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Tag: Peter Schickele

Peter Schickele Birthday Bash on WWFM

Peter Schickele is best known for his “discovery” of the last and least of Bach’s alleged progeny, P.D.Q. Bach (the 21st of Bach’s 20 children). P.D.Q. Bach has been the vessel for musical parody ranging from high to low (frequently low) for more than 50 years – this often at the expense of Schickele the “serious” composer. Schickele, a pupil of Roy Harris, has composed over 100 works. It seems strange to describe them as serious, since, although they are not outright comic, they often convey a kind of genial wit. We’ll enjoy two faces of Peter Schickele today, on his birthday.

We’ll also hear Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,” after James Agee’s nostalgic reminiscence. It’s a coin toss as to whether it will be sung by Eleanor Steber, who commissioned the work, or Dawn Upshaw, who made one of the finest recordings of the digital age. Both singers were born on this date.

In addition, there will be music by August Söderman, Woijiech Kilar and Donald Francis Tovey, all with birthday anniversaries on July 17.

That’s a lot of candles to blow out. I’m saving my breath for between 4 and 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

July 17, 2017
Classical Music Honors America and Birthdays

As you complete your training for tomorrow’s hot dog eating contest and three-legged race, consider joining me on The Classical Network as we get a jump on Independence Day with Elie Siegmeister’s “American Sonata” and Peter Schickele’s String Quartet No. 1, “American Dreams.” We’ll also hear the Symphony No. 3, “American,” by Trenton’s own George Antheil.

In addition, we’ll celebrate the birthdays today of Leoš Janáček, Philippe Gaubert, Carlos Kleiber, Ruth Crawford Seeger and George M. Cohan.

I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy (mostly), from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

July 3, 2017
Election Day Music Escape American Composers

It’s Election Day – AT LAST???

In 24 hours, it will all be over, except for the lawsuits, the counter-lawsuits, and the recounts.

Join me in rising above the the anxiety with an afternoon of inspirational music. We’ll begin with a concert featuring PUBLIQuartet, captured live during last season’s Downtown Concert Series in Freehold, NJ. The program will include music by Britten, Debussy, Piazzolla, and Villa-Lobos, alongside works by contemporary American composers, such as Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw.

PUBLIQuartet reinvigorates the classical chamber repertoire with plenty of sass and panache. The ensemble caught the attention of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Colbert invited them to perform an improvised soundtrack to a live stream of the final presidential debate in real time on the show’s Facebook page.

The Downtown Concert Series’ next concert will feature the Mobius Trio, which will appear at historic St. Peter’s Church in Freehold on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Following today’s broadcast of PUBLIQuartet, I hope you’ll stick around for more American music. Aaron Copland will make a statement with his “Statements for Orchestra,” from 1934. Peter Boyer will remind us of the American Dream, with “Ellis Island: The Dream of America,” a work that employs the actual words of immigrants who came to this country in search of a better life. Peter Schickele will stir the musical melting pot with his String Quartet No. 1 “American Dreams,” from 1983, a piece reflective of Appalachian fiddle music, fox trots, waltzes, blues, bop, and even birdsong. And if you don’t like the way the returns are going, you can always contemplate foreign real estate with Michael Torke’s “An American Abroad,” from 2002.

Why worry? It won’t change anything. So why not make us your stress-free zone? Relax, recharge, and rejoice in the American experience, from 12 to 4:00 p.m. EST. It will be the second leg of a marathon of American music, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

November 8, 2016
Franciscan Music on WPRB Today

We’re honoring Pope Francis, albeit vicariously, by way of his sainted namesake. Up next, it’s Peter Schickele’s “Bestiary,” a work for Early Music ensemble and narrator. Later on this morning, Paul Hindemith’s St. Francis of Assisi ballet “Nobilissima Visione” and Pulitzer Prize-winner Leo Sowerby’s “Canticle of the Sun.”

Stroke the docile menagerie until 11 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM or online at wprb.com.

September 23, 2015
Peter Schickele & PDQ Bach at TCNJ

As detailed in my article in yesterday’s Trenton Times (http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2014/11/classical_music_choral_shenani.html), composer and humorist Peter Schickele will be in Ewing on Dec. 5 for a concert at The College of New Jersey. The concert, titled “Choral Shenanigans and Other Musical Hijinks,” will include a number of works published under his own name and some attributed to his famous pseudonym, P.D.Q. Bach.

Schickele’s “discovery” of this oddest of Johann Sebastian Bach’s twenty odd children has provided him with a comic persona (or perhaps two, since his “Professor Peter Schickele” is an equally amusing, unreliable source) through which he has entertained for decades with a mix of freewheeling parody, excruciating puns and outright, pie-in-the-face slapstick.

It should be stressed that Friday’s event is not a standard P.D.Q. Bach concert. As flabbergasting as it may seem, Schickele is now 79. So there will be no swinging to the stage on a rope, as he once did at Carnegie Hall. Instead, he will oversee the proceedings like something of a dignified lion – though I’m guessing a wry lion – introducing his pieces through brief and informal conversations with Wayne Heisler, TCNJ Associate Professor of Historical and Cultural Studies in Music.

The event will feature performances by the TCNJ Chorale, College Choir, and Wind Ensemble.

Schickele will be my guest this Sunday night on “The Lost Chord.” He’ll talk a bit about his career, the evolution of P.D.Q. Bach, and his upcoming appearance at TCNJ.

I’ve always admired Schickele’s non-P.D.Q. concert music. We’ll get to sample some of it, with of course a few comedy classics thrown into the mix.

Join me for “Schickele, P.D.Q.,” this Sunday night at 10 ET, with a repeat Wednesday evening at 6; or listen to it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.

PHOTO: Props to Professor Schickele

November 29, 2014

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