Slonimsky's Book of Musical Anecdotes

Slonimsky's Book of Musical Anecdotes is an entertaining book of oddities, curiosities and tidbits. Read about composers' funny quirks: Rossini's sense of humour; Wagner's psychic abilities; Scriabin's inability to keep track of his umbrella Unusual inventions: Precursors to the radio: telephone broadcasting, the musical bed Precursor to the walkman: the musical petticoat Strange occurrences: The story of Schumann's spirit called up at a séance, and how he urged one of the violinist participants to uncover his lost/hidden concerto for their instrument. And then, at a later date, (also through the ouija board) dictating changes to the piece. Not always laugh-out-loud funny, but an amusing, musical read

I thought this book would be funny and I was right. I fist heard of Nicolas Slonimsky in reference to his book, Lexicon of Musical Invective, a humorous collection of bad musical reviews of great musical compositions from Beethoven to Shostakovich. Once I heard about this book, I had to read it. In this book Slonimsky has compiled great stories about music, including those about performers, composers, performances, and inventions. There are some good anecdotes about composers such as Rossini, who was once composing in bed. A sheet of music he had written fell out on the floor, and as he was too lazy to pick it up, just wrote another melodic line instead. Later, a friend came in and picked the original sheet off the ground, and both parts were used as an opera trio. Another great chapter involves music and animals. It's amazing to read, but there are multiple sources in history which describe the development of a new instrument involving cats. Each cat in a cage has its tail tied to a keyboard device, when, played like a piano, causes the cat to cry out. If tuned "appropriately," one can create a suitable instrument. Slonimsky has a wonderfully smart method of delivery, and he certainly has a great sense of humor. My biggest complaint is the fact that there is no index. Therefore, it's hard to find stories which you're looking for. Also, Slonimsky leaves out some great stories in music history which are great anecdotes. But that's to be expected. This is a great book for any music scholar with a sense of humor, or even a casual classical music lover who likes to laugh.

In the course of my life I have spent many hours pouring over volume after volume of musical history. I am a professional clarinetist. Most things written by musicologists are incredibly boring. It's nothing personal against them, it just simply is. I will never forget the time I sat in the Deering Library in Northwestern University and read the introduction to Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. I had been in the library for the better part of the day, and decided to find out what Mr. Slonimsky had to say. I was immeadtley engrossed with the writing. Slonimsky was not only fluent and informative. He was downright funny. I was amazed to be reading a book that weighed more than most small dogs, and still find it funny. I came to realize that Slonimsky was no ordinary musicologist. He was an incredibly intresting man. He was not only a historian, but a composer. He compiled an enormous volume of scales and patterns whick most jazz players use frequently. At the age of 85, his best friend was Frank Zappa. He is the only musicologist I have ever known that appeared on the Carson Show. And, he is also the most accurate historian I have ever read. Slonimsky goes to great length to verify his sources. I would be willing to belive just about anything published under his pen. This Book of Musical Anectdotes is no exception. It is full of strange, and true tales of the most famous of musicians. All great musicians are genuises, and most of them are very strange. Mr. Slonimsky captures the true essence of the composers, and lets us see what else they did besides compose glorious music. A truly excellent, witty book.