KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Speaking of Music: Nicolas Slonimsky, March 12, 1987, 1 of 2
Analog Audio
Event Type
Interview and MusicOrigin
KPFAIdentifier
SOM.1987.03.12.AProgram Series
Speaking of MusicProgram Length
114 minPart
1 of 2Dates
| broadcast| 1987-03-12 | created
Description
Tune into an evening of Nicolas Slonimsky's highly comic logorrhea as he is interviewed on March 12, 1987 as part of the San Francisco Exploratorium’s Speaking of Music series. Host Charles Amirkhanian hardly needs to ask a question of his 92-year old Russian-born guest, the father of the "grandmother chord." An erudite musicologist, conductor, composer, pianist, and author of many books including “Music Since 1900”, “Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns”, and “Lexicon of Musical Invective”, Slonimsky engages in a wide-ranging discussion of 20th century music and musicians, from Scriabin to Zappa.Musical highlights include Slonimsky playing two of his own compositions written specifically for the evening, "Objets Trouvés in the Dodecaphonic Environment," and the "52nd Minitude." He sings and plays his jingle "Children Cry for Castoria," and charms the audience by playing a Chopin etude with an orange, and the Tannhäuser Overture with a brush.
Genres
20th century classicalMusical Selections
Objets Trouvés in the Dodecaphonic Environment (1987) / Nicolas Slonimsky -- 52nd Minitude (1987) / Nicolas Slonimsky -- Children Cry for Castoria (1925) / Nicolas Slonimsky -- [an etude] / Frédéric Chopin -- Tannhäuser: Overture (1845) / Richard WagnerPerformers
Nicolas Slonimsky, pianoSubjects
20th century classical19th century classical
Music -- History and criticism
Music -- Bio-bibliography
Musical intervals and scales
Composers
Conductors (Music)
Piano music
Related places
San Francisco (Calif.) (was recorded at)Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)
Related Entities
Amirkhanian, CharlesSlonimsky, Nicolas, 1894-1995
Chopin, Frédéric, 1810-1849
Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883