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Since its publication in 1947, great musicians and composers of all genres, from Arnold Schoenberg and Virgil Thomson to John Coltrane and Freddie Hubbard, have sworn by this legendary volume and its comprehensive vocabulary of melodic patterns for composition and improvisation. Think about this book as a melodic reference manual or plot wheel. Looking for new material to add to your playing instruction, improvisations, or composition? This book has more than you'll ever be able to use. Many serious musicians have a copy of this lying around somewhere.
At the beginning, it was not at all obvious how to organize this collectionof Slonimsky writings, numbering in the hundreds. Clearly, Russian andSoviet music would be central. But also American music, North and South. Modern music cuts across all geographical categories. The articles variedconsiderably in length, tone, depth, intended readership. Written overmore than fifty years, their historic perspective and writing style shift andevolve.
Scathing reviews, whimsical stories, and diverting games fill the pages of this utterly engaging kaleidoscope of skewed tales on the world of Classical music. It dishes out a marvelous feast of tales served up by a master storyteller whose reach extends around the world and to the beginnings of civilization.
(Music Sales America). This book is a condensed, made-for-guitar version of Nicolas Slonimsky's publication Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns the book that musicians as diverse as John Coltrane and Frank Zappa used for ideas and inspiration. Musicians familiar with the original Thesaurus know that it contains a daunting amount of information crammed in its over 230 pages. But there is a definite symmetry and logic in these Slonimsky examples. What appear to be random patterns are actually mathematical combinations of some or all of the twelve notes in music. As the musician/student plays through the examples, the patterns will unfold and become more obvious.
Nicolas Slonimsky (1894-1995) was an influential and celebrated writer on music. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1894, in his 101 years he taught and coached music; conducted the premieres of several 20th century masterpieces; composed works for piano and voice; and oversaw the 5th-8th editions of the classic "Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians." Beginning in 1926, Slonimsky resided in the United States. From his arrival, he wrote provocative articles on contemporary music and musicians, many of whom were his personal friends. Working as a freelance author, he built a large file of reviews, articles, and even manuscripts for books that were never published. This is the second volume of a 4 volume collection on the best of this material.
The fascinating letters of conductor-author Nicolas Slonimsky (1894-1995) to his wife, sharing his adventures as he traveled around the world to conduct new American music. In the mid-twentieth century renowned musicologist, conductor, and lexicographer Nicolas Slonimsky traveled to cities throughout the world to play and conduct music of the American avant-garde. From trips to Paris, Berlin, Havana, New York, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, and Moscow, Slonimsky wrote letters to his wife, the art critic Dorothy Adlow, vividly and humorously describing his adventures. Dear Dorothy: Letters from NicolasSlonimsky to Dorothy Adlow is a collection of these missives. Though personal, t...
The pianist, composer, conductor and now musical lexicographer recounts in fascinating detail a life that spans the whole of 20th-century music, ranging from his childhood in St. Petersburg through the Russian Revolution to his present career as a musical lexicographer. Illustrated.
Defines musical terms, and identifies important works, forms, and movements