Printed books are all well and good, but, let's face it, it's a whole lot easier to let somebody else do the reading. P.D.Q. Bach was probably the most passive composer who ever allegedly lived, so the less effort you put into learning about him, the more you carry on his ideals.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Absolutely grossing reading...I loved every minutiae of it. I recommend it to all with a bent ear."
-- Pinchas Zukerman
"As with all of Peter Schickele's musical musings, this is superb humor reflecting a boundless knowledge of the world of music."
-- Victor Borge
An "eminently readable and vastly enjoyable book."
-- Isaac Stern
"But how can I explain to outsiders the humor so delicate, the mirth evanescent, the je ne sais quoi of this handsome and hilarious book?"
-- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
-- Pinchas Zukerman
"As with all of Peter Schickele's musical musings, this is superb humor reflecting a boundless knowledge of the world of music."
-- Victor Borge
An "eminently readable and vastly enjoyable book."
-- Isaac Stern
"But how can I explain to outsiders the humor so delicate, the mirth evanescent, the je ne sais quoi of this handsome and hilarious book?"
-- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
From the Inside Flap
What little-known son of a famous genius has been called:
"A musical blight"
"A one-man plague"
"History's most justifiably neglected composer"
"The worst musician ever to trod organ pedals" "A pimple on the face of music"
In this long-awaited hoax, possibly the most unimportant piece of scholarship in over two thousand years, Professor Peter Schickele has finally succeeded in ripping the veil of obscurity from the most unusual -- to put it kindly -- composer in the history of music: P.D.Q. Bach, the last and unquestionably the least of the great Johann Sebastian Bach's many children. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"A musical blight"
"A one-man plague"
"History's most justifiably neglected composer"
"The worst musician ever to trod organ pedals" "A pimple on the face of music"
In this long-awaited hoax, possibly the most unimportant piece of scholarship in over two thousand years, Professor Peter Schickele has finally succeeded in ripping the veil of obscurity from the most unusual -- to put it kindly -- composer in the history of music: P.D.Q. Bach, the last and unquestionably the least of the great Johann Sebastian Bach's many children. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Side-splittingly funny,
By
This review is from: The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach (Paperback)
A hilarious fake biography of the fictional, "last and certainly least" child of Johann Sebastian Bach. P.D.Q. spends most of his young life rebelling against his family's artistic legacy before he finally realizes that having the name Bach means that people will pay him good money for mediocre musical works. And mediocre they are--besides being a drunk and a philanderer, he has no musical talent whatsoever. Which doesn't stop him from creating some of the most inept, bizarre and funny art the world has ever seen. Great stuff, even if you have no knowledge of classical music.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hilarious!,
By
This review is from: Pdq Bach, The Definitive Biography Of (Audio Cassette)
I first read this hilariously absurd book when I was in college. My only regret is that I read it in a public place, so I had to stifle the nearly-uncontrollable fits of laughter it provoked. Only Peter Schickele would solemnly explain that a suite for "divers instruments" was not actually performed with scuba gear, or that the left-handed sewer flute is nearly extinct as an instrument because most of them ended up back underground. Only Schickele would write a classical piece featuring ocarina and plucked strings (ok; so that's not true; Gyorgy Ligeti did it, too--but maybe Ligeti read this book!) In short, this is the best written satire on classical music ever produced. It gives classical music the same treatment as the "Airplane" movies gave Irwin Allen films--one joke after another after another...
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Certainly the best book of its kind, whatever that is.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach (Paperback)
From the opening frontispiece (a page of score from a composition whose words consist of "front is") to the closing index (where you can look up the page numbers of both the index and the reference to the index in the table of contents), everything in this book is funny. It traces the life and music of P.D.Q. Bach from Early Infancy (1742-1745) and Late Infancy (1745-1766) through his final creative period, Contrition, to give you a music history education you just won't get anywhere else. Lots of unusual pictures of unpicturable things, odd descriptions of indescribable instruments and strange explanations of inexplicable music. It lacks lots of the more recent research on this subject, but so does every other book, so this remains the best book of its kind, whatever that is.
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First Sentence:
It was cold and dark and wet in Leipzig on the night of the 31st of March 1742. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
bargain counter tenor, echo sonata, bonnie lass Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Prince Fred, Johann Christian, Johann Sebastian Bach, Don Octave, Donna Ribalda, Initial Plunge, Carmen Ghia, The Civilian Barber, Wilhelm Friedemann, Soused Period, Toot Suite, Anna Magdalena, Padre Martini, Prince Ferdinand, The Seasonings, Thomas Collins, University of Southern North Dakota, Age of Enlightenment, Bishop Walburga, The Triumphs of Thusnelda, Thomas Pollex, Baron van Swieten, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Count Pointercount, Herr Bach New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
It was cold and dark and wet in Leipzig on the night of the 31st of March 1742. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
bargain counter tenor, echo sonata, bonnie lass Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Prince Fred, Johann Christian, Johann Sebastian Bach, Don Octave, Donna Ribalda, Initial Plunge, Carmen Ghia, The Civilian Barber, Wilhelm Friedemann, Soused Period, Toot Suite, Anna Magdalena, Padre Martini, Prince Ferdinand, The Seasonings, Thomas Collins, University of Southern North Dakota, Age of Enlightenment, Bishop Walburga, The Triumphs of Thusnelda, Thomas Pollex, Baron van Swieten, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Count Pointercount, Herr Bach New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 10
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cites this book:
- Hansel and Gretel (Colour Crunchies) by Margaret Mayo on page 209
- Riders of The Purple Sage by Zane Grey in Back Matter
- Memories, Dreams, Reflections by C.G. Jung on page 13
- Water Music: for Orchestra by George Friederic Handel on page 198
- Hansel and Gretel by Brothers Grimm in Back Matter
See all 10 books this book cites
- New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage by Andrea Sutcliffe on page 644
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