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Covers the life and works of classical music composer, Peter Schickele, who is probably best known for his humorous alter ego, P.D.Q. Bach. He has walked the line between a professional composer and musical satirist for over thirty-five years and his compositions have reached into virtually every genre of music from jazz to rock to folk to movie music and to classical. The major influences in his career include his love of the theatre, Spike Jones, and a philosophy that no genre of music is inherently inferior. Schickele was consulted during the compilation of this volume, therefore, much of the date and premiere information actually came from his own resources. ... Read more

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Oh, Calcutta! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Pleasant arrival
This book is an older copy and so it may not be in excellent condition but it came quickly in the mail and it holds true to its description before purchase ;)

I need to have the book,please.
Where can I buy this book,please? Could you give me more information ... Read more

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What little-known son of a famous genius has been called:

"A musical blight"

"A one-man plague"

"History's most justifiably neglected composer"

"The worst musician ever to trod organ pedals" "A pimple on the face of music"

In this long-awaited hoax, possibly the most unimportant piece of scholarship in over two thousand years, Professor Peter Schickele has finally succeeded in ripping the veil of obscurity from the most unusual -- to put it kindly -- composer in the history of music: P.D.Q. Bach, the last and unquestionably the least of the great Johann Sebastian Bach's many children. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

One of the two funniest books ever written
The other book is Bored of the Rings: A Parody of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.This one is far more intellectual humor, however.If you have no love for classical music and history, this book might go over your head.However, if you've got a friend who love classical music, then PDQ Back is probably already a favorite.However, most people are unaware that this book exists.

Some of the humor is as blunt as a baseball bat.Other humor is quite subtle.It is presented as a standard biography complete with footnotes.The first line of the body is "It was a dark and stormy night" with "It" getting the book's first footnote.

I bought 2 copies of this as presents for friends.Give yourself a present if you're a classical music lover with a sense of humor.

I Have to Put It Down ...
I have to put it down because if I don't I'll choke on my own laughter.

I was privileged to be a student of Schickele's in the Juilliard School of Music's Extension Program in the early 1960s. He was a funny guy even in the classroom.

At the time he was a young composer whose work I had heard at a Cooper Union concert, which inspired me to take his class in basic music theory. If I recall correctly, he used to organize at Juilliard a series of humorous concerts, after the example of the immortal Gerard Hoffnung's Interplanetary Music Festival in England.

It was with surprise and delight that, years later, I saw Schikele rise to public acclaim (he would say "public disdain"), transformed into his alter ego. I'll always be thrilled that "I knew him before."

Great book - but THIS EDITION is unacceptable
The hardcover original of this book is roughly 10" x 10" square.This paperback edition takes those pages, keeps the square aspect ratio, and squeezes them onto 9" x 6".So the picture, print, etc. are 40% smaller than intended, with wide stripes of white space at top and bottom.Many of the funny details in the pictures are lost, and much of the text is unreadable.

The other reviewers are exactly right as to the hilarity of the content.By all means, seek out the hardcover original of this book from a used book seller.A used copy may be imperfect, but it will be less expensive and more readable than this edition.

Side-splittingly funny
A hilarious fake biography of the fictional, "last and certainly least" child of Johann Sebastian Bach. P.D.Q. spends most of his young life rebelling against his family's artistic legacy before he finally realizes that having the name Bach means that people will pay him good money for mediocre musical works.

And mediocre they are--besides being a drunk and a philanderer, he has no musical talent whatsoever. Which doesn't stop him from creating some of the most inept, bizarre and funny art the world has ever seen. Great stuff, even if you have no knowledge of classical music.

Hilarious!
I first read this hilariously absurd book when I was in college.My only regret is that I read it in a public place, so I had to stifle the nearly-uncontrollable fits of laughter it provoked.Only Peter Schickelewould solemnly explain that a suite for "divers instruments" wasnot actually performed with scuba gear, or that the left-handed sewer fluteis nearly extinct as an instrument because most of them ended up backunderground.Only Schickele would write a classical piece featuringocarina and plucked strings (ok; so that's not true; Gyorgy Ligeti did it,too--but maybe Ligeti read this book!)

