The Wurst of P.D.Q. Bach

"And lo, she found herself within a market, and all around her fiiiiiiish were dying, and yet their stench did live on."

This is my favorite PDQ CD. We learn a good deal about the illustrious youngest son of J.S. Bach - for example, we learn about the various periods by which the composer's works have been classified by critics: 1) The Early Period; 2) The Soused Period (by far the longest of the three) and finally, 3) Contrition.

I was lucky enough to see a few PDQ Bach concerts at Carnegie Hall. Once, during a performance of "Iphigenia In Brooklyn," my sister and I sat next to a man who I thought might have a coronary, he was laughing so hard, and then he'd start laughing at something else, so he couldn't catch a breath. That is what a PDQ Bach concert is like.

"Iphigenia in Brooklyn" alone is worth the price of this CD. And the more you know about music (basic stuff, really) the funnier it is.

"And in a vision she saw her brother Orestes, who was being chased by the Amenities, and he cried out in anguish..." Sorry, you'll have to hear the rest of that by yourself. There are no words to describe it.

April 22, 2008

This is a MUST for anyone who enjoys classical music ...

...BUT not if you take it SO seriously that you have lost your sense of humor.

Peter Schickele (with whom I am occasionally confused - we apparently look alike!) - has got to be one of my all-time favorite composers. When I was in graduate school, I took considerable abuse from my fellow music lovers for actually having MORE albums by P.D.Q Bach than by J. S. Bach (though I think it was barely a one-point margin, really...)

But the "New Horizons in Music Appreciation" approach to Beethoven's 5th symphony is not only a musical analysis of the piece as it is being played, but a slam on the constant "blah-blah-blah" that one hears during ANY sports event.

"My Bonnie Lass She Smelleth" has got to be my all-time favorite spoof of the overly pompous "art song" oratorio. I've encouraged one of my colleagues (who directs the college chorale where I teach) to include it in a program, to no avail. One of these days, I'll put my money where my mouth is - and buy sheet music for the entire chorale.

This is one of only two albums that I have in (a) vinyl, (b) tape, and (c) CD format. That should be some indication of how very, very special I believe this to be. [The other, for those who are interested, is Joan Baez' "Diamonds and Rust."]

This has been around for years, and there's a good reason. Schickele is not only funny when he wants to be, but a supremely accomplished composer and musician, with dozens and dozens of serious musical scores to his credit as well. June 7, 2006

PDQ Bach -- The Spike Jones of Classical Music

For the classical music lover, this is an amazing spoof. For those who do not know classical music well, this is still highly entertaining. March 16, 2006

Recaptured (Twisted) Youth

My friend and I saw the good Prof. Schickele here in Pasadena last night (March 29th-- AND the conductor of the Pasadena Symphony is Jorge Meister!)-- and the last number on the program was the WONDERFUL "The Seasonings"-- I had a very hard time even after all these years of first hearing this on a REAL record of not singing along with every little tune!!! This piece last night, being sung by singers whom I do not doubt were not even born when I first heard a recording of it, were as good as the ones I remember from my decadent youth on the original recording. Buy this C.D. if only for this piece! March 31, 2003

I store it in the CD changer in my car.

My favorite single line of music from this is from "The Unbegun Symphony". Who would think to combine "You are my sunshine", a
tune I have always thought of as sappy sweet, played on violins,
with a background of horns, (I don't know what piece, but it
makes me thing of something noble and civilized) making it a
definitive statement of a benevolent sense of life.
PDQ Bach's other works are delighfully absurd, as are Peter
Schickele's commentaries. (Well I have a new set of friends now) October 6, 2002

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