P. D. Q. Bach

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P. D. Q. Bach
Portrait of P. D. Q. Bach album cover
First appearance
Last appearance
  • P. D. Q. Bach: The Golden Anniversary
  • December 29, 2015
Created byPeter Schickele
Portrayed byPeter Schickele
In-universe information
OccupationComposer
Family
NationalityGerman

P. D. Q. Bach is a fictional composer created by the American composer and musical

initialism for "pretty damned quick
".

Schickele began working on the character while studying at the

bitonality, musical satire, and orchestral surrealism in a "bizarre melodic stream of consciousness ... In P.D.Q. Bach he has single-handedly mapped a musical universe that everyone knew was there and no one else had the guts (not simply the bad taste) to explore."[2]

In 2012 Schickele reduced his touring due to age. On December 28 and 29, 2015, at The Town Hall in New York, he performed two concerts to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his first concert.[3] Schickele died on January 16, 2024, aged 88.[4]

Biography

Schickele wrote a humorous fictional biography of the composer[5] according to which P. D. Q. Bach was born in Leipzig on April 1, 1742,[6] the son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Anna Magdalena Bach; the twenty-first of Johann's twenty children.[5] He is also referred to as "the youngest and oddest of Johann Sebastian’s 20-odd children".[7] He died May 5, 1807,[8] though his birth and death years are often listed on album literature in reverse, as "(1807–1742)?".[9] According to Schickele, P. D. Q. "possessed the originality of Johann Christian, the arrogance of Carl Philipp Emanuel, and the obscurity of Johann Christoph Friedrich".[5]: 23 

Music

Main article:
List of works by P. D. Q. Bach

Schickele's works attributed to P. D. Q. Bach often incorporate comical rearrangements of well-known works of other composers. The works use instruments not normally used in orchestras, such as the

hardart, lasso d'amore,[12]
and left-handed sewer flute.

There is often a startling juxtaposition of styles within a single P. D. Q. Bach piece. The Prelude to Einstein on the Fritz, which alludes to

minimalist manner that parodies Glass. On top of this mind-numbing structure is added everything from jazz phrases to snoring to heavily harmonized versions of "Three Blind Mice" to the chanting of a meaningless phrase ("Coy Hotsy-Totsy", alluding to the art film Koyaanisqatsi for which Glass wrote the score). Through all these mutilations, the piece never deviates from Bach's original harmonic structure.[2]

The humor in P. D. Q. Bach music often derives from violation of audience expectations, such as repeating a tune more than the usual number of times,

1712 Overture with "Yankee Doodle" replacing Tchaikovsky's melody and "Pop Goes the Weasel" replacing "La Marseillaise
".

Compositional periods

Schickele divides P. D. Q. Bach's fictional musical output into three periods: the Initial Plunge, the Soused Period, and Contrition.

Hansel and Gretel and the 1969 film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice), The Art of the Ground Round (Bach's The Art of Fugue), a Concerto for Bassoon vs. Orchestra, and a Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion.[5]

During the Contrition Period, P. D. Q. Bach wrote the

Grosse Fuge), a Fanfare for the Common Cold (Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man) and the canine cantata Wachet Arf! (Bach's Wachet auf).[5]

A final work is the mock religious work Missa Hilarious (

Missa Solemnis) (Schickele no. N2O – the chemical formula of nitrous oxide or "laughing gas").[16]

Tromboon

Tromboon
Tromboon detail (bassoon reed on the left)

The tromboon is a musical instrument made up of the

portmanteau
of "trombone" and "bassoon". The sound quality of the instrument is best described as comical and loud.

