Customer Reviews

The Intimate P.D.Q. Bach

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Peter Shickele has made a career out of lampooning classical music. On numerous albums, he has "performed" the works of P.D.Q. Bach, the mythical lost son of J.S. Bach. What all of his pieces have in common is that they take a perfectly good piece of classical music and make a complete mockery out of it, usually with hilarious results. This album is no exception

"Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice" is billed as an opera in one unnatural act. It is silly and irreverent. It is also fun.

"The O.K. Chorale" is a lampoon of "The Sheep May Safely Graze" with "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and others thrown in for comic effect. It is played on "calliope".

"Erotica Variations" is lifted from Beethoven's "Heroica". It features some rather obscure instruments that, hopefully, will not have anything else written for them.

"The Art of the Ground Round" is one of my all time favorites. It is a series of rounds or canons. As the voices start to overlap, a completely new set of lyrics appears.

These "compositions" may offend serious music lovers. For any one with a sense of humor about pretentious music it is a must.

Prof. Peter Schickele does it again. His uncanny genious in twisting classical music to something totally other is masterfully showcased in this wonderful album. You don't even have to like classical. It's funny in it's own right. But even teens like me think this is a riot.

This is definately my favorite of all the PDQ Bach recordings. A classic (pardon the pun) that will have even those of you who are not particularly fond of classical music, wanting more. The "Art of the Ground Round" is brilliant as well as the opereta "Hansel and Gretal and Ted and Alice"

My brother brought this home from college 25+ years ago. I know most of the songs by heart, especially the Ground Round. No matter how many times I hear it I find myself laughing and groaning along with the audience. The studio albums, while good, just don't have the zing of the live ones.

If you've never experienced the music of P.D.Q. Bach, the album THE INTIMATE P.D.Q. BACH is a great place to start. Professor Peter Schickele (of the University of Southern North Dakota, at Hoople) is a master of the comic lyric. His verse is easily as complex and witty as Tom Lehrer's best. Additionally, Schickele is so deeply steeped in the classical genre he can facilely twist, combine and parody music from any era, and with remarkable results.

"Bargain-counter" tenor John Ferrante had a voice and talent like no other. The initial success of Schickele's efforts are due in large part to Ferrante's unique vocal contributions.

"Hansel And Gretel And Ted And Alice" is a superlative work-- a one act comic opera with seven characters, performed by Ferrante and Schickele, along with a solo piano. The play is by turns jolly, convoluted, silly, "shocking," but always melodious. In the opera's finale, the two performers are required to sing FOUR parts almost simultaneously, a feat complicated by Schickele's deftly donning and removing a wolf's head to play his two characters. Visually, this piece was an hysterical sight.

What can be said about the "O.K. Chorale"? The calliope-four-hands has never sounded as sweet.

The intro to the "Erotica Variations" is nearly as hilarious as the music itself. That the instruments involved were "banned" is a gift to us all!

"The Art Of The Ground Round" is the one selection from this album that everyone seems to remember. This is due in large part to punnish and impudent lyrics-- and our natural love of Row, Row, Row your boat-type group sings.

THE INTIMATE P.D.Q. BACH is highly recommended for all classical music lovers, fans of madcap comedy, and anyone who happens to live in Hoople, North Dakota.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME -- 50:14

The GROUND ROUND tunes are obviously the stand-out items. But I regret that they were done with minimalist arrangements. These mini-masterpieces should've been done with lavish orchestrations. And without a live audience. (Schickele didn't have the common sense to eschew live audiences until MISSA HILARIOUS.)

GROUND ROUND's 3 tenors are John Ferrante, John Nelson, & The Schick. And every time I hear it, I come to it with an automatic prejudice that favors Ferrante's singing. But then I get subjected to John Nelson's luscious voice and it causes me to reconsider my favoritism. (Schickele's voice is 2000 light-years from contention.)