In short, this is the bestwritten satire on classical music ever produced.It gives classical musicthe same treatment as the "Airplane" movies gave Irwin Allenfilms--one joke after another after another... ... Read more

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For the guitarists. 13 songs + Joan Baez recordings.Beautiful illustrations. ... Read more

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Chapters: Tom Lehrer, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Steve Martin, Paul Shaffer, Adam Sandler, Peter Schickele, Christine Lavin, Michael Mckean, Steve Allen, Tom Smothers, Julie Brown, Dick Smothers, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Stan Freberg, Sarah Silverman, Steve Dahl, Jack Black, Bo Burnham, David Koechner, Dickie Goodman, Spike Jones, Stephen Lynch, Jimmy Fallon, Graham Clarke, Hjalmar Peterson, Fred Armisen, Demetri Martin, Zach Galifianakis, Charles G. Widdén, Jonathan Coulton, Brendon Small, Ed Helms, Wayne Federman, Miranda Sings, Jessica Delfino, Martin Mull, Neil Hamburger, Mark Lowry, Mark Russell, Eric Wareheim, Kyle Gass, Leslie Hall, Biff Rose, Rodney Carrington, Andy Breckman, Gregg Turkington, Saucy Sylvia, Rob Paravonian, Tim Wilson, Jp Hasson, Charlyne Yi, Tex Williams, Blowfly, Mike Birbiglia, Jorma Taccone, Andy Samberg, Napoleon Xiv, Page the Village Idiot, Chris Hardwick, Tommy Blacha, Red Ingle, Donald Glover, Tim Heidecker, Carla Ulbrich, Dave Allen, Mark Nadler, Ruth Wallis, Nervous Norvus, Harry Stewart, Jon Wurster, John Valby, Paul Rust, Akiva Schaffer, Andy Milonakis, Wally Pleasant, Ogden Edsl, Heywood Banks, Tom "T-Bone" Stankus, Hard 'n Phirm, John Lee, Steve Agee, Vernon Chatman, Ed Haynes, Tim Cavanagh, Alyson Levy, Evan Wecksell, the Walter and Hays Band. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 531. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (English pronunciation: ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, actor, comedian, satirist, and a parodist. Yankovic is known in particular for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts. Since his first-aired song parody in 1979, he has sold more than 12 million...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=18938265 ... Read more

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film music composing and the film industry ... Read more

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Full Program Philharmonic Hall 1966 autographed Peter Schickele ... Read more

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Chapters: Mayors of Fargo, North Dakota, Peter Schickele, David B. Danbom, Aloisius Joseph Muench, Roxana Saberi, Roger Maris, Frank Jay Haynes, William H. Gass, Caridee English, Neal D. Barnard, Dick Beardsley, Bobby Vee, Peter Schjeldahl, Jonny Lang, Chris Coste, James Lileks, Loren D. Hagen, Mark Ladwig, Brian Lee, Paul Gaustad, George Sinner, John Shanley, L. B. Hanna, Jennifer Baumgardner, Philip E. Austin, Stepan Popel, John Baxter Kinne, Ari Shapiro, Arthur Naftalin, Beverly Hanson, Henry Luke Bolley, Charlie Korsmo, Dennis Walaker, Robert Hall, Rodney Scott Webb, Kimberly Krueger, Richard Edlund, Keith Kreiman, Burleigh F. Spalding, David J. Hetland, Clark Blaise, Leslie Stefanson, Dave Logan, Rachel Mathson, Gunnar Gunnarsson Helland, Carey Mcwilliams, Jim Poolman, Jocelyn Burdick, Frank Scott, Shannon Curfman, Gary Larsen, Tyler Roehl, Roger Jensen, Herschel Lashkowitz, Andy Heck, James Ployhar, Jeff Severson, William P. Gerberding, Patrick Anthony Conmy, Brenda Weiler, List of Mayors of Fargo, North Dakota, Rudy Ivan, Josh Olson, Susan Krieg, Alfred Delavan Thomas, Samuel Joseph Aquila, Leo Ferdinand Dworschak, Lynn Hoyem, James Ingstad, Gary Tharaldson, Daniel J. Crothers, Robert "Bud" Larsen, Ken Fowler, Joe Cichy, Bruce Furness. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 244. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Aloisius Joseph Muench (February 18, 1889February 15, 1962) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Fargo from 1935 to 1959, and as Apostolic Nuncio to Germany from 1951 to 1959. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1959. Muench was the most powerful American Catholic and Vatican representative in Allied-occupied Germany and subsequently in West Germany from 1946 to 1959 as the liaison between the U.S. Office of Military Government and the Ge...http://booksllc.net/?id=852026 ... Read more