The tromboon was developed by Peter Schickele, a skilled bassoonist himself, and featured in some of his live concert and recorded performances. Schickele called it "a hybrid – that's the nicer word – constructed from the parts of a bassoon and a trombone; it has all the disadvantages of both".[17][18] This instrument is called for in the scores of P. D. Q. Bach's oratorio The Seasonings,[19] as well as the Serenude (for devious instruments)[5]: 187  and Shepherd on the Rocks, With a Twist.[20]

Recordings

On Vanguard
Title Year
Peter Schickele Presents an Evening with P. D. Q. Bach (1807–1742)? 1965
An Hysteric Return: P.D.Q. Bach at Carnegie Hall 1966
Report from Hoople: P. D. Q. Bach on the Air 1967
The Stoned Guest 1970
The Intimate P. D. Q. Bach 1974
Portrait of P. D. Q. Bach 1977
Black Forest Bluegrass 1979
Liebeslieder Polkas 1980
Music You Can't Get Out of Your Head 1982
A Little Nightmare Music 1983
On Telarc
Title Year
1712 Overture and Other Musical Assaults 1989
Oedipus Tex and Other Choral Calamities 1990
WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio 1991
Music for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion 1992
Two Pianos Are Better Than One 1994
The Short-Tempered Clavier and other dysfunctional works for keyboard 1995
P. D. Q. Bach and Peter Schickele: The Jekyll and Hyde Tour 2007
Compilations
Title Record company Year
The Wurst of P. D. Q. Bach Vanguard Records 1971
The Dreaded P. D. Q. Bach Collection Vanguard Records 1996
The Ill-Conceived P. D. Q. Bach Anthology Telarc Records 1998
Video releases
Title Year
The Abduction of Figaro 1984
P. D. Q. Bach in Houston: We Have a Problem! 2006
Audiobook
Title Year
The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach 1996

Awards

P. D. Q. Bach recordings received four successive

Grammy Awards in the Best Comedy Album category from 1990 to 1993.[21] Schickele also received a Grammy nomination in the Best Comedy Album category in 1996 for his abridged audiobook edition of The Definitive Biography of P. D. Q. Bach.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ Schlueter, Paul. "P. D. Q. Bach satirist a seriously good humor man". www.mcall.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  2. ^ a b Gann, Kyle (January 19, 1999). "Classical Trash". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  3. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original
    on March 11, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  4. ^ Fox, Margalit (January 17, 2024). "Peter Schickele, Composer and Gleeful Sire of P.D.Q. Bach, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Schickele 1976
  6. ^ Schickele 1976, p. 3: "the night of the 1st of April, 1742", "giving birth to his twenty-first child", "at one minute after midnight"
  7. ^ "Peter Schickele: 50 Years of P.D.Q. Bach: A Triumph of Incompetence!". Corning Civic Music Association. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  8. ^ "P.D.Q. Bach Bio". schickele.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2006. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  9. ^ "An Evening With P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742)?". schickele.com. Archived from the original on November 29, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  10. ^ Blau, Eleanor (December 25, 1998). "Oh, No! Still More (Quite a Bit More!) From P. D. Q. Bach". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
  11. ^ "Tp – Tr". Dolmetsch Music Dictionary. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  12. ^ "L – Lh". Dolmetsch Music Dictionary. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  13. ^ Huron, David (2004). "Music-engendered laughter: an analysis of humor devices in PDQ Bach" (PDF). Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Music. pp. 700–704.
  14. S2CID 191611084
    .
  15. ^ The term four hands refers to the playing of one instrument, most commonly a piano, by two players at once.
  16. ^ "Portrait of P. D. Q. Bach". The Peter Schickele Web Site. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  17. ^ "P. D. Q. Bach & Peter Schickele: The Jekyll and Hyde Tour". Archived from the original on December 23, 2008. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
  18. ^ Dr David Shevin (August 5, 2004). "A Viva For Elizabeth Lands". Retrieved November 13, 2008.
  19. JSTOR 897049
    .
  20. ^ "Bach: Shepherd on the Rocks, with a Twist: for Bargain Counter Tenor and Devious Instruments". Presto Music. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  21. ^ Biography page Archived 2006-07-23 at the Wayback Machine for Peter Schickele on Theodore Press Company's website
  22. ^ "Past Winners Database". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 12, 2007.

Sources

External links
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