The Long LineThe Long Line Explore Nine Centuries of Music P. D. Q. Bach

P. D. Q. Bach

fictitious composer invented by musical satirist Peter Schickele

P.D.Q. Bach is a fictional composer created by the American composer and musical satirist Peter Schickele for a five-decade career performing the "discovered" works of the "only forgotten son" of the Bach family. Schickele's music combines parodies of musicological scholarship, the conventions of Baroque and Classical music, and slapstick comedy. The name P.D.Q. is a parody of the three-part names given to some members of the Bach family that are commonly reduced to initials, such as C.P.E. for Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach; PDQ is an initialism for "pretty damned quick".

Schickele began working on the character while studying at the Aspen Music Festival and School and Juilliard, and performed a variety of P.D.Q. Bach shows over many years. The Village Voice mentions the juxtaposition of collage, bitonality, musical satire, and orchestral surrealism in a "bizarre melodic stream of consciousness... In P.D.Q. Bach he has single-handedly mapped a musical universe that everyone knew was there and no one else had the guts (not simply the bad taste) to explore."

In 2012, Schickele reduced his touring due to age. On December 28 and 29, 2015, at The Town Hall in New York, he performed two concerts to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his first concert. Schickele died on January 16, 2024, aged 88.

Read more about this composer on Wikipedia.

