Sunday, February 4, 2024

R.I.P. Peter Schickele (1935-2024) -- Creator of P.D.Q. Bach


R.I.P. Peter Schickele (1935-2024) — creator of P.D.Q. Bach

With the passing of classical composer and humorist, Johann Peter Schickele (known commonly as Peter Schickele) on January 16, 2024, I’ve found myself revisiting his creative output in my own personal book and CD collection, and the albums available through the libraries, both in CD and in the Hoopla streaming music app. Though he was an accomplished composer of both classical and modern works, Schickele will forever be remembered for his comedic creation — P.D.Q. Bach, the 21st of Johann Sebastian Bach’s 20 children. Schickele introduced his satirical brainchild, P.D.Q. Bach, to both the music and humor worlds in 1965, via the album An Evening With P.D.Q. Bach, and eventually went on to release around 20 albums featuring P.D.Q. Bach’s works (a few were retrospective collections or “greatest hits”). Music fans took the P.D.Q. Bach albums very seriously — Schickele not only brought both a sense of madcap, slapstick comedy and sharp, carefully thought-out parody, but he also injected the compositions with elements of both Classical and Baroque music. Schickele made use of less-common existing instruments (slide whistle, bagpipes, and kazoo, among them), but he also invented various musical instruments, either out of commonplace items found around the house (the “pastaphone”, made with uncooked manicotti), or by combining parts from two or more previously uncombined instruments, such as the Tromboon (a combination of trombone and bassoon). Even the titles of P.D.Q. Bach compositions show Schickele’s absurdist sense of humor: Concerto for Horn and Hardart, Pervertimento for Bicycle, Bagpipes and Balloons, The Stoned Guest, Hansel & Gretel & Ted & Alice, A Concerto for Bassoon v. Orchestra, Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion (I remember playing this one for my final senior concert in high school — at one point, most of the orchestra is “performing” by gargling glasses of water!), Iphegenia in Brooklyn, The Seasonings, Toot Suite, Schleptet in E flat major and A Fanfare for the Common Cold. My late father introduced me to Schickele and P.D.Q. with the album P.D.Q. Bach on the Air, one track of which features a sports color commentating team giving play by play on a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony…still one of the funniest things I’ve ever listened to!


Schickele frequently appeared in character as “Professor Peter Schickele,” from the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople, the world’s only expert researcher into the life of P.D.Q. Bach, and served as conductor for many orchestra concert performances of his works around the world. In the guise of the Professor, he would arrive late to the stage, his shirt partially un-tucked and his hair windblown and out of control. Often, he would run in from the back of the auditorium, or slide down a rope from the rafters above the stage, or wing in on a rope from the balcony. He would breathlessly share his oddball knowledge of the oddball composer, and his conducting of the orchestra would often go out of control (with humorous intent). Schickele occasionally appeared in costume as P.D.Q. Bach himself (it is his image on various album covers). Schickele wrote a book about P.D.Q. Bach, The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach, 1807-1742? (published in 1976), in which he artfully mixes satire and seriousness.

Schickele composed the instrumental score for the ecological science fiction film Silent Running (1972), including two original songs sung by Joan Baez. He also created the soundtrack, and narrated the tale, for a 1973 animated version of Where the Wild Things Are, from Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s picture book. In the 1990s and early 2000s, his “Schickele Mix” appeared on public radio stations across the country (as both first-run episodes through 1999 and then in repeat rotation) — in which he provided an education in classic music to listeners. Although he composed over 100 works for classical orchestras, choral groups, chamber ensembles and more — it is for his invention of a crazed classical music composer that he will most fondly be remembered by most of his fans, including me. If you’ve never experienced the mix of serious musicology and absurd satire, you’ve simply got to try one of the P.D.Q. Back titles in the list below from the Lincoln City Libraries. Personally, I highly recommend the album P.D.Q. Bach on the Air, although you’ll have to use the libraries’ InterLibrary Loan service to track that one down!

( official Peter Schickele/P.D.Q. Bach web site )

Recommended by Scott C.

Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

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