P. D. Q. Bach is the pseudonym under which "Professor" Peter Schickele has … Read Full Bio ↴P. D. Q. Bach is the pseudonym under which "Professor" Peter Schickele has written a substantial body of satirical music, recorded on the Vanguard and Telarc labels. The music combines takeoffs on musicological scholarship, the conventions of Baroque and Classical music, and a certain amount of slapstick comedy.
Among the many "facts" about the composer's life in Schickele's fictional biography of the composer,[1] we find the following:
P. D. Q. Bach was born in Leipzig on April 1, 1742 [2], the son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Anna Magdalena Bach. According to Schickele, Bach's parents did not bother to give their youngest son a real name, and settled on "P. D. Q." instead. (In vernacular English, "P. D. Q." stands for "pretty damn quick".) Johann Sebastian did not give any musical training to P. D. Q. After his death, the only earthly possession Johann Sebastian Bach willed to his son was a kazoo.
In 1755, P. D. Q. Bach was an apprentice of the inventor of the musical saw, Ludwig Zahnstocher (German for "toothpick"). In 1756, P. D. Q. Bach met Leopold Mozart and advised him to teach his son Wolfgang Amadeus how to play billiards. Later on P. D. Q. Bach went to St. Petersburg to visit his distant cousin Leonhard Sigismund Dietrich Bach, whose daughter Betty Sue bore P. D. Q. a child.
Finally, in 1770, P. D. Q. Bach started to write music, mostly by stealing melodies from other composers.
P. D. Q. Bach died on May 5, 1807; however, his grave was marked "1807-1742".
P. D. Q. Bach's Epitaph reads [as requested by his cousin Betty Sue Bach and written by the local doggerel catcher]:
In the "original" German:
Hier liegt ein Mann ganz ohnegleich;
Im Leibe dick, an SĂźnden reich.
Wir haben ihn ins Grab gesteckt,
Weil es uns dĂźnkt, er sei verreckt.
Translated:
Here lies a man with sundry flaws
And numerous Sins upon his head;
We buried him today because
As far as we can tell, he's dead.
In his many preconcert lectures Peter Schickele has revealed other information about P. D. Q. Bach's life:
P. D. Q. Bach had a substantial influence on Beethoven's deafness. This is due to the latter's habit of stuffing coffee grounds into his ears whenever he saw P. D. Q. Bach coming.
P. D. Q. Bach is the INTERCAL (a parody of computer programming languages) of Baroque music.
Prof. Schickele describes P. D. Q. Bach as having "the originality of Johann Christian, the arrogance of Carl Philipp Emanuel, and the obscurity of Johann Christoph Friedrich." The most distinguishing feature of P. D. Q. Bach's music, in the words of Schickele, is "manic plagiarism". P. D. Q. Bach seldom wrote original tunes; for the most part he stole melodies from other composers and rearranged them in often funny ways. Also, P. D. Q. Bach's music uses instruments not often used in orchestras, such as the tromboon, slide whistle, hardart, lasso d'amore and kazoo, as well as items not normally used as musical instruments, such as balloons and bicycle. His music also calls for unusual methods of playing traditional instruments, such as the use of horns in various states of disassembly throughout Iphigenia in Brooklyn. His parts for vocalists, in addition to singing, also include coughing, snoring, sobbing, laughing and yelling.
In addition to making fun of Baroque and Classical music conventions, P. D. Q. Bach's music sometimes pokes fun at Romantic and modern music, and sometimes even country music (Oedipus Tex and Blaues Gras) and rap (Classical Rap). In Prelude to Einstein on the Fritz, a man is directed to make snoring noises while the music proceeds in a minimalist manner. The "Schickele" or "S." numbers whimsically assigned to P. D. Q. Bach's works parody musicologists' catalogues of famous composers, such as the KĂśchel catalogue of Mozart's works.
Schickele divides P. D. Q. Bach's musical output into three periods: the Initial Plunge, the Soused Period, and Contrition.
During the Initial Plunge, P. D. Q. Bach wrote Traumarei for solo piano, an Echo Sonata for "two unfriendly groups of instruments", and a Gross Concerto for Divers' Flutes, two Trumpets, and Strings.
During the Soused Period, P. D. Q. Bach wrote a Concerto for Horn & Hardart, a Sinfonia Concertante, a Pervertimento, a Serenude, a PerĂźckenstĂźck, a Suite from The Civilian Barber, a Schleptet in E-flat major, the half-act opera The Stoned Guest, a Concerto for Piano vs. Orchestra, Erotica Variations, Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice (an opera in one unnatural act), The Art of the Ground Round, a Concerto for Bassoon vs. Orchestra, and a Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion.
