- P. D. Q. Bach
-
P. D. Q. Bach is a fictitious composer invented by musical satirist "Professor" Peter Schickele. In a gag that Schickele has developed over a five-decade-long career, he performs "discovered" works of this forgotten member of the Bach family. Schickele's music combines parodies of musicological scholarship, the conventions of Baroque and classical music, and slapstick comedy.
The name "P. D. Q." is a parody of the three-part names given to some members of the Bach family that are commonly reduced to initials, such as C. P. E., for Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. PDQ is an initialism for "pretty damn (darn) quick".
Schickele regularly tours, and has recorded on Vanguard and Telarc labels.
Contents
Biography
Schickele gives a humorous fictional biography of the composer [1] with facts such as the following:
- P. D. Q. Bach was born in Leipzig on March 31, 1742,[2] the son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Anna Magdalena Bach; the twenty-first of Johann's twenty children.[1] According to Schickele, Bach's parents did not bother to give their youngest son a real name, and settled on "P. D. Q." instead. The only earthly possession Johann Sebastian Bach willed to his son was a kazoo.
- P.D.Q. attributed his frequent headaches to the fact that he was christened in a shipyard rather than a church.
- Defined the doctrine of Originality Through Incompetence.
In preconcert lectures, Schickele joked that P. D. Q. Bach influenced Beethoven's famous deafness: Beethoven came to dread P. D. Q. Bach and his music so greatly that Beethoven resorted to stuffing coffee grounds into his ears whenever he saw P. D. Q. Bach coming.
In a running gag in Concerto for Horn and Hardart and in the introduction to Six Contrary Dances on his Music for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion album, Schickele inferred from fictional evidence that P. D. Q. Bach had a hollow leg that was considerably longer than the other one.
Music
Main article: List of works by P. D. Q. BachSchickele describes P. D. Q. Bach as having "the originality of Johann Christian, the arrogance of Carl Philipp Emanuel, and the obscurity of Johann Christoph Friedrich." The most distinguishing feature of P. D. Q. Bach's music, in the words of Schickele, is "manic plagiarism".
A tromboon
Schickele's works, attributed to P. D. Q. Bach, are primarily comical rearrangements of well-known works of other composers. The works use instruments not often used in orchestras, such as the slide whistle, kazoo, and fictional or experimental instruments such as the tromboon,[3] hardart, lasso d'amore,[4] and left-handed sewer flute. The works also incorporate items not normally used as musical instruments, such as balloons, fog horns, and bicycles. His music also calls for unusual methods of playing traditional instruments, such as blowing through double reeds by themselves (that is, detached from the instruments) throughout Iphigenia in Brooklyn. His parts for vocalists include coughing, snoring, sobbing, laughing, and yelling.
P. D. Q. Bach's work pokes fun at music including Baroque, Romantic, modern, country music (Oedipus Tex and Blaues Gras), and rap (Classical Rap). The "Schickele" or "S." numbers whimsically assigned to P. D. Q. Bach's works parody musicologists' catalogues of famous composers, such as the Köchel catalogue of Mozart's works.
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 Philip Glass's opera Einstein on the Beach, provides an example. The underlying music is J.S. Bach's first prelude from The Well-Tempered Clavier, but with each phrase repeated interminably in a minimalist manner that parodies Glass's. On top of this mind-numbing structure is added everything from jazz phrases to snoring to the chanting of a meaningless phrase ("Koy 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.
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, resolving later than usual or not at all, unusual key changes, or sudden switches from high art to low art.[5]
Schickele divides P. D. Q. Bach's fictional musical output into three periods: the Initial Plunge, the Soused Period, and Contrition.
During the Initial Plunge, P. D. Q. Bach wrote the Traumarai for solo piano, an Echo Sonata for "two unfriendly groups of instruments", and a Gross Concerto for Divers Flutes, two Trumpets, and Strings.
During the Soused (or Brown-Bag) Period, P. D. Q. Bach wrote a Concerto for Horn & Hardart, a Sinfonia Concertante, a Pervertimento for Bicycle, Bagpipes, and Balloons, a Serenude, a Perückenstück (literally German for "Hair-piece"), a Suite from The Civilian Barber (spoofing Rossini's The Barber of Seville), a Schleptet in E-flat major, the half-act opera The Stoned Guest (the character of "The Stone Guest" from Mozart's Don Giovanni), a Concerto for Piano vs. Orchestra, Erotica Variations (Beethoven's Eroica Variations), Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice, an opera in one unnatural act (Humperdinck's 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.
During the Contrition Period, P. D. Q. Bach wrote the cantata Iphigenia in Brooklyn (Gluck's Iphigenia in Aulis, etc.), the oratorio The Seasonings (Haydn's The Seasons), Diverse Ayres on Sundrie Notions, a Sonata for Viola Four Hands[6], the chorale prelude Should, a Notebook for Betty Sue Bach (Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach and Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue"), the Toot Suite, the Grossest Fugue (Beethoven's 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).
A final work is the mock religious work Missa Hilarious (Schickele no. N2O, N2O being nitrous oxide or "laughing gas").
Tromboon
Tromboon detail; the bassoon reed is on the leftThe tromboon is a musical instrument made up of the reed and bocal of the bassoon attached to the body of a trombone in place of the trombone's leadpipe, combining the reed and the slide for a distinctive and unusual instrument. The name of the instrument is a portmanteau of "trombone" and "bassoon". The sound quality of the instrument is best described as comical and loud. 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."[7][8] This instrument is called for in the scores of P. D. Q. Bach's oratorio The Seasonings,[9] as well as the Serenude (for devious instruments) and "Shepherd on the Rocks, With a Twist".
Performances
Schickele currently performs P. D. Q. Bach in two touring programs, both accompanied by soprano Michèle Eaton and tenor David Düsing.
"P. D. Q. Bach: The Vegas Years" is performed with an orchestra, and includes Oedipus Tex, selections from Art of the Ground Round, and the cantata Gott sei dank, daß heute Freitag ist ("Thank God It’s Friday").
"P. D. Q. Bach & Peter Schickele: The Jekyll and Hyde Tour" is performed with piano accompaniment, and includes Four Next-to-Last Songs, Shepherd on the Rocks, With a Twist, and excerpts from Little Notebook for "Piggy" Bach.
Schickele's entrances to performances are often unusual. In one San Diego concert the audience was informed that he was running late and it was uncertain just when he would arrive. Shortly thereafter, a profusely apologetic Schickele entered – through an air-conditioning duct.
In a series of New Year's Day concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, his stage manager, William Walters, was seen batting the curtains, ostensibly looking for the star as the audience got restless to start. Giving up, he would step to the podium..."is this thing on?"...and announce that the concert would have to be cancelled, since the Professor could not be found. "Wait a minute!" would come the cry from somewhere in the audience.
Prof. Schickele, trying to make his way to the stage, once found himself on a balcony with no way down. He used a large rope that just happened to be coiled nearby to lower himself to the main floor before tripping and sliding under the piano on his way to the podium.
One performance in San Francisco had an unusual sequel: at the end of the concert on May 21, 1979, the audience walked out of the concert hall straight into the White Night riots.
Recordings
Vanguard Years 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 P. D. Q. Bach 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 Sneaky Pete and the Wolf 1993 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
Four of the Telarc P. D. Q. Bach recordings received Grammy awards in the Best Comedy Recording category. These were the four albums released from 1989 until 1992.[10] 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.[11]
Further reading
- Schickele, Peter. The Definitive Biography of P. D. Q. Bach, (1807–1742)?. New York: Random House, 1976. ISBN 0-394-73409-2
See also
References
- ^ a b Schickele, Peter. The Definitive Biography of P. D. Q. Bach
- ^ Schickele, Peter. The Definitive Biography of P. D. Q. Bach, page 3: "the night of the 31st of March, 1742," "giving birth to his twenty-first child," "at one minute after midnight"
- ^ Tromboon at Dolmetsch Music Dictionary
- ^ Lasso d'amore at Dolmetsch Music Dictionary
- ^ David Huron (2004). "Music-engendered laughter: an analysis of humor devices in PDQ Bach" (PDF). Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Music. pp. 700–704. http://www.musicog.ohio-state.edu/Huron/Publications/MP040049.PDF.
- ^ The term four hands refers to the playing of one instrument, most commonly a piano, by two players at once.
- ^ "P. D. Q. Bach & Peter Schickele: The Jekyll and Hyde Tour". http://www.schickele.com/concerts/jandh.htm. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
- ^ Dr David Shevin (5 August 2004). "A Viva For Elizabeth Lands". http://www.strangeroad.com/DrDSpeaks/DrDSpeaks008.php. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
- ^ "The Seasonings, Oratorio for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass Soloists, SATB Chorus, and Orchestra by P. D. Q. Bach [Peter Schickele]", in Notes, Second Series, Vol. 30, No. 4 (June 1974), pp. 863–864. Last accessed 7 June 2008 (subscription required)
- ^ Biography page for Peter Schickele on Theodore Press Company's website
- ^ Past Winners Database page for the 1996 Grammy award nominees and winners on the Los Angeles Times website
External links
Categories:- Fictional composers
- Fictional musicians
- Nonexistent people
- Parody musicians
- Running gags
- P. D. Q. Bach
- Humor in classical music
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