Role

:

Composer Conductor

Birth

:

April 27, 1894

Death

:

December 25, 1995

Period

:

Romantic

 

 

Modern

Genre

:

Orchestral

 

 

Symphony

 

Nicolas Slonimsky was a Russian-born American composer, conductor, and musicologist who made significant contributions to the world of classical music. He was born on April 27, 1894, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a family of musicians. His father was a conductor and composer, and his mother was a pianist. Slonimsky showed an early interest in music and began studying piano at the age of six. Slonimsky's family moved to the United States in 1923, where he continued his musical education at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He also studied with the composer and conductor Ernest Bloch in New York City. Slonimsky's early compositions were influenced by the Russian composers of his youth, including Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich. In the 1920s and 1930s, Slonimsky became involved in the avant-garde music scene in New York City. He was a member of the League of Composers, a group of composers who were dedicated to promoting new music. He also worked as a music critic for the Boston Evening Transcript and the New York Sun, where he championed the music of modernist composers such as Charles Ives and Edgard Varèse. Slonimsky's most famous work is his Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, which was first published in 1947. The book is a comprehensive guide to scales and melodic patterns used in Western music, and it has become a standard reference for musicians and composers. Slonimsky's other books include Music Since 1900, which provides an overview of modern music, and Lexicon of Musical Invective, which collects humorous and scathing reviews of classical music from throughout history. In addition to his work as a musicologist, Slonimsky was also a conductor. He conducted the premiere of Varèse's Ionisation in 1933, and he also conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Slonimsky's compositions include a number of works for piano, as well as chamber music and orchestral works. Slonimsky died on December 25, 1995, in Los Angeles, California. He was 101 years old at the time of his death. His contributions to the world of classical music continue to be celebrated today, and his Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns remains an essential resource for musicians and composers.

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