Works

The Long LineThe Long Line
  • Cantata: Iphigenia in Brooklyn
  • Cantata: Iphigenia in Brooklyn: Aria
  • Cantata: Iphigenia in Brooklyn: Ground
  • Cantata: Iphigenia in Brooklyn: Recitative
  • Cantata: Iphigenia in Brooklyn: Trumpet Involuntary
  • Capriccio "La Pucelle de New Orleans" (The Maid of New Orleans), S. under 18
  • Concerto for Horn and Hardart, S. 27
  • Concerto for Horn and Hardart: Allegro
  • Concerto for Horn and Hardart: Menuetto con panna e zucchero
  • Concerto for Horn and Hardart: Tema con variazione
  • Diverse Ayres on Sundrie Notions, S. 99 44/100
  • Diverse Ayres on Sundrie Notions, S. 99 44/100: Sinfonia
  • Diverse Ayres on Sundrie Notions, S. 99 44/100: “Do you suffer?”
  • Diverse Ayres on Sundrie Notions, S. 99 44/100: “Hear me through”
  • Diverse Ayres on Sundrie Notions, S. 99 44/100: “If you have never”
  • Echo Sonata for Two Unfriendly Groups of Instruments
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Aria: “Et expecto”
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Aria: “I am a quaint old innkeeper”
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Aria: “I hope you’ll take this friendly advice”
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Aria: “I’m the village idiot”
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Aria: “Like a lonely pilgrim”
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Aria: “My name is Hansel Hunter”
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Aria: “Teddy Nice is my name”
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Aria: “There’s something about a monk”
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Duet: “Do you love me?”
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Duet: “Jump not to conclusions”
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Finale: “Just tell me what your name is”
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Interlude: Medical examination
  • Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice: Overture
  • Oratorio: “The Seasonings”
  • Oratorio: “The Seasonings”: Aria: “Open sesame seeds”
  • Oratorio: “The Seasonings”: Chorale: “By the leeks of Babylon / There we sat down, yea, we wept”
  • Oratorio: “The Seasonings”: Chorus with Soloists: “To curry favor, favor curry”
  • Oratorio: “The Seasonings”: Chorus: “Tarragon of virtue is full”
  • Oratorio: “The Seasonings”: Duet: “Bide thy thyme”
  • Oratorio: “The Seasonings”: Duet: “Summer is a cumin seed”
  • Oratorio: “The Seasonings”: Fugue for Orchestra
  • Oratorio: “The Seasonings”: Recitative: “And there were in the same country”
  • Oratorio: “The Seasonings”: Recitative: “So saying”
  • Oratorio: “The Seasonings”: Recitative: “Then asked he”
  • Oratorio: “The Seasonings”: Recitative: “Then she gave in”
  • Pervertimento for Bagpipes, Bicycle, and Balloons
  • Pervertimento for Bagpipes, Bicycle, and Balloons: Minaret and Trio
  • Pervertimento for Bagpipes, Bicycle, and Balloons: Presto Changio
  • Pervertimento for Bagpipes, Bicycle, and Balloons: Romanze I (Chi Largo)
  • Pervertimento for Bagpipes, Bicycle, and Balloons: Romanze II (Adagio Sereno)
  • Prelude to "Einstein on the Fritz", S. e=mt²
  • Schleptet in E-flat major: Adagio saccharino
  • Schleptet in E-flat major: Larghissimo—Allegro boffo
  • Schleptet in E-flat major: Menuetto con brio ma senza trio
  • Schleptet in E-flat major: Presto hey nonny nonnio
  • Schleptet in E-flat major: Yehudi menuetto
  • Schleptet in E‐flat major, S. 0
  • Sinfonia Concertante
  • Sinfonia Concertante: Andante senza moto
  • Sinfonia Concertante: Presto nicht schleppend
  • Sinfonia Concertante: Sehr unruhig mit Schmalz
  • The Art of the Ground Round for three baritones and discontinuo
  • The Art of the Ground Round for three baritones and discontinuo: Golly golly oh
  • The Art of the Ground Round for three baritones and discontinuo: Jane, my Jane
  • The Art of the Ground Round for three baritones and discontinuo: Loving is as easy
  • The Art of the Ground Round for three baritones and discontinuo: Nelly is a nice girl
  • The Art of the Ground Round for three baritones and discontinuo: Please, kind sir
  • The Preachers of Crimetheus, Ballet in One Selfless Act, S. 988
  • The Preachers of Crimetheus, Ballet in One Selfless Act, S. 988: I. Prologue: Bottomless Sorrow - Topless Gaiety
  • The Preachers of Crimetheus, Ballet in One Selfless Act, S. 988: II. The Lamentations of Jerry Maja
  • The Preachers of Crimetheus, Ballet in One Selfless Act, S. 988: III. Finale: Special Deliverance
  • The Stoned Guest
  • The Stoned Guest: Aria: “Let’s face it—I’m lost”
  • The Stoned Guest: Aria: “Look at me”
  • The Stoned Guest: Aria: “Now is the season”
  • The Stoned Guest: Duet: “Woe”
  • The Stoned Guest: Finale: “O saviour”
  • The Stoned Guest: Overture
  • The Stoned Guest: Quartet: “Don Octave”
  • The Stoned Guest: Recitative: “Boy!”
  • The Stoned Guest: Recitative: “Gesundheit!”
  • The Stoned Guest: Recitative: “Hark!”
  • The Stoned Guest: Recitative: “I hate to interrupt”
  • The Stoned Guest: Recitative: “That’s the end”
  • The Stoned Guest: Trio: “I’m sure I’d be”
  • The “Sanka” Cantata
  • Toot Suite for calliope four hands
  • Toot Suite for calliope four hands: Fugue in C minor
  • Toot Suite for calliope four hands: The O.K. Chorale
  • Traumarei for unaccompanied piano, S. 13
  • Two Madrigals from The Triumphs of Thusnelda, S. 1601
  • Two Madrigals from The Triumphs of Thusnelda, S. 1601: 1. “The queen to me a royal pain doth give”
  • Two Madrigals from The Triumphs of Thusnelda, S. 1601: 2. “My bonnie lass she smelleth”
  • “Erotica” Variations for banned instruments and piano
  • “Erotica” Variations for banned instruments and piano: Theme: Windbreaker
  • “Erotica” Variations for banned instruments and piano: Variation Ⅰ: Balloons
  • “Erotica” Variations for banned instruments and piano: Variation Ⅱ: Slide Whistle
  • “Erotica” Variations for banned instruments and piano: Variation Ⅲ: Slide Windbreaker
  • “Erotica” Variations for banned instruments and piano: Variation Ⅳ: Lasso D’Amore
  • “Erotica” Variations for banned instruments and piano: Variation Ⅴ: Foghorn, Bell, Kazoo, Gargle