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This digital document, covering the life and work of Peter Schickele, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 539 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

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Chapters: Tony Robinson, Peter Schickele, Myleene Klass, Nelson Eddy, Bill Mcglaughlin, Gilbert Levine, Alfred Zwiebel, William Weaver, Ian Wallace, Mimi Coertse, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Alan Freeman, David Mellor, Paul Csonka, Peter Pratt, Lesley Garrett, Howard Goodall, Aled Jones, Simon Bates, Ben Grauer, Peter Togni, Bruce Adolphe, Theodore Bloomfield, Richard Crooks, Paul Gambaccini, Earl Wrightson, Huw Edwards, Marilyn Lightstone, Suzanna Guzmán, James A. Drake, Karl Haas, Nathaniel Johnson, Penny Smith, Boris Goldovsky, Alan Wagner, Walford Davies, Christopher O'riley, James Naughtie, Steve Race, Howard Dyck, Jolyon Brettingham Smith, Andrew Ford, John Cargher, Barry Paris, Shelagh Rogers, Edward Seckerson, John Amis, Jan Randall, Katie Derham, Deems Taylor, Bill Richardson, Scott Beach, John Lemley, Edward Downes, Henry Kelly, Fred Child, Ian Campbell, Steven Karidoyanes, Seymour Dekoven, Humphrey Burton, Margaret Juntwait, Julian Budden, Matthew Stiff, Alan Keith, Robert Kapilow, Ron Della Chiesa, Milton Cross, Jim Svejda, Allan E. Naplan, Danielle Charbonneau, Richard Baker, David Gaines, Lloyd Schwartz, Helen Mayhew, Margherita Taylor, Norman Gilliland, George Jellinek, Peter Allen, Margaret Throsby, David Franklin, Barbara Budd, Ruby Mercer, William Berger, Julie Nesrallah, M. Owen Lee, Natalie Wheen, David Dubal, Trisha Cooper, Moffatt Oxenbould, Tom Allen, Andrea Ratuski, Martin Bookspan, Nigel Ogden, Shelley Solmes. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 382. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Myleene Angela Klass is an English actress, singer, model, pianist and media personality, formerly a member of the now defunct British pop band Hear'Say. Klass was born in Gorleston, Norfolk, England, to an Anglo-Austrian father and a Filipina mother. She comes from six generations of...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=345500 ... Read more

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Chapters: The Abduction of Figaro, Peter Schickele, the Stoned Guest, List of Works by P. D. Q. Bach, the Definitive Biography of P.d.q. Bach, a Little Nightmare Music, Usnd at Hoople, Tromboon, Echo Sonata for Two Unfriendly Groups of Instruments, Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion, Pervertimento for Bagpipes, Bicycle and Balloons, Concerto for Horn and Hardart, Oedipus Tex, Suite No. 2 for Cello All by Its Lonesome, Lasso D'amore. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 53. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Johann Peter Schickele (born July 17, 1935) is an American composer, musical educator and parodist. He is best known for his comedy music albums featuring his music that he presents as music written by the fictional composer P. D. Q. Bach. Schickele was born in Ames, Iowa, to Alsatian immigrant parents, and brought up in Washington, D.C., and Fargo, North Dakota, where he studied composition with Sigvald Thompson. Graduating from Fargo Central High in 1952 and then graduating with a degree in music from Swarthmore College in 1957, he was the first student at Swarthmore and the only student in his class with such a degree. He graduated from the Juilliard School with an M.S. in musical composition; in the ensuing years he has frequently cited Roy Harris as the most influential of his teachers. Schickele has composed more than 100 original works for symphony orchestra, choral groups, chamber ensemble, voice, film (e.g. Silent Running and animated adaptations of Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen) , and television. He has also written music for school bands, as well as a number of folk musicians, most notably Joan Baez (for whom he also orchestrated and arranged three albums during the mid-1960s, Noël, Joan, and Baptism). He has also written a number of...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=39082 ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Johann Peter Schickele (born July 17, 1935) is an American composer, musical educator and parodist, best known for his comedy music albums featuring music he wrote as P. D. Q. Bach. Schickele was born in Ames, Iowa, to Alsatian immigrant parents, and brought up in Washington, D.C., and Fargo, North Dakota, where he studied composition with Sigvald Thompson. Graduating from Fargo Central High in 1952 and then graduating with a degree in music from Swarthmore College in 1957, he was the first student at Swarthmore and the only student in his class with such a degree. He graduated from the Juilliard School with an M.S. in musical composition; in the ensuing years he has frequently cited Roy Harris as the most influential of his teachers. ... Read more

