Slonimsky's Earbox is an orchestral work written in 1996 by American composer John Adams. The piece is based on Igor Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....

's work, Le chant du rossignol

Le chant du rossignol

Le chant du rossignol, commonly referred to as The Song of the Nightingale, is a symphonic poem written by Igor Stravinsky in 1917. The song is an adaptation from his earlier work, Le rossignol , an opera from 1914. The opera, based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale The Nightingale, is set in...

, in which Adams was drawn to the modal

Musical mode

In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...

 harmonies that Stravinsky employed, and is a step toward integrating standard minimalist

Minimalism

Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...

 techniques with a more complex contrapuntal style. It is approximately 13 minutes in length.

Adams wrote the piece in tribute to his friend, the Russian-American composer, critic and musicologist Nicolas Slonimsky

Nicolas Slonimsky

Nicolas Slonimsky was a Russian born American composer, conductor, musician, music critic, lexicographer and author. He described himself as a "diaskeuast" ; "a reviser or interpolator."- Life :...

, who had recently died. Slonimsky, the long-time editor of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians is a biographical dictionary of musicians.The first edition of Baker's, under the title A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, was published in 1900 by Theodore Baker; it has since gone through nine editions.The 5th edition of 1958, 8th edition of 1992,...

, was the author of The Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, a book which Adams has made frequent use of. Adams describes Slonimsky as "a character of mind-boggling ability", and says that Slonimsky's Earbox "memorializes his wit and hyper-energetic activity."