P.D.Q. Bach: The Short-Tempered Clavier

P.D.Q. [pseudonym of Peter Schickele] Bach (Composer), Dennis James (Performer), Peter Schickele (Performer), Christopher O'Riley (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Dennis James, Peter Schickele, Christopher O'Riley
• Composer: P.D.Q. [pseudonym of Peter Schickele] Bach
• Audio CD (August 29, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B000003D0T
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,245 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Opening and Introduction to the Short Tempered Clavier

2. I: C major

3. II: C minor

4. III: C sharp minor

5. IV: D major

6. V: D minor

7. VI: E flat major

8. VII: F major

9. VIII: G minor

10. IX: G major

11. X: A major

12. XI: A minor

13. XII: B flat major

14. Introduction to Little Pickle Book (S. 6)

15. I: Toccat et Fuga Obnoxia

16. II: Chorale Prelude (Ave Maria et Agnus Dei)

17. III: Fantasia sopra "Gräulein Maria Mack"

18. IV: Lullaby and Good Night

19. Introduction to sonata Da Circo (Circus Sonata) (S. 3 ring)

20. I: Spiel Vorspiel

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lackluster, March 6, 2003

By 

Jason L. Smith "Jason" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: P.D.Q. Bach: The Short-Tempered Clavier (Audio CD)

I agree with most of the other individuals who have written comments. The first piece, "The Short Tempered Clavier" is, by far, the best piece on the CD. The other works seem oddly derivative of it. There isn't the usual variety in the pieces which Schickele includes (one or two instrumental, one or two vocal). My personal suspicion is that since, years ago, Schickele announced his intention to stop his P.D.Q. Bach work in order to focus on serious compositions, this CD may have been part of a contractual obligation, or, perhaps, just an effort to get the last of the P.D.Q. Bach pieces recorded.

While the "Short Temepered Clavier" is a good piece, its probably not worth the price of the CD. If you were looking for a good P.D.Q. Bach album, I'd buy "Oedipus Tex" or "1712 Overture" or even the lesser-known (but really funny) "Lieberslieder Polkas and Twelve Quite Heavenly Songs".

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Some good tracks, February 28, 2002

By 

Feller who likes Old Yeller "bottomline5" (Webster, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: P.D.Q. Bach: The Short-Tempered Clavier (Audio CD)

I enjoyed the Short-Tempered Clavier pieces tremendously. Played masterfully by Christopher O'Reilley, they are witty and delightful. A new suprise is always around the corner, and upon my first listen I found myself grinning and sometimes laughing out loud.

Then comes the rest of the album.

In the succeeding pieces, Schickele uses the same jokes, the same tunes, and crummy synthesized instruments that become so annoying that I just want to turn the thing off.

Do yourself a favor and leave after the first act.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but not the best of PDQ Bach, April 17, 2002

By 

Mark Swinton - See all my reviews

This review is from: P.D.Q. Bach: The Short-Tempered Clavier (Audio CD)

Others have written here of the slight difference between Peter Schickele's "early" and "late" PDQ Bach performances, hence it is slightly surperfluous to say that the more recent Telarc recordings (of which this is one) lack the sparkle and 'zany' character of the earlier ones from the 1970s.

They are certainly still as clever: "The Short-Tempered Clavier" is of course a spoof of J. S. Bach's "Well-Tempered Keyboard", laced with quotations from other areas of the pianists repertoire as well as having the odd snatch of a very familiar tune here and there.

The whole disc is set out as the document of a lecture given by Peter Schickele to a group of skeptical, 'unmusical' US senators, with the PDQ Bach keyboard works woven in as musical examples. Hence, as well as the title work (played on piano), the programme also features appearances by a theatre organ (on which is played the "Pochelbuchlein" - "The Little Pickle Book"), a calliope (used for the "Sonata da Circo" - "Circus Sonata" - the rendition of which is cut short by the explosion of the instrument!) and the organ of the King Congregational Church (get it?!) which is little more than two synthesisers stacked on top of each other.
Each piece is fun, although the impact of the musical jokes will vary depending upon how musically-minded the listener is. In other words, musicologists, pianists and organists are likely to get the most laughs out of the programme. The liner notes add an extra dimension to the fun by containing, as well as a "scholarly essay" on the history, discovery and publication of the music, various quips about those involved in the production of the recording, with in-jokes including a 'specification' of the King Congregational Church organ...

Take it or leave it ... as a Christmas or birthday gift for a musical friend or family-member, it wouldn't be a bad choice.