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Chapters: Ted Nelson, Michael Dukakis, John Goldsmith, Peter Schickele, Sally Ride, David Baltimore, Jonathan Franzen, Clark Kerr, Gerard K. O'neill, Alexander Mitchell Palmer, List of Swarthmore College People, Tiny Maxwell, Jane Alpert, Kurt Eichenwald, Cathlyn Platt Wilkerson, Jed S. Rakoff, Carl Levin, Robert Zoellick, Drew Pearson, Chris Van Hollen, James A. Michener, David Kellogg Lewis, Robert P. George, Ken Hechler, Frank H. Easterbrook, Alice Paul, Alberto J. Mora, Robert D. Putnam, Pamela Kyle Crossley, Stephen Lang, George Zinkhan, Eleanor Flexner, Nell K. Duke, Iqbal Quadir, Joseph Takahashi, Eben Moglen, Dean Baker, Leo Braudy, Andre Gunder Frank, Peter Deutsch, Jeremy Stone, David Bressoud, Cushing Dolbeare, Charles R. Miller, Jane S. Richardson, Patricia Battin, Philip David Morehead, Philip D. Curtin, Paul Williams, Edward C. Prescott, Rudy Rucker, James Hormel, Martin Weitzman, Mark D. Schwartz, Eugene Galanter, John C. Mather, Michael Hardt, Peter Bart, Ralph Linton, Elizabeth Martínez, Joan Larkin, James H. Scheuer, Robert Prichard, David G. Bradley, Daisy Fried, Brendan Nyhan, Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr., Rebecca J. Nelson, Holbrook Mann Macneille, William Poole, Jerome Kohlberg, Jr., Jane Lang, Michael Meeropol, Charles Andes, Patrick Bond, Molly Yard, Paul Dimaggio, Elizabeth Janeway, Richard Pillard, Carol Gilligan, Diane Di Prima, Detlev Bronk, Peter Berkowitz, Allan Gibbard, Diana Lewis Burgin, Max Trescott, Patricia D. Jehlen, Al Carmines, William Esrey, Lise Menn, Howard Martin Temin, John K. Richards, Gilbert Harman, Justin Hall, Victor Saul Navasky, Stephanie Nyombayire, David D. Clark, Rogers Mcvaugh, David L. Cohen, Peter Temin, Frances Wilson Grayson, Gregory Gibson, Herbert Weir Smyth, Marion Nicholl Rawson, Christian B. Anfinsen, Joshua M. Zeitz, Neil Gershenfeld, Mark Vonnegut, Martin Fleisher, E. Roy Weintraub, H. C. Robbins Landon, Linda Gordon, William Foote Whyte, Thomas Bayard Mccabe, Chri...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=758947 ... Read more

