Nicolas Slonimsky interview (6 May 1986)

[@ragamela8834]

I spent a few hours with Slonimsky in 1992 at his house in LA. He was an absolutely brilliant man, and such a gracious host. I swear I thought he'd live forever.

[@graxjpg]

his “thesaurus of scales and melodic patterns” was beyond cherished by john coltrane and allan holdsworth alike.

[@alainjames9556]

He wrote a book called, "The Lexicon of Musical Invective" which posts lousy reviews that the great composers received when they were alive. It is very illuminating.

[@paulkolodner2445]

Slonimsky wrote a very long preface to the book that Carson showed. It is one of the most screamingly funny things I ever read.

[@EMPTYCUP111]

holy cow, Slonimsky was 92 years old here if Wikipedia birthdates correct. He was born in 1894. Still sharp and funny!

[@kbobdonahue1966]

He lived to be 101. What an amazing life.

[@dougo891]

This Tonight show aired during the year that Slonimsky was a frequent guest on my Saturday afternoon show on KFAC-FM Los Angeles✔✔✔✔✔😎😎😎😎

[@KowankoMusic]

Considering the advanced musical concepts he spent his life thinking about, it's no wonder his brain was still so sharp at the end.

[@lazur1]

He lived another 9 years, 7 months, 19 days.

[@ShoyuTao]

Amazing! An author of great musical treaties and funny as hell!

[@Bumblefoot]

Big smile the whole time watching this, thank you for uploading it! :D

[@caramelorb]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@daleturner]

You RAWK, Ron!!!

[@markovelikonja5399]

IIRC Frank Zappa was a big admirer of his. I love Stephen Colbert and the other late-night hosts, but can you imagine one of them having someone like Nicholas Slonimsky on a late-night show today?

[@jcharlsen]

You are so right!

[@Civilizashum]

Zappa became Slonimsky's friend, he really dug him as a person.

[@lazur1]

He most likely did have perfect pitch as a child, & probably kept it well into his adult years, but it degrades as one ages. To be 1/2 step off at 92 is, indeed, "close enough".

[@daleturner]

Except it was actually a "C" played (the note centered amidst Doc's vibrato). So great seeing this interview... Slonimsky's (I guess) autobiography, called PERFECT PITCH, is a hilarious MUST read, btw.

[@TractorMonkeywithJL]

@@daleturner The tuner app on my Iphone showed it as a C# but it was flat by about 20 cents. So the guy was darn close. But on the other hand this is a recording so that could throw it off, but who knows without being there live. I tend to believe what Doc said.

[@DanielFries]

@@TractorMonkeywithJLi also got it my tuner app! C half sharp

[@BarunChandaHere]

thank you for uploading this, now if you could only find the quiz show called "the big surprise" where Nicolas won $30,000.

[@ianlambach3318]

The trumpet was so flat that I think he was right to call it a "high c"

[@daleturner]

Totally

[@TractorMonkeywithJL]

I just checked it with a tuner app on my phone. It showed it as a C# but flat by about 20 or 30 cents. The recording could change the accuracy too.

[@TimMirth]

So cool. He's a trip.

[@charleswinokoor6023]

This is great. I had no idea he was a guest of Carson’s. And he really was a humorous guy. “A list of stiffs.” funny He really was a wonderful guest. Too bad Johnny didn’t ask where he was born and grew up.

[@TheMusicmak3r]

Historic

[@HakanTunaMuzik]

Amazing

[@waltersimmons4222]

I still have the videotape of this when I taped it in 1986. If only other musicologists had half the clever wit that NS had. I believe that in one edition of Baker's, in his entry on himself, he predicted the date he would die. But in the next edition admitted that he outlived his predicted demise.

[@chazinko]

The musical intro was hilarious!

[@ValseMelancolique]

A really charming man after initially thinking he was going to fall over that first step. He could have made it as a comedian😂😂

[@lazur1]

92 years old here

[@TrevorTwiggenVIII]

I remember when this aired. Thank you so much for uploading this.

[@caramelorb]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@daskren2]

This is amazing!

[@ntodd4110]

One time long ago, I came across a book by Slonimsky's called (I think) "A Lexicon of Musical Invective", where he had collected critical reviews (all of them very negative) of the music of various important composers. It was very funny, and it slyly demonstrated the point that music critics are often a ludicrously closed-minded lot. As I recall, one of the quoted music critics described a performance of Varese's "Arcana" as sounding like "the progress of a major fire through a zoo". I'd love to get my hands on a copy of that book again sometime.

[@HarryMillerMusicOfficial]

awesome

[@hansvandermeulen5515]

Funny guy. No wonder he was friends witth Frank Zappa.

[@davidsheriff9274]

"I'm not the suicidal type, I drive people to suicide". That's a good line.

[@cmpoole]

I was born on a Friday.

[@SuperOlds88]

I think the Carson people could have studied his accomplishments a lot better so he could have been introduced with way more information. He is a music genius and also a very interesting guest.

[@milesntrane]

To be fair, Doc was a bit flat.

[@ryankeberle8200]

yep

[@johnvalentine3456]

Absolutely!

[@awb222]

Thank you guys! Mr. Slonimsky went to see his native city Sankt Petersburg, Russia last time in 1992. He celebrated there his 98th birthday. Look at this documentary about him: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zn28hJdmaqeVhck

[@NelsonMontana1234]

He said C# , not D#. Close enough.

[@lazur1]

(Chopin)"was an apple man'.

[@HeathWatts]

Coltrane 4:40

[@armenghazarian3515]

It was a little flatter than C#, in those situations even someone young with perfect pitch might mistake it for C let alone a 92 year old! Less than a half step off.

[@tomgiles1484]

Doc says "C sharp," not "D sharp." 11:27 Slonimsky's hearing doesn't appear to be so good.

[@MrJadePinwheel]

I was thinking it was another practical joke by slonimsky

[@mssarahdale]

Trumpet is a transposing instrument ... Concert C# = D# on the trumpet. They are talking about the same note I'd assume.

[@kbobdonahue1966]

I have a story on that but it would take too long to tell it.

[@victoza9232]

Fun Fact: This was Thomas Edison's only appearance on a talk show.

[@gustavovalverde6226]

😆