It’s entirely possible that you’ve never heard of P.D.Q. Bach. But it’s almost certain that you’ve never heard of Peter Schickele.
I hadn’t thought about either one in fully forty years, but seeing on Facebook that Peter Schickele had passed away brought it all back to me.
Schickele was known for the elaborate parody he created around his “studies” of P. D. Q. Bach, the fictional “youngest and the oddest of the twenty-odd children” of Johann Sebastian Bach. A accomplished musician in his own right, his musical gags and jokes were hilariously intelligent and on point.
Of course, I wasn’t exposed to all that much of his stuff back in the late 70’s/early 80’s, because (duh!) we didn’t have the internet. So, I’ve been amazed to discover the wide range of his compositions.
The video below is an entire concert, but I invite you to start at the 54:30 mark to enjoy his absolutely brilliant “Beethoven Symphony No. 5 Sportscast.” Too, too funny!
Oh! I hadn’t seen this news. What a wonderful tribute! As a matter of fact, I was introduced to PDQ and his “discoverer” at an early age, having grown up in a household where we always had classical music playing on the radio or turntable (child of the 60’s/70’s here), going to concerts, etc. I remember my parents with tears in their eyes from laughing so hard because they got all the jokes! I currently own 3 of his CDs and, ironically, was just a few days ago considering whether I wanted to keep them or give them away. I think I will have to listen to them again. Godspeed, Maestro! You’ll keep ’em in stitches in heaven.