Customer Reviews

P.D.Q. Bach: 1712 Overture & Other Musical Assaults

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Mr. Schickele is a genius, he's taken music history and disgraced it, apocryphally!
the 1712 overture pokes fun at just about every type of music out there, and what the 1712 doesn't defile, the rest of the tracks on this CD pick up the slack.

This incredibly irreverent album is a must for music lovers everywhere!

Get yourself a copy! You won't be disappointed!

This is my favourite PDQ Bach collection. The 1712 Overture alone is worth the price of admission. The use of the motif from 'I Ain't Got No Home' is inspired and the skewering of 'Day Tripper' reduces me to helpless giggles every time.

Einstein on the Fritz is a tonic to anyone sick of the pretentious meanderings of Philip Glass, Taverner et al. And Cappricio La Poucelle de New Orleans (engineered by Burt Bach, a living direct decendant of JS Bach) is frighteningly intense, as well as hysterical. These musicians are also terrific - the pieces wouldn't work at all otherwise. And who couldn't love the rapturous intro to The Preachers of Crimetheous - featuring the most incredible percussion playing since Ginger Baker's 'Toad'.

All in all, this is a completely ridiculous delight!

This cd won Schikele the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, and deservedly so. This is one of his most consistently funny cds. The title track pokes fun at "Toccata & Fugue," The Beatles' "Daytripper", even "Pop Goes the Weasel". Brilliant. The "Einstein on the Fritz" is a very good parody of Philip Glass. Also, the spoken intros to each piece are hilarious.

The first time I heard the 1712 Overture, I was driving home from work in rush hour traffic. I was listening to the classical music radio station in Orlando, Florida and they played this piece. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to hit the car in front of me. I couldn't see because tears of laughter were pouring down my face. When I finally found a copy of the CD, I immediately bought it with no hesitation. The rest of the pieces are great, as well, especially the introduction to The Preachers of Crimetheus.

My experience with the 1712 Overture is similar to Victoria's (in another review). I was listening to the car radio when I heard the dissonant pile-up halfway through, and almost drove off the Interstate.

It should be noted that the Amazon listing is incorrect. The 1712 Overture is in reality conducted by "Walter Bruno" who is actually David Zinman. It is most assuredly not conducted by Bruno Walter (can you imagine that?), who died in 1962.

Highly recommended.

P Schickele does it yet again! He successfullly skewers the classics again. My personal fave is Einstein On The Fritz, where he does a wonderful job of spoofing Philip Glass.....Only the Prof. is so twisted as to be able to sneak in 'Three Blind Mice" in the middle of a Glassian composition!

This should break the ice of the so serious classical world. Not only are the parodies funny, but his comical 'leadins' and basically stand ups are hilarious. Of course though, the CD isn't something I reach for often after the first week of ownership. The comedy looses it's funnyness but the music is still fun to listen to now and then. Though, it is always something I can share with my friends. So it wasn't a regretable purchase. I recommend it.

This album, a 1989 Grammy winner, is astoundingly hilarious, as are most albums of P.D.Q. Bach material. The "1712 Overture" is a masterpiece, and none of the other tracks disappoint.

If you buy only one P.D.Q. Bach album today, make this one of them.

This was first full taste of P.D.Q. Bach's travesties, and I've been hooked ever since. The title track is a crazy sampling of various sources, from J.S. Bach to the Beatles. When I heard the Minuet Militaire, I imagined a video of cartoon pratfalls, from pies in the face, to dropped anvils. Riot!

This is as much of a spoof of the famous digital Telarc recording of the Tchaikowski 1812 overture recording than it is of the overture itself. All I have to do is remember the musical "jokes" within this masterpiece and I still laugh out loud. It is a pleasure to listen to, for the performance and recording quality as well. The musicians recording this album must have had a blast (pun intended) performing the works. Peter Shickele has long since ceased "discovering" new works from the ficticious P.D.Q. Bach, but several wonderful studio and concert recordings exist from the past. All are highly recommended. You might even get something of a slanted musical education out of Prof. Shickele's comments at the beginnings of the pieces. And yes, he really is a Professor. There is a biobraphy entitled "The Difinitive History of P.D.Q Bach" you can probably find on the web. I once found it in the history section of a bookstore!