Customer Reviews

An Hysteric Return: P.D.Q. Bach at Carnegie Hall

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This is the ultimate CD to get for unabashed amusement! It is a live concert recording hosted by Professor Peter Schickele, the man who single-handedly unleashed J.S. Bach's "forgotten" son onto the musical world some years ago and who has kept audiences in stitches with "newly-discovered" works and performances of them using a host of "authentic instruments" - for instance, this CD is the only one I've ever come across that includes music for bicycle, bagpipes and balloons...

My former composition tutor possesses a copy of the first item in the programme, "The Seasonings," an oratorio that can best be described as a crazy fusion of Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" and Handel's "Messiah." Hearing that score come to life in this recording had me laughing just as much as the live audience: particular moments including the line "Soothsayer, say unto me the sooth," and the aria "Open Sesame seeds" for solo bass (which includes a passage that is physically impossible to sing unless you happen to be a Russian octavist!). The programme closes with the "Pervertimento" (not the composer's own title, apparently) for bicycle, droneless bagpipes and balloons with kazoos attached. This too is an utter hilarity: the entrance of the wheezy bicycle siren in the second movement (over implacably graceful string music) never fails to evoke a giggle! In between these two works comes one of Peter Schickele's own works: "The Unbegun Symphony" which consists of a minuet and a finale but nothing else. This is not as arresting as the other two works, but it fills up the programme very well, complementing the PDQ Bach items and providing no less amusing moments.

If you only ever buy one PDQ Bach record, it might as well be this one. Endless fun, particularly for musicians who like to take the plunge now and then...

I was first introduced to the "artistry" of P.D.Q. Bach in the late '70s via "The Wurst of P.D.Q. Bach" compilation. That album is long gone, so, now that I'm going through my mid-life "transition", I'm rediscovering good ol' P.D.Q. via the original Vanguard recordings. This is, to my knowledge, the second of the P.D.Q. Bach recordings, and it is truly a side-splitting classic. If you have "The Wurst", you may still want this recording, too, as it contains the complete "The Seasonings" as well as the full introduction and third movement of the "Unbegun" Symphony. WARNING: if you listen to this while driving, make sure you're on a road with a good, wide paved shoulder. You will likely need it so you can pull off to recover from a fit of hysterical laughter.

This is definitely one of the best of the many titles featuring the questionable genius of J S Bach's 13th and perpetually soused son, PDQ. As always, Peter Schickele is in fine form with rapid-fire jokes, quips and godawful puns, but it is the sheer breathtaking awfulness of the music which leaves you rolling about helplessly with laughter, begging for more. The first offering, "The Seasonings", manages to mercilessly savage Handel's "Messiah" in just under twenty minutes, and the vocal harmonies have to be heard to be believed, especially the final chord of the work. Schickele's 'Unbegun Symphony" has the Professor back to his old tricks again, mucking about with the interplay of classical standards and more modern melodies, but it is the "Pervertimento" which stands out as an instant classic. Only an inventive genius (or a complete loon) would think to incorporate bicycles into an orchestral piece, much less the distinctive wail of the bagpipes. In fact, the second movement, where the bagpipes try desperately to echo the strings, must stand as one of the high points of musical comedy to this date. The only problem with this recording is that much of the humour to be derived from the performance is visual, so it does lose a little in the translation. That aside, this is a very, very funny CD, and a great introduction for anyone wanting to dip into zany world of PDQ Bach.

I must differ with the others only to the extent of mentioning my favorite part of "The Seasonings": the aria, "If You've Got the Money, Honey, I've Got the Thyme!" :-)

All the bases have been covered, but I can't resist adding my voice to the chorus of approval. I have loved this music ever since I was very young, and find it still funnier, wittier,
and musically fine after being on the other side of a few college courses in musical theory. THE SEASONINGS is perhaps Shickele's most brilliant parody - the orchestra and soloists are superb. And how can we forget the brilliant contributions of the O.K. Chorale, particularly in the boisterous Handelian closing chorus, "To curry favor, favor curry"?

My college choir director, Dr. Knowles, lent me this as an intro to PDQ BACH, and I haven't stopped laughing yet. The work as a whole has to be heard to be believed. One of my favorite parts in "The Seasonings" is the "Fugue for Orchestra", now that I know what the definition of a fugue is. The more I learn about music, the funnier it gets. Everytime I listen to it, I hear something new. Pedal points indeed.

This was the second PDQ Bach album I ever heard (after The Intimate PDQ Bach), and I can never decide which is best. At times I can't get The Seasonings or The Unbegun Symphony out of my head. The live audience makes it even better---hearing other people get the jokes makes you feel you're at the show.

Complaint #1: Schickele made the self-congratulatory mistake of recording it with an audience. And thus drowning out his genius with unwanted noise. Complaint #2: Schickele's weakness for puns led to the dull self-congratulatory title. Which is a parody of Vladimir Horowitz's HISTORIC RETURN.

I'm flabbergasted by the crack musicianship that executed THE SEASONINGS. For instance, the unison trumpet & timpani at the start of OPEN SESAME SEED. And for some reason, that single bit of Beethovenian shtick means more to me that the entire banal oeuvre of Herr Ludwig himself. Have you ever noticed that the word "banal" consists of the letter "b" combined with the word "anal"? That's what the "b" in "banal" stands for, as a matter of fact: Beethoven. Anthony Burgess once confessed to being bored to tears by Beethoven's simplistic and painfully predicable harmonies. And I know for a fact that Schickele is just as bored-by-Beethoven as Burgess is. Schickele indicated this via the great wracked sobs of boredom in the BABYLON parody of OLD MCDONALD. Wherein Babylon is a code word for Beethoven. (Trust me on this one.)