During the Contrition, P. D. Q. Bach wrote the cantata Iphigenia in Brooklyn, the oratorio The Seasonings, Diverse Ayres on Sundrie Notions, a Sonata for Viola for Four Hands, the chorale prelude Should, a Notebook for Betty Sue Bach, the Toot Suite, the Grossest Fugue, a Fanfare for the Common Cold, and the canine cantata Wachet Arf!
He also composed the religious work "Missa Hilarious" (Schickele no. N2O), which was found along with documents pertaining to his excommunication
Among the many "facts" about the composer's life in Schickele's fictional biography of the composer,[1] we find the following:
P. D. Q. Bach was born in Leipzig on April 1, 1742 [2], the son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Anna Magdalena Bach. According to Schickele, Bach's parents did not bother to give their youngest son a real name, and settled on "P. D. Q." instead. (In vernacular English, "P. D. Q." stands for "pretty damn quick".) Johann Sebastian did not give any musical training to P. D. Q. After his death, the only earthly possession Johann Sebastian Bach willed to his son was a kazoo.
In 1755, P. D. Q. Bach was an apprentice of the inventor of the musical saw, Ludwig Zahnstocher (German for "toothpick"). In 1756, P. D. Q. Bach met Leopold Mozart and advised him to teach his son Wolfgang Amadeus how to play billiards. Later on P. D. Q. Bach went to St. Petersburg to visit his distant cousin Leonhard Sigismund Dietrich Bach, whose daughter Betty Sue bore P. D. Q. a child.
Finally, in 1770, P. D. Q. Bach started to write music, mostly by stealing melodies from other composers.
P. D. Q. Bach died on May 5, 1807; however, his grave was marked "1807-1742".
P. D. Q. Bach's Epitaph reads [as requested by his cousin Betty Sue Bach and written by the local doggerel catcher]:
In the "original" German:
Hier liegt ein Mann ganz ohnegleich;
Im Leibe dick, an SĂźnden reich.
Wir haben ihn ins Grab gesteckt,
Weil es uns dĂźnkt, er sei verreckt.
Translated:
Here lies a man with sundry flaws
And numerous Sins upon his head;
We buried him today because
As far as we can tell, he's dead.
In his many preconcert lectures Peter Schickele has revealed other information about P. D. Q. Bach's life:
P. D. Q. Bach had a substantial influence on Beethoven's deafness. This is due to the latter's habit of stuffing coffee grounds into his ears whenever he saw P. D. Q. Bach coming.
P. D. Q. Bach is the INTERCAL (a parody of computer programming languages) of Baroque music.
Prof. Schickele describes P. D. Q. Bach as having "the originality of Johann Christian, the arrogance of Carl Philipp Emanuel, and the obscurity of Johann Christoph Friedrich." The most distinguishing feature of P. D. Q. Bach's music, in the words of Schickele, is "manic plagiarism". P. D. Q. Bach seldom wrote original tunes; for the most part he stole melodies from other composers and rearranged them in often funny ways. Also, P. D. Q. Bach's music uses instruments not often used in orchestras, such as the tromboon, slide whistle, hardart, lasso d'amore and kazoo, as well as items not normally used as musical instruments, such as balloons and bicycle. His music also calls for unusual methods of playing traditional instruments, such as the use of horns in various states of disassembly throughout Iphigenia in Brooklyn. His parts for vocalists, in addition to singing, also include coughing, snoring, sobbing, laughing and yelling.
In addition to making fun of Baroque and Classical music conventions, P. D. Q. Bach's music sometimes pokes fun at Romantic and modern music, and sometimes even country music (Oedipus Tex and Blaues Gras) and rap (Classical Rap). In Prelude to Einstein on the Fritz, a man is directed to make snoring noises while the music proceeds in a minimalist manner. The "Schickele" or "S." numbers whimsically assigned to P. D. Q. Bach's works parody musicologists' catalogues of famous composers, such as the KĂśchel catalogue of Mozart's works.
Schickele divides P. D. Q. Bach's musical output into three periods: the Initial Plunge, the Soused Period, and Contrition.
During the Initial Plunge, P. D. Q. Bach wrote Traumarei for solo piano, an Echo Sonata for "two unfriendly groups of instruments", and a Gross Concerto for Divers' Flutes, two Trumpets, and Strings.
