Perfect Pitch

An Autobiography

Nicolas Slonimsky, Electra Slonimsky Yourke

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Paperback

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English

Excelsior Editions
01 March 2023

Music; Western "classical" music; Individual composers & musicians, bands & groups; Biography

Series: Excelsior Editions

The autobiography of one of the 20th century's most innovative and wittiest composers/performers/authors who witnessed the birth of modern music.

Perfect Pitch tells the compelling story of Nicolas Slonimsky. A boy prodigy as a pianist, Slonimsky fled pre-Communist Russia, reaching Paris at the height of another revolution-one in music and the arts. His early association with conductor Serge Koussevitzky brought him into contact with many of the era's greatest talents, including Igor Stravinsky and Serge Prokofiev. Emigrating to Boston in 1925, he embarked on a writing career, authoring key works still in print decades after their first publication, including Music Since 1900, a chronological history; Lexicon of Musical Invective, which proved definitively that new works are rarely understood in their time; and Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, which inspired generations of composers and performers, including jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. Known for his sharp wit, Slonimsky appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and was befriended by Frank Zappa. Perfect Pitch captures a life that was rich with discovery and invention and spanned a century of revolutions and explorations. This new edition is enhanced with several previously unpublished photographs, an extensive oral history, and several original essays, some reprinted for the first time.

By: Nicolas Slonimsky
Edited by: Electra Slonimsky Yourke
Imprint: Excelsior Editions
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 581g
ISBN: 9781438491646
ISBN 10: 1438491646
Series: Excelsior Editions
Pages: 480
Publication Date: 01 March 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Nicolas Slonimsky (1894–1995) was a Russian-born United-States-based writer, lexicographer, pianist, composer, conductor, and champion of contemporary music. His many books include Thesaurus Of Scales And Melodic Patterns; and Lexicon of Musical Invective: Critical Assaults on Composers Since Beethoven's Time.

Reviews for Perfect Pitch: An Autobiography

From the Original Reviews ""A rewarding, compelling and very funny read."" — New York Times ""If you combine the Encyclopedia Britannica with a history of music written by Oscar Wilde, you will have something resembling the extraordinary Slonimsky memoirs."" — Leonard Bernstein ""Rare is the book that can be praised both for its wisdom and for raucous humor. This is such a book."" — Washington Post