.

From the description of Typewritten letters signed (2), dated : Boston, 6 May 1964 and Los Angeles, 13 February 1980, to Mr. [James] Fuld, 1964 May 6 and 1980 Feb. 13. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270874536

Nicholas Slonimsky, lexicographer, composer, and writer on music, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Apr. 27, 1894. He studied the piano with his aunt, Isabelle Vengerova, a well-known piano pedagogue, at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and composition with Glière. He taught at the Eastman School of Music (1923¡1925). He was Serge Koussevitzky's secretary for two years and conducted the Boston Chamber Orchestra (1927¡1934) and the Harvard University Orchestra (1927¡1930). In the 1930s and early 1940s he became known for conducting first performances of Ives, Varèse, Riegger, Cowell, Chàvez, and other composers of the Americas. He was a lecturer at Colorado College (1940, 1947¡1949), the Peabody Conservatory (1956¡1957), and the University of California at Los Angeles (1964¡1967). Slonimsky was author or editor of major music reference works, including Music Since 1900, Music of Latin America, The international cyclopedia of music and musicians, 4th ed., Thesaurus of scales and melodic patterns, Lexicon of musical invective, and many editions of Baker's biographical dictionary. He died on Dec. 25, 1995, in Los Angeles.

From the description of Nicolas Slonimsky collection, 1873-1997 (bulk 1920-1990). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71055179

Biographical Sketch

• 1894 April 27: Born in St. Petersburg (Nikolai Leonidovich)
• 1900 November 6: Studies piano with his aunt, Isabelle Vengerova
• 1919: Composition lessons with Glière
• 1920: Appointed instructor at Yalta Conservatory, piano accompanist for singers
• 1921: Arrives in Paris; Hired as secretary and rehearsal pianist for Serge Koussevitzky
• 1923: Coach, Eastman School of Music, opera department; Studies composition with Selim Palmgren; conducting with Albert Coates
• 1925: Works for Koussevitzky in Paris and Boston
• 1925: Composes "Make this a day of Pepsodent," "No More Shiny Nose," "Children Cry for Castoria" (singing commercials)
• 1927: Fired by Koussevitzky
• 1927: Organizes the Chamber Orchestra of Boston
• 1927 - 29 : Conducts the Pierian Sodality at Harvard
• 1928 - 30 : Directs the Apollo Chorus
• 1928: "Studies in Black and White" for piano
• 1931 January 10: Conducts first performance of Charles Ives' "Three Places in New England," NYC, Town Hall
• 1931: Marries Dorothy Adlow
• 1931: Becomes naturalized US citizen
• 1931 - 32 : Conducts concerts of modern American, Cuban and Mexican music in Paris, Berlin, and Budapest under the auspices of the Pan-American Association of Composers
• 1932: Conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic
• 1933 March: Premiers Varèse's "Ionisation"
• 1933: First appearance at Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles
• 1937: Invents the term "Pandiatonicism"
• 1937: Music Since 1900 published
• 1942: "My Toy Balloon"
• 1945: "Gravestones"
• 1945: Music of Latin America
• 1945 - 47 : Lectures in Slavic languages and literatures at Harvard
• 1946: The International cyclopedia of music and musicians, 4th edition
• 1947: Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns
• 1947: The Road to Music
• 1952: Lexicon of Musical Invective
• 1962 - 63 : Travels in Russia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Greece, and Israel under the auspices of the Office of Cultural Exchange, U.S. Department of State
• 1964: Dorothy Adlow, his wife, dies
• 1965 May 5: "Möbius Strip-Tease" performed at UCLA
• 1968 February 2: "Sex and the Music Librarian"
• 1971: Music Since 1900, 4th edition
• 1971 - 77 : "Minitudes"
• 1987: Translates Boris de Schloezer's biography of Scriabin into English
• 1987: Perfect Pitch
• 1988: Lectionary of Music
• 1995 December 25: Dies in Los Angeles
• 1996 January 22: Memorial Service at UCLA

From the guide to the Nicolas Slonimsky Collection, 1873-1997, (bulk 1920-1990), (Music Division Library of Congress)