During the Soused Period, P. D. Q. Bach wrote a Concerto for Horn & Hardart, a Sinfonia Concertante, a Pervertimento, a Serenude, a PerĂźckenstĂźck, a Suite from The Civilian Barber, a Schleptet in E-flat major, the half-act opera The Stoned Guest, a Concerto for Piano vs. Orchestra, Erotica Variations, Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice (an opera in one unnatural act), The Art of the Ground Round, a Concerto for Bassoon vs. Orchestra, and a Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion.
During the Contrition, P. D. Q. Bach wrote the cantata Iphigenia in Brooklyn, the oratorio The Seasonings, Diverse Ayres on Sundrie Notions, a Sonata for Viola for Four Hands, the chorale prelude Should, a Notebook for Betty Sue Bach, the Toot Suite, the Grossest Fugue, a Fanfare for the Common Cold, and the canine cantata Wachet Arf!
He also composed the religious work "Missa Hilarious" (Schickele no. N2O), which was found along with documents pertaining to his excommunication
Pdq Bach
P.D.Q. Bach Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by P.D.Q. Bach:
3. Jane my Jane Yo Q There's been a couple developments since I last wrote S…
Aquarius When the moon is in the Seventh House And Jupiter aligns…
Cancer UNAS COSAS CAMBIARON, OTRAS DOLIERON SIN NECESIDAD DE ARMAS,…
Commercial: Swim to the surface for sunlight you felt For the first…
Duet: "Do you love me Leave me young girl if you go, take my heart…
Flip side intro Can you keep it to yourself baby I know That you…
Interlude Lately this has felt like a mistake I think that…
Introduction This my introduction, call me P-Trill âTrillâ is a combo of…
Introduction: Knock Knock ëťě´ę°ě ëťě´ę° ě죟 ëťě´ę°ě ëť ëť ě죟 ëťě´ę°ě ě죟 ëťëťëťëť ëťě´ę°ě ëë§ ëł´ëŠ´ ëë…
Juliet (Ayee shoutout my nigga Stone man) We can't let nothing, no…
Knock ëťě´ę°ě ëťě´ę° ě죟 ëťě´ę°ě ëť ëť ě죟 ëťě´ę°ě ě죟 ëťëťëťëť ëťě´ę°ě ëë§ ëł´ëŠ´ ëë…
Knock Knock: Introduction Gbogbo ohun to'ju ri ko oh le'nu le so I sha…
Long Live The King I had to put the weed down for this one Grieve…
Love Me She never knew how to love me Told her my heart…
One For The Road I remember other days how I used to weep Over…
Sanctus Mea tormenta, properate Ubi sunt flagella et caedes, ubi sun…
Scorpio Pass me that drac watch how I do it He talk…
The Mule ĐŃĐž ŃĐž ŃŃĐ° ĐĐ°ĐżŃŃНа в ĐźĐžĐˇĐłĐ°Ń , ĐźĐžĐłŃ ĐżŃОдОНМаŃŃ ĐŁ Đ˝ĐľŃ Đ˛ гНаСа…
Theme Song I'm Billy Milano, I'm a bold courageous man. He is,…
Time ă˘ăżăă°ăŁăă澎ăă ĺăăč¨čăŻăăˇăłăŹăł ăăăăżčžźăă ăă¨ăă¨ă ăăăăäťĽä¸ ĺăŤĺŤăăăă㌠ćťăă ăľăăăŚă…
Who Is Silvia Holy Ghost-filled praise, Elohim Battled suicide thoughts, 1…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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David Millar
I've always felt this was the pinnacle of genius of Schickele's satire with PDQ Bach. It's not just in the variety of references but how he can satire this huge, famous piece on so many levels.
Sempre Gatrais
I agree. This is the pinnacle. But his bottom is also funny.
Paul S
Agreed. It is a masterpiece. Telarc even had fun with it with the 'digital balloons' warning -- a spoof on the CD release of their 1979 recording, featuring digitally recorded cannons.
Mike
Someone unfamiliar with this would not even know this was comedy. It's so well performed.
Sempre Gatrais
I think the duck noises would tell.
Tom
As someone who's played the 1812, I can assert that this is genius! Also, anyone else catch "Day Tripper" in that organ solo? I love how he just keeps the pattern right on going at 4:35.
Jon Campbell
inagodadavida
Jo Schmo
The classical duck call and cuckoo clock really add to the historic significance of this piece. PDQ Bach was really groundbreaking in his field
Tony King
It was this very stirring piece that moved me to take up the banjo.
Phantomsbreath
I took up the bagpipes because of this. :P