Among the many achievements of a long life, Nicolas Slonimsky introduced modern music, and American music in particular, to foreign and domestic audiences through conducting, writing, lecturing, and interacting with composers andmusicians of all nationalities. From his travels as musical ambassador, he wrote letters to his wife, the art critic Dorothy Adlow, vividly and humorously describing his adventures. Though personal, these letters are valuable in documenting his life as a musical ambassador who traveled between nations and their musical cultures, introduced the new to the resistant old, brought the outsiders inside, and stepped through newly opened doors to tell of what was in the air outside. He carried out this mission by writing, talking, conducting, performing-always energetic, persuasive, eager to be heard. His ability to translate and interpret, speaking several languages and traversing different musical styles, rested upon his exceptional musical talents, his profound musical education, and his lapidary writing skills. In a sense, he was also a time traveler, an ambassador from the (then) future to the (then) present. Slominsky"s letters are informal and often vivid descriptions of his adventures as a musical ambassador, an observer, and a participant. The letters provide important new information that will be of interest toscholars and students, yet are written in a lively, humorous style, depicting places, people, the vagaries of travel, and the anxieties of stretching limited funds to cover an ever-expanding itinerary. Electra Yourke is the daughter of Nicolas Slonimsky and Dorothy Adlow, and editor of several collections of her father"s work, including The Listener"s Companion and the four-volume Writings on Music. Nicholas Slonimsky (1894-1995) was a Renaissance man in the modern-music world of the mid twentieth century. Composer, conductor, critic, and lexicographer, his many books include Lexicon of Musical Invective: Critical Assaults on Composers since Beethoven"s Time and a memoir, Perfect Pitch.