Telarc’s wonderful
catalogue of P.D.Q. Bach’s work has been around for some time
now, and this title now re-appears on the ‘specially priced
Telarc Classics’ series. There is no change to the presentation
other than the announcement and website
address on the inside of the jewel case. For the uninitiated,
P.D.Q. Bach is the fictional, hilariously incompetent and
plagiaristic alter-ego of ‘serious’ composer Peter Schickele,
whose work in this field has won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy
Recording.
I’ve been a diehard
P.D.Q. Bach fan for ages, and while I dearly love the old
Vanguard Classics recordings the first thing to be said about
the entire Telarc series is that the sound engineers have
always provided his work with far superior, often demonstration
sound quality. I challenge anyone to try out the ringing telephone
in the first introduction on this disc, and watch as your
guests and friends look around in confusion, trying to locate
an invisible phone.
Oedipus
Tex has more refinement and subtlety than
some earlier choral works, such as the ‘Bluegrass Cantata
(S. 6 string)’. For a start there is something like a story,
and brilliant ideas such as the solo horn part, which, superbly
played by Brice Andrus, begins on mouthpiece alone and gradually
adds pieces of tubing in successive movements, finishing with
a whole horn in the finale. This work apparently ‘proves’
that the Greeks pre-dated the Spaniards in the American Southwest
by more than a millennium. Among its many unique qualities
is the continuo accompaniment, consisting of cello and keyboard
harmonica, which has an interesting sound colour like a pocket
portativo. Musical riches are here to be discovered as well,
from the dramatic opening ‘Tragedy’, with its sprightly ‘T-R-A-G-E-D-Y’
fugal section and typically dry comedy percussion. ‘Wrong’
modulations and resolutions in recitatives never fail to raise
a smile, and the finale with its combination of ‘Jesu Joy
of Man’s Desiring’ and ‘I’ve been working on the railroad’
is a stroke of genius.
Classical Rap,
performed by Grandmaster Flab and the Hoople Funkharmonic,
deals with the trials and tribulations of the citizens of
New York’s Upper West Side. Vivaldi-style pizzicati, scratching
the Four Seasons, the ‘Halleluja’ chorus and Pachelbel references
are a giggle, but the parental ‘Advisory, inane lyrics’ label
on the booklet is the funniest thing on this track as far
as the text goes, unless you are a New York citizen.
Knock, Knock,
once you’ve ‘got the joke’ might pale if it were not for the
wonderful choruses which follow each increasingly extended
recitative – to the point of sheer agony in ‘So this guy’.
With P.D.Q. Bach you always have highly informative and scholarly
booklet notes, and we learn that this piece may have been
appreciated by ‘Wein-am-Rhein’s only member of the nobility,
Prince Fred of the house of Hangover.’ Birthday Ode to
“Big Daddy” Bach does what it says on the tin, being a
mock celebration of J.S. Bach by the ‘the son who had been
most ignored by his illustrious father – the son whose tone-deafness
was so uncharacteristic of members of the Bach family as to
raise doubts as to his legitimacy.’
All lovers of
good parody can find much to enjoy here. P.D.Q. Bach fans
will already have decided for themselves, but I find – as
a brace of for instances ‘Two pianos are better than one’
has more musical staying power, and ‘WTWP Talkity Talk Radio’
more laughs per minute. The telephone answering machine legal
arguments attempting to persuade the pool-playing ‘Hambert,
Rendricks & Loss’ to take the case for the defence might
seem just a little forced now, but never mind. We all love
Professor Pete, and who would want to be without P.D.Q. Bach’s
most desperate attempt ‘to defend his reputation against the
attacks of his detractors …. after hearing Oedipus Tex,
we must all agree that he was just as successful (in this)
as were the defenders of the Alamo.’
Dominy Clements
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Pamela South
(soprano)
