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Nicholas Slonimsky Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.

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Acquisition Nicholas Slonimsky 1969

Acquisition Electra Yourke 1999

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.

Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room and at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu002011