FZ called Slonimsky

Throughout his life, Slonimsky wrote extensively for magazines and newspapers, produced program and liner notes, and contributed to many informant works. He talked about himself as a "diaskeuast", a "reviser or interpolator". When his conducting occupation slowed, he spent a longer time writing relating to music. He released the chronology Music Since 1900, and later after travelling in Latin America, produced the initial thorough coverage in English, Music of Latin America. In 1947 he published the Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, that may later become one of his most influential works as a sourcebook for composers and performers. It affected many jazz music artists and composers, including John Coltrane, Frank Zappa and Paul Grabowsky, and remained in print 60 years later, but was generally ignored for years after its publication.

 In 1981, Frank Zappa called Slonimsky on the phone, having discovered his number listed, and a meeting was  arranged . Zappa had read Slonimsky's book "Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns" and called it ("the Bible of improvization"). Slonimsky recalled: "This guy called me up... and asked if I was Nicolas Slonimsky - correctly pronouncing my name! And I arranged to meet with him... Zappa showed me some of his scores... they looked like they could've been written by Varèse posthumously... fabulous contra panto dissonances..." Zappa asked Slonimsky if he'd like to "sit-in" with The Mothers at their next concert, in Santa Monica, on 12/11/1981; Slonimsky accepted. He performed one of his own compositions that night. He visited the Zappa home a number of times after that.



His autobiography, "Perfect Pitch", was published in 1988. Slonimsky died on Christmas Day 1995, at the age of 101.