PDQ Bach fans?

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Tue May 24, 2005 9:30 pm

I heard one today that really cracked me up. I know some folks on my mail route thought I'd gone over the edge......maybe I had?

It's here- a bit of the one I heard today - Cant: Iphigenia in Brooklyn

My Bonnie Lass She Smelleth is also on this one.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... ct-details

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:23 am

The whole PDQ Bach thing is some of the greatest musical satire ever written. Peter Schickele REALLY understands Baroque music which enables him to write some of the funniest stuff you can imagine. Check out http://www.schickele.com/

Note that Schickele is also a serious composer of some excellent contemporary music.

carrie · Post by **carrie** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:44 am

One of the happiest nights of my life was when I was still in graduate school, going over to a friend's house for dinner and having THE most delicious, garlic-saturated dinner I have ever had in my life, and then hearing P.D.Q. Bach at Orchestra Hall.

This is from the "Blaues Gras” (“Bluegrass”) Cantata, one of the rare works of the "minimeister" discovered in the original German. Following is the English translation, which was mistakenly omitted from the CD liner notes. According to Schickele, the translation appeared on the back of the original LP jacket, but when the work was reissued on CD, the translation, "like atheists, never made it into the next world."

Chorale: Ich gehe am Krüppel Bach hinauf

Chorus: I go, I go up Cripple Creek.
Bass: Go I now up Cripple Creek.
Tenor & Bass: Go I now up Cripple Creek.
Chorus: Amen.

Carol

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Wed May 25, 2005 6:07 am

It would have been fun to check out the site but they're using Real format. I just can't understand the places that do that.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Wed May 25, 2005 7:39 am

The P.D.Q. Bach pieces are cracklin' good fun, but my favorites are the ones Schuckele writes under his own name, such The Unbegun Symphony and Quodlibet for Small Orchestra. As Schickele puts it in the introduction to The Unbegun, when you work around PDQ as much as he has, certain things begin to rub off, among them, plagiarism. There's not a note of original music in either of these pieces, and if you paid attention in music history, they will make coke come out your nose.

daveboling · Post by **daveboling** » Wed May 25, 2005 8:25 am

After having played in orchestras that have performed both PDQ Bach (Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds, Concerto for Bassoon vs. Orchestra, and Bach Portrait), Peter Schickele compositions (Pentangle, and Elegies for Clarinet & Piano), and seen him performing live, I believe him to be one of the most accomplished composers of our time.
The only other "major" composer I had ever seen in person, Aaron Copeland, also had quite a sense of humor (more than most would think).

dave boling

Byll · Post by **Byll** » Wed May 25, 2005 8:54 am

PDQ's 'Pervertimento for Bagpipe, Bicycle, and Baloons' taught me why Great Highland Pipes are not normally used as a solo instrument in an orchestra...

To be a successful clown, you must first be a master of that which you are clowning about. I remember that Joan Baez' album, 'Joan' had all music written and arranged by Schickele. It is a stunning achievement. The man knows of what he is doing...

Best.
Byll

colomon · Post by **colomon** » Wed May 25, 2005 9:02 am

As I've mentioned before on this board, Schickele has written some of the best bassoon quartets out there...

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Wed May 25, 2005 9:04 am

Also Joan Baez's "Baptism," one of my college favorites, which has a little of Joan Baez singing and a lot of her reading anti-war poems with Schicklele's music setting an appropriately surreal mood. At that point, was already familiar with PDQ Bach, so it was quite a contrast. (This album was was my first exposure to the poetry of Wilfred Owen; you can imagine the impact on an 18-year-old loaded up in Kansas ditch weed.)

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Wed May 25, 2005 9:39 am

Wait a minute! Schicklele?

Schicklele Mix?

One of my favorite radio shows! For some reason I've always pronounced the name wrong when seeing it spelled.
It all comes together now. Epiphany!

daveboling What did you play in the orchestra?

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Wed May 25, 2005 9:52 am

Yeah, funny music for cultured people. I just saw Tom Stoppard's "15 Minute Hamlet" last weekend and seeing Schickele's name reminds me of the same kind of thing. Beyond the funny titles, the more you know about classical repertoire, the more you appreciate the depth of his understanding.

feadogin · Post by **feadogin** » Wed May 25, 2005 1:34 pm

The first opera I ever heard was P.D.Q. Bach's "The Stoned Guest." A classic!
I love when everyone dies, then at the end they all jump up again and start singing, "Happy ending! Happy ending!"

Justine

thurlowe · Post by **thurlowe** » Wed May 25, 2005 2:09 pm

I've met Mr. Shickele too, and was quietly disconcerted by his close resemblance to Brahms in his later years. More than just funny, he was warmhearted and sweet. I'm in awe of his understanding of music. Fly, I loved his show, "Schickele Mix." too. We stopped carrying it when we'd repeated the series about three times.

And in case anyone reading these raves was wondering it's "SHIK-uh-lee."

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Wed May 25, 2005 3:15 pm

I was volunteering at our local classical station's fundraiser some years ago when the host played Oedipus Tex. As this was in the days when they still had volunteers and hosts sitting in the same room during the broadcasts (all the better to hear the phones ringing -- or not ringing, alas), the entire listening area was treated to the sounds of a snorting volunteer falling out of her chair on the next break (i.e., me). I don't believe I ever laughed so hard in my life; I had to leave the room while the announcer apologized for the, uh, technical difficulties.

Thanks for the web link; it never occurred to me to look. The guy's a genius.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:16 pm

Cathy Wilde wrote:I was volunteering at our local classical station's fundraiser some years ago when the host played Oedipus Tex. .

<soprano>
You murdered your father,
You slept with your mother,
You rascal!
You're my kinda guy!

From Oedipus Tex

For more than you ever wanted to know about PDQ, get this:

http://www.schickele.com/shoppe/defbio.htm