P. D. Q. Bach is a fictional composer invented by musical satirist "Professor"
Peter SchickeleJohann Peter Schickele is an American composer, musical educator and parodist, best known for his comedy music albums featuring music he wrote as P. D. Q. Bach.-Biography:...
. In a
running gagA running gag is a literary device which often takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
that Schickele has used in a four-decade-long career, he performs "discovered" works of this forgotten member of the
Bach familyThe Bach family was of importance in the history of music for nearly two hundred years, with over 50 known musicians and several notable composers, the best-known of whom was Johann Sebastian Bach...
. He has recorded this music on the
VanguardVanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
and
TelarcTelarc International Corporation is an independent record label, based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods...
labels. Schickele's music combines
parodiesParody music, or musical parody, involves changing or recycling existing musical ideas or lyrics - or copying the peculiar style of a composer or artist, or even a general style of music...
of
musicologicalMusicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture. In the intermediate sense, it includes all relevant cultures and a range of musical forms, styles, genres and...
scholarship, the conventions of
BaroqueBaroque music describes a style of European classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1750. This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance and was followed by the Classical era...
and classical music, and elements of
slapstickSlapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence or activities which exceed the boundaries of common sense and sometimes includes ironic situations, such as a character being hit in the face with a heavy frying pan or running into a brick wall, or going mad while searching for...
comedy.
The name "P. D. Q." is a parody of the three-part names given to some members of the
Bach familyThe Bach family was of importance in the history of music for nearly two hundred years, with over 50 known musicians and several notable composers, the best-known of whom was Johann Sebastian Bach...
that are commonly reduced to initials, such as C. P. E., for
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bachright|250pxCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a German musician and composer, the second of five sons of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach...
.
PDQ is an initialism for "pretty damn quick" (or the bowdlerized "pretty
darn quick") in vernacular English.
"Biography"
Among the many "facts" about the composer's life in Schickele's fictional biography of the composer,
we find the following:
- P.D.Q. Bach was born in Leipzig on April 1, 1742, the son of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
and Anna Magdalena BachAnna Magdalena Bach was the second wife of Johann Sebastian Bach.-Biography:...
; the twenty first of Johann's twenty children. 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 kazooThe kazoo is a wind instrument with a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when one vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton—a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane.-Playing:...
.
- In 1755, P.D.Q. Bach was an apprentice of the inventor of the musical saw
A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is the application of a hand saw as a musical instrument. The sound created is an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin, or a woman's clear voice...
, Ludwig Zahnstocher (German for "toothpick"). In 1756, P.D.Q. Bach met Leopold MozartJohann Georg Leopold Mozart was a composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.-Childhood and student years:He was born in Augsburg, son of Johann...
and advised him to teach his son Wolfgang AmadeusWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
how to play billiardsCue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
. Later on, P.D.Q. Bach went to St. Petersburg to visit his distant cousin Leonhard Sigismund Dietrich Bach (L.S.D. Bach), whose daughter Betty Sue bore P.D.Q. a child.
- Finally, in 1770, P.D.Q. Bach started to write music, mostly by stealing melodies from other composers.
- P.D.Q.'s final words, which were spoken to Betty-Sue Bach, were "Time, gentlemen." The time was exactly eleven o'clock on the evening of May 5, 1807 in Baden-Baden-Baden [sic
Sic is a Latin word meaning "thus", "so", "as such", or "in such a manner". In writing, it is placed within square brackets and usually italicized – [sic] – to indicate that an incorrect or unusual spelling, phrase, punctuation, and/or other preceding quoted material has been reproduced verbatim...
], Germany.
- P.D.Q. Bach's grave was marked "1807–1742". The reverse order of the dates has led to some controversy, but Prof. Schickele calls the theory that P.D.Q. Bach lived his life backwards, Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
-like, "too fanciful to merit serious consideration" and insists that the marking on the grave was a "...transparent attempt [by] the Bach family to make it appear that P.D.Q. could not possibly have been sired by Johann Sebastian, who died in 1750." Nevertheless, when listing the dates in sheet music or program notes, he always includes a question mark: "(1807-1742)?"
- P.D.Q. Bach's Epitaph reads [as requested by his cousin Betty Sue Bach and written by the local doggerel catcher]:
-
- In the "original" German:
- Hier liegt ein Mann ganz ohnegleich;
- Im Leibe dick, an Sünden reich.
- Wir haben ihn in das Grab gesteckt,
- Weil es uns dünkt er sei verreckt.
-
- Translated:
-
-
- Here lies a man with sundry flaws
- And numerous Sins upon his head;
- We buried him today because
- As far as we can tell, he's dead.
The translation above is provided by Schickele in the "biography".
A more literal translation:
-
-
- Here lies a man entirely without equal,
- Fat in body, rich in sins.
- We've put him into the grave,
- as it seems to us he's kicked the bucket
To kick the bucket is an English idiom that is defined as "to die" in the Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue . It is considered a euphemistic, informal, or slang term. It is used as a verb. Its origin remains unclear, though there have been several theories.-Origin theories:A common theory is that the...
.
In preconcert lectures, Schickele has revealed that P.D.Q. Bach had a substantial influence on
BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
's 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 his way.
Before performing the
Concerto for Horn and HardartThe Concerto for Horn and Hardart is a work of Peter Schickele but is touted as a work by P. D. Q. Bach. The work is a parody of the classical double concerto but where one instrument, the hardart, uses different devices, such as plucked strings, blown whistles and popped balloons, to produce each...
, Schickele stated, though no documentary evidence existed, that the dance music of P.D.Q. Bach generally suggested that one of P.D.Q. Bach's legs was shorter than the other.
Music
Schickele describes P. D. Q. Bach as having "the originality of
Johann ChristianJohann Christian Bach was a composer of the Classical era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as 'the London Bach' or 'the English Bach', due to his time spent living in the British capital...
, the arrogance of
Carl Philipp Emanuelright|250pxCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a German musician and composer, the second of five sons of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach...
, and the obscurity of
Johann Christoph FriedrichJohann Christoph Friedrich Bach , the ninth son of Johann Sebastian Bach, sometimes referred to as the "Bückeburg Bach". He is not to be confused with Bach's first cousin once removed, Johann Christoph Bach....
." The most distinguishing feature of P. D. Q. Bach's music, in the words of Schickele, is "manic plagiarism".
P. D. Q. Bach seldom wrote original tunes; for the most part he stole melodies from other composers and rearranged them in often funny ways. Also, P. D. Q. Bach's music uses instruments not often used in orchestras, such as the
tromboonThe 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"...
,
slide whistleA slide whistle is a wind instrument consisting of a fipple like a recorder's and a tube with a piston in it. It thus has an air reed like some woodwinds, but varies the pitch with a slide. The construction is rather like a bicycle pump...
, hardart,
lasso d'amoreThe lasso d'amore is an experimental musical instrument made of corrugated plastic tubing, employed in some of Peter Schickele's comic P. D. Q. Bach compositions such as the Erotica Variations. Schickele gives a tongue-in-cheek explanation of the instrument's evolution: Viennese cowboys twirled...
, left-handed sewer flute and
kazooThe kazoo is a wind instrument with a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when one vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton—a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane.-Playing:...
, as well as 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 reedA double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. The term double reed comes from the fact that there are two pieces of cane vibrating against each other. A single reed consists of one piece of cane which vibrates against a mouthpiece made of metal, hardened...
s 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 many types of music, including Baroque, Romantic, modern,
country musicCountry music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains...
(
Oedipus Tex and
Blaues Gras), and
rapHip hop music is a musical genre which developed alongside hip hop culture, and is commonly based on concepts of loop, rapping, freestyle, DJing, scratching, sampling and beatboxing. The music is used to express concerns of political, social, and personal issues...
(
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
MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
'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 GlassPhilip Morris Glass is an American music composer. He is considered one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .Although his music is often, though controversially, described as...
's opera
Einstein on the BeachEinstein on the Beach is an opera scored and written by Philip Glass and designed and directed by theatrical producer Robert Wilson. It also contains writings by Christopher Knowles, Samuel M. Johnson and Lucinda Childs...
, provides an example. The underlying music is
J. S. BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's first prelude from the
Well-Tempered ClavierThe Well-Tempered Clavier , BWV 846–893, is a collection of solo keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach...
, but with each phrase repeated interminably in a
minimalistMinimalist music is an originally American genre of experimental or Downtown music named in the 1960s based mostly in consonant harmony, steady pulse , stasis and slow transformation, and often reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units such as figures, motifs, and cells...
manner that parodies Glass's. On top of this mind-numbing structure is added everything from
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
phrases to snoring to the chanting of a meaningless phrase ("Koy Hotsy-Totsy," alluding to the art film
KoyaanisqatsiKoyaanisqatsi , also known as Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance, is a 1982 film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke....
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,
resolvingResolution in western tonal music theory is the move of a note or chord from dissonance to a consonance .Dissonance, resolution, and suspense can be used to create musical interest...
later than usual or not at all, unusual key changes, or sudden switches from
high artHigh culture is a term, now used in a number of different ways in academic discourse, whose most common meaning is the set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture. In more popular terms, it is the culture of an elite such as the aristocracy or intelligentsia...
to
low artPopular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture...
.
Schickele divides P. D. Q. Bach's 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 & HardartHorn & Hardart was a food services company noted for operating the first automats in Philadelphia and New York City.German-born, New Orleans-raised, Frank Hardart and Philadelphia's Joseph Horn opened their first restaurant together in Philadelphia on December 22, 1888...
, a
Sinfonia ConcertanteSinfonia concertante is a musical form that originated in the classical music era, and is a mixture of the symphony and the concerto genres:* It is a concerto, in that it has one or more soloists ....
, a
Pervertimento, a
Serenude, a
Perückenstück, a Suite from
The Civilian Barber {spoofing Rossini's
The Barber of SevilleThe Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini...
}, a
Schleptet in E-flat major, the half-act opera
The Stoned GuestThis musical work, while touted as "P. D. Q. Bach's Half-Act Opera: The Stoned Guest," is actually the work of Peter Schickele. The title is a play on the subtitle of Don Giovanni by Mozart, "The Stone Guest", as well as the opera The Stone Guest by Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomïzhsky...
{the character of "The Stone Guest" from
MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
's
Don GiovanniDon Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered in the Estates Theatre in Prague on October 29, 1787...
}, a
Concerto for Piano vs. Orchestra,
Erotica Variations {
BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
's
Eroica VariationsThe Variations and Fugue for Piano in E flat major, Op. 35 are a set of fifteen variations for solo piano composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1802. They are commonly referred to as the Eroica Variations because variations on the same theme were used as the finale of his Symphony No. 3 Eroica...
},
Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice (an opera in one unnatural act) {
HumperdinckEngelbert Humperdinck was a German composer, best known for his opera, Hänsel und Gretel .Humperdinck was born at Siegburg, in the Rhine Province.- Life :...
's
Hansel and Gretel and the 1969 film
Bob & Carol & Ted & AliceThis article is about the 1969 film. For the 1973 television series based on this film, see Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice .Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is a 1969 comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky. It starred Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon. The screenplay is written by...
},
The Art of the Ground Round {
BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's
The Art of FugueThe Art of Fugue or The Art of the Fugue , BWV 1080, is an incomplete masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach . The work was most likely started at the beginning of the 1740s, if not earlier. The first known surviving version, which contained 12 fugues and 2 canons, was copied by the composer in 1745...
}, a
Concerto for Bassoon vs. Orchestra, and a
Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and PercussionThe Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion is a piece of music written by Peter Schickele, touted as a composition of the fictional P.D.Q. Bach. It consists of 4 movements, and is meant to be humorous to listen to. The players are told to play the piece sloppily, especially the...
.
During the Contrition Period, P. D. Q. Bach wrote the cantata
Iphigenia in Brooklyn {
GluckChristoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
's
Iphigenia in AulisIphigénie en Aulide is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the first work he wrote for the Paris stage. The libretto was written by Leblanc du Roullet and was based on Jean Racine's tragedy Iphigénie...
, etc.}, the oratorio
The Seasonings {
Haydn Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer. He was one of the most important, prolific and prominent composers of the classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these genres...
's
The SeasonsThe Seasons is an oratorio by Joseph Haydn .-Composition, premiere, and reception:Haydn was led to write The Seasons by the great success of his previous oratorio The Creation , which had become very popular and was in the course of being performed all over Europe...
},
Diverse Ayres on Sundrie Notions, a
Sonata for Viola for Four Hands, the chorale prelude
Should, a
Notebook for Betty Sue Bach {
BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and organist whose ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's
Notebook for Anna Magdalena BachThe title Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach refers to either of two manuscript notebooks that the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach presented to his second wife Anna Magdalena...
and
Buddy HollyCharles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
's "
Peggy Sue"Peggy Sue" is a rock and roll song written by Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty, and originally performed, recorded and released as a single by Buddy Holly and the Crickets in early July of 1957. The song was also released on Buddy Holly's self-titled 1958 album...
"}, the
Toot Suite, the
Grossest Fugue {
BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
's
Grosse FugeThe Große Fuge is a single-movement composition for string quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven famous for its extreme technical demands on the players as well as for its unrelentingly introspective nature, even by the standards of his late period...
}, a
Fanfare for the Common Cold {
CoplandAaron Copland was an American composer of concert and film music, as well as an accomplished pianist. Instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, he was widely known as "the dean of American composers". Copland's music achieved a balance between modern music and American...
's
Fanfare for the Common ManFanfare for the Common Man is a 20th-century American classical music work by American composer Aaron Copland. The piece was written in 1942 for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under conductor Eugène Goossens.-Instrumentation:...
}, and the canine cantata
Wachet Arf! {Bach's
Wachet auf}.
He also composed the religious work
Missa Hilarious (Schickele no. N
2O, N
2O being
nitrous oxideNitrous oxide, commonly known as happy gas or laughing gas, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula N
2O. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a pleasant, slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic...
or "laughing gas"), which was found along with documents pertaining to his excommunication.
Performances
Schickele currently performs the music of P. D. Q. Bach in two different 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.
Albums
Vanguard Years
| Title |
Year |
| Peter Schickele Presents an Evening with P. D. Q. Bach (1807-1742?) Peter Schickele Presents an Evening with P. D. Q. Bach was the first concert and also the first release of the music of Peter Schickele under his comical pseudonym of P. D. Q. Bach by Vanguard Records. The Chamber Orchestra was conducted by Jorge Mester...
|
1965 |
| An Hysteric Return: P. D. Q. Bach at Carnegie Hall |
1966 |
| Report from Hoople: P. D. Q. Bach on the Air Report from Hoople: P. D. Q. Bach on the Air was released on Vanguard Records in 1967. It is set up as a radio broadcast of the music of P. D. Q...
|
1967 |
| The Stoned Guest The Stoned Guest is "the premiere recording of the Half-Act Opera by P. D. Q. Bach", the pseudonym used by Peter Schickele for parodic works...
|
1970 |
| The Intimate P. D. Q. Bach The Intimate P. D. Q. Bach is "a live recording of The Intimate P.D.Q. Bach stage show, featuring Professor Peter Schickele and the Semi-Pro Musica Antiqua" and was released on Vanguard Records in 1974.-Performers:...
|
1974 |
| Portrait of P. D. Q. Bach Portrait of P. D. Q. Bach was released in 1977 on Vanguard Records. The album features mostly the work of Peter Schickele writing as P. D. Q...
|
1977 |
| Black Forest Bluegrass Black Forest Bluegrass is a recording of the music of Peter Schickele under his comic pseudonym of P. D. Q. Bach, featuring the composer and "a bluegrass band with a Baroque orchestra, a wind octet with toys, a commercial with a snake — this album has it all!" The album was released on Vanguard...
|
1979 |
| Liebeslieder Polkas Liebeslieder Polkas is recording of the music of Peter Schickele under his comic pseudonym of P. D. Q. Bach,. It describes itself as "the first opus of P.D.Q...
|
1980 |
| Music You Can't Get Out of Your Head Music You Can't Get Out of Your Head is recording of the music by Peter Schickele writing as P. D. Q. Bach. The album describes itself as "P.D.Q...
|
1982 |
| A Little Nightmare Music A Little Nightmare Music is an opera in "one irrevocable act" by Peter Schickele under the pseudonym he uses for parodies and comical works P. D. Q. Bach. The title of the work refers to the English translation of Mozart's famous Eine kleine Nachtmusik...
|
1983 |
P.D.Q. Bach on Telarc
| Title |
Year |
| 1712 Overture and Other Musical Assaults 1712 Overture and Other Musical Assaults is a classical music album released in 1989 by Telarc Records. The album contains works by P. D. Q. Bach, the alter ego of Professor Peter Schickele...
|
1989 |
| Oedipus Tex and Other Choral Calamities Oedipus Tex and Other Choral Calamities was released in 1990 by Telarc Records. The album contains works by Peter Schickele under his alter-ego of P. D. Q. Bach...
|
1990 |
| WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio was released in 1991 by Telarc Records. The album contains the "last hour of the broadcast from station WTWP in Hoople on May 5, 1991, the 184th anniversary of the death of P. D. Q...
|
1991 |
| Music for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion Music for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion was released in 1992 by Telarc Records. The album contains one piece by Professor Peter Schickele writing under his own name and several pieces by him as P. D. Q. Bach....
|
1992 |
| Sneaky Pete and the Wolf |
1993 |
| Two Pianos Are Better Than One Two Pianos Are Better Than One was released in 1994 by Telarc Records. The album contains works by Peter Schickele, sometimes under the pseudonym P. D. Q. Bach, including the "Concerto for Two Pianos vs...
|
1994 |
| The Short-Tempered Clavier and other dysfunctional works for keyboard The Short-Tempered Clavier and other dysfunctional works for keyboard was released in 1995 by Telarc Records. The album contains works by Peter Schickele, sometimes under his pseudonym of P. D. Q...
|
1995 |
| P. D. Q. Bach and Peter Schickele: The Jekyll and Hyde Tour P.D.Q. Bach & Peter Schickele: The Jekyll & Hyde Tour was released in 2007 by Telarc Records. The album contains works by Peter Schickele, sometimes as his alter-ego P.D.Q. Bach, including a collection of vocal works and a string quartet...
|
2007 |
Compilations
| Title |
Record Company |
Year |
| The Wurst of P. D. Q. Bach The Wurst of P. D. Q. Bach is a collection of works by Peter Schickele under his comic pseudonym of P. D. Q. Bach originally recorded on the Vanguard Records label by the composer. It includes "lowlights" from four different Vanguard albums: An Evening with P.D.Q. Bach ?, An Hysteric Return: P.D.Q....
|
Vanguard Records |
1978 |
| The Dreaded P. D. Q. Bach Collection The Dreaded P. D. Q. Bach Collection is a collection of works by Peter Schickele under the pseudonym of P. D. Q. Bach originally recorded on the Vanguard Records label by the composer. It includes the complete contents of the first five P. D. Q. Bach albums, plus the never-before-released "Sanka"...
|
Vanguard Records |
1996 |
| The Ill-Conceived P. D. Q. Bach Anthology The Ill-Conceived P. D. Q. Bach Anthology is a collection of works by Peter Schickele writing as P. D. Q. Bach originally recorded on the Telarc label by the composer.-Performers:*Professor Peter Schickele, conductor, bass, devious instruments...
|
Telarc Records |
1998 |
Video releases
| Title |
Year |
| The Abduction of Figaro The Abduction of Figaro is a comic opera, described as "A Simply Grand Opera by P. D. Q. Bach," which is actually the work of composer Peter Schickele...
|
1984 |
| P.D.Q. Bach in Houston: We Have a Problem! |
2006 |
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 1989-1992. 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.
Further reading
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