The Dreaded P.D.Q. Bach Collection

P.D.Q. Bach: The Dreaded P.D.Q. Bach Collection—The Complete Vanguard Recordings, Volume 1

P.D.Q. Bach

1996: Vanguard 159/62-2

Disc 1:

In the Vanguard Vault, Part I
Introduction
Concerto for Horn and Hardart (S. 27)
Allegro
Tema con Variazione
Menuetto con Panna e Zucchero
Introduction
Cantata: Iphigenia in Brooklyn (S. 53162)
Aria
Recitative
Ground
Recitative
Aria
Introduction
Quodlibet for Small Orchestra, by Professor Schickele
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro
Introduction
Sinfonia Concertante (S. 98.6)
Serh Unruhig Mit Schmalz
Andante Senza Moto
Presto Nicht Schleppend
Introduction
Oratorio: “The Seasonings” (S. 1/2 tsp.)
Chorus: “Tarragon of Virtue is Full”
Recitative: “And there were in the same country”
Duet: “Bide thy thyme” (soprano and alto, with slide whistle, windbreaker, and tromboon)
Fugue for Orchestra
Recitative: “Then asked he”
Chorale: “By the leeks of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept”
Recitative: “Then she gave in”
Aria: “Open sesame seeds” (bass with kazoos, windbreaker, and slide windbreaker)
Recitative: “So saying”
Duet: “Summer is a cumin seed” (soprano and alto, with slide whistles and shower hose)
Chorus with Soloists: “To curry favor, favor curry”

Disc 2:

Introduction
“Unbegun” Symphony, by Professor Schickele
III. Minuet
IV. Andante—Allegro
Introduction
Pervertimento for Bagpipes, Bicycle, and Balloons (S. 66)
Allegro Moulto
Romanze II (Adagio Sereno)
Minaret and Trio
Romanze I (Chi Largo)
Presto Changio

P.D.Q. Bach on the Air

Bright and Early Show
Signature Theme
Intro
Echo Sonata for Two Unfriendly Groups of Instruments
Tag
Station Break
Commercial: “Do You Suffer?”
Intro
New Horizons in Music Appreciation: Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (with Robert Dennis)
Time
Weather
News
Intro
Traumarei for Unaccompanied Piano
Station Break
Tag
Signature Theme

Dull and Late Show
Signature Theme
Intro

Schleptet in E Flat Major
Larghissimo—Allegro Boffo
Menuetto con Brio ma Senza Trio
Adagio Saccharino
Yehudi Menuetto
Preseto Hey Nonny Nonnio
Tag / Station Break
What’s My Melodic Line?
Time
News
Intro
Fugue in C Minor (from the Toot Suite for calliope four hands)
Tag / Station Break
What’s Happening in Home Economics (Beethoven’s Revenge)
Commercial: “If You Have Never”
Sign-off / Signature Theme

Disc 3:

Introduction
The Stoned Guest
Overture
Aria: “Let’s fact it—I’m lost”
Recitative: “Boy!”
Aria: “Now is the season”
Recitative: “Gesundheit!”
Duet: “Woe”
Recitative: “Hark!”
Aria: “Look at me”
Recitative: “That’s the end”
Trio: “I’m sure I’d be”
Intermission Feature: Opera Whiz
Plot Synopsis
Recitative: “I hate to interrupt”
Quartet: “Don Octave”
Finale: “O saviour”
Announcement

Two Madrigals from The Triumphs of Thusnelda
“The Queen to me a royal pain doth give”
“My bonnie lass she smelleth”
Final Announcement

Disc 4:

Introduction
Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice (S. 2ⁿ - 1)
An opera in one unnatural act
Overture
Aria: “I am a quaint old innkeeper”
Aria: “Like a lonely pilgrim”
Aria: “My name is Hansel Hunter”
Aria: “I’m the village idiot”
Aria: “Et expecto”
Aria: “There’s something about a monk”
Duet: “Do you love me?”
Interlude: Medical examination
Aria: “I hope you’ll take this friendly advice”
Aria: “Teddy Nice is my name”
Duet: “Jump not to conclusions”
Finale: “Just tell me what your name is”
The O.K. Chorale from the Toot Suite for calliope four hands (S. 212°)
Introduction
“Erotica” Variations (S. 36EE) for banned instruments and piano
Theme: Windbreaker
Variation I: Balloons
Variation II: Slide Whistle
Variation III: Slide Windbreaker
Variation IV: Lasso D’Amore
Variation V: Foghorn, Bell, Kazoo, Gargle
Introduction
The Art of the Ground Round (S. 1.19/lb) for three baritones and discontinuo
Loving is as easy
Please, kind sir
Jane, my Jane
Golly golly oh
Nelly is a nice girl
Encore (Nelly is a nice girl)
In the Vanguard Vault, Part 2
The “Sanka” Cantata
In the Vanguard Vault, Part 3

Well this is basically an opportunity to bust your ass laughing if you recognize ANY classical music themes, or for that matter American folk classics—“By the Leeks of Babylon” being a fine example of how immediate the musical joke can be. I am especially fond of the Sinfonia Concertante and the way the bagpipes cut into the proceedings there like a buzz-saw (albeit a melodic buzz-saw, if that counts for anything) and even manages trills appropriate to the milieu if not the vehicle.

Other favorites I could wax lyrical about include The Seasonings and Iphigenia in Brooklyn, pieces which have forever burned lines and associations into my brain, notably the “die-dee-die-dee-die-dee-die-dee-die” sequence in the latter and “If you’ve got the money, honey, I’ve got the thyme” in the former, all performed (in live recordings, thankfully) with utter formality…or at least as much as can be managed under the circumstances, I suppose.

Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice seems