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, they chronicle Slonimsky's work as an ambassador of modern music who introduced twentieth-century composers, particularly American composers, to audiences worldwide. Full of his admired wit and energy, the letters recount his performances, rehearsals, lectures, day-to-day activities in foreign cities and concert halls, and the anxieties of stretching limited funds to cover an ever-expanding itinerary. They also reveal a side of Slonimsky not seen from his other published writings: a man with deep devotion to his wife and family.
Annotated and with an introduction by Slonimsky's daughter, Electra Slonimsky Yourke, this collection documents the meeting of historic musical cultures-Old World Europe, the Soviet Union, and the vibrant countries of Latin America-with the modernist music of the United States. Written in a lively, humorous style, these letters will be of interest to scholars and students of American music and social historians as well as musicians, music lovers, and concertgoers.
Electra Slonimsky Yourke is the daughter ofNicolas Slonimsky and Dorothy Adlow, and editor of several collections of her father's work, including The Listener's Companion and the four-volume Writings on Music.
Nicolas Slonimsky (1894-1995) was a Renaissance man in the modern-music world of the mid-twentieth century. Composer, conductor, critic, and lexicographer, he authored many books including Lexicon of Musical Invective: Critical Assaults on Composers since Beethoven's Time and a memoir, Perfect Pitch.
Among the many achievements of a long life, Nicolas Slonimsky introduced modern music, and American music in particular, to foreign and domestic audiences through conducting, writing, lecturing, and interacting with composers and musicians of all nationalities. From his travels as musical ambassador, he wrote letters to his wife, the art critic Dorothy Adlow, vividly and humorously describing his adventures. Though personal, these letters are valuable in documenting his life as a musical ambassador who traveled between nations and their musical cultures, introduced the new to the resistant old, brought the outsiders inside, and stepped through newly opened doors to tell of what was in the air outside. He carried out this mission by writing, talking, conducting, performing-always energetic, persuasive, eager to be heard. His ability to translate and interpret, speaking several languages and traversing different musical styles, rested upon his exceptional musical talents, his profound musical education, and his lapidary writing skills. In a sense, he was also a time traveler, an ambassador from the (then) future to the (then) present. Slominsky's letters are informal and often vivid descriptions of his adventures as a musical ambassador, an observer, and a participant. The letters provide important new information that will be of interest to scholars and students, yet are written in a lively, humorous style, depicting places, people, the vagaries of travel, and the anxieties of stretching limited funds to cover an ever-expanding itinerary.