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Der Erwerb des Buches enthält gleichzeitig die kostenlose Mitgliedschaft im Buchklub des Verlags zum Ausprobieren - dort können Sie von über einer Million Bücher ohne weitere Kosten auswählen. Das Buch besteht aus Wikipedia-Artikeln: Luciano Berio, Peter Schickele, Vincent Persichetti, John Weaver, Elliott Carter, William Schuman, John Houseman, Eduard Steuermann, Henry Brant, Christopher Rouse, Joseph Alessi, Sixten Ehrling, Josef Lhévinne, John Corigliano, Benjamin Lees, David Berger, Carl Allen, Itzhak Perlman, Dorothy DeLay, Ivan Galamian, Christopher Durang, Frederik Prausnitz,. Online finden Sie die kostenlose Aktualisierung der Bücher. Nicht dargestellt. Auszug: Luciano Berio (* 24. Oktober 1925 in Oneglia; † 27. Mai 2003 in Rom) war ein italienischer Komponist, bekannt für seine experimentellen Arbeiten und einer der Pioniere der elektronischen Musik. Berio wurde in einer musikalischen Familie in der ligurischen Küstenstadt Oneglia geboren. Sowohl sein Vater als auch sein Großvater waren beide Organisten und lehrten ihn das Klavierspiel. Während des Zweiten Weltkriegs wurde er zur Armee eingezogen, verletzte sich aber bereits am ersten Tag mit einem Gewehr die Hand. Er verbrachte einige Zeit in einem Militärkrankenhaus und floh schließlich, um sich einer Widerstandsgruppe anzuschließen. Nach dem Krieg studierte Berio am Mailänder Konservatorium bei Giulio Cesare Paribeni und Giorgio Federico Ghedini. Durch die verletzte Hand am Klavierspiel gehindert, konzentrierte er sich auf die Komposition. 1947 fand die erste öffentliche Aufführung eines seiner Werke statt, einer Suite für Klavier. Zu dieser Zeit verdiente Berio seinen Lebensunterhalt mit der Begleitung von Gesangsklassen; dabei lernte er die amerikanische Sopranistin Cathy Berberian kennen. Sie heirateten kurz nach seinem Universitätsabschluss 1950 (die Ehe wurde 1964 geschieden). 1951 ging Berio in die Vereinigten Staaten, um in Tanglewood bei Luigi Dallapiccola z...http://booksllc.net/?l=de&id=36572 ... Read more

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Chapters: Miles Davis, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Henry Mancini, Joel Marangella, Peter Schickele, Yo-Yo Ma, John Williams, Bernard Herrmann, Nigel Kennedy, Itzhak Perlman, Raymond Scott, Leo Brouwer, Barry Manilow, Nina Simone, Renée Fleming, Mario Frangoulis, Leontyne Price, Wynton Marsalis, Audra McDonald, Michael Giacchino, Marvin Hamlisch, James Conlon, Jordan Rudess, Daron Hagen, James Levine, Alan Shulman, Andor Toth, Leonard Slatkin, Alexandra du Bois, Michael Kamen, Meredith Willson, Yoonjung Han, Monica Yunus, Sarah Chang, Edith Killgore Kirkpatrick, George Britton, Margaret Harshaw, William Schimmel, Eric Whitacre, Tito Puente, Fredell Lack, Henry Grimes, Arianna Zukerman, Kyung-wha Chung, Adele Addison, Alan Gilbert, Capitola Dickerson, Julius Hegyi, Jacques Singer, Shirley Verrett, Van Cliburn, Robert Stevenson, Leonard Gillman, Rosemary Kuhlmann, John Barth, David Bryan, Ryan McAdams, Midori Gotō, Paula Robison, Phil Woods, Michel Camilo, Robert Ward, Joshua Rifkin, Paul Alan Levi, Paul Lavalle, Orion Weiss, Frances Bible, Stephen Hough, Theodore Bloomfield, Jester Hairston, Lew Soloff, Glenn Dicterow, Helen Armstrong, David Garrett, Margaret Leng Tan, Denver Oldham, Bion Tsang, Gil Shaham, Zuill Bailey, Joseph R. Wood, Sara Ramírez, Robert Craft, Joel Ryce-Menuhin, Ashan Pillai, Ralph de Toledano, Frank Huang, Jesse Ceci, Arnold Gamson, Edward Auer, Pinchas Zukerman, Tim Fain, Daniel Pollack, Eric Ewazen, Eric Himy, Larry Gilliard, Jr., Eugenia Zukerman, Hila Plitmann, Mark Lindley, Ryu Goto, Natan Brand, Andrew Thomas, Art Murphy, Clamma Dale, Dorothy DeLay, Beatrice Ohanessian, Alexis Weissenberg, Gerard Schwarz, Julia Smith, Steven Honigberg, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Giora Schmidt, Emanuel Ax, Jeffrey Milarsky, Bernard Greenhouse, Leonardo Balada, Robert Mann, Peter Oundjian, Stephen Clapp, Mark Wood, B. H. Haggin, Bruce Saylor, Jozef Kapustka, Todd Levy, Claremont Trio, Helen Huang, John Mack, Jennifer Stumm, Michael Benjamin Nigrin, Ken Bi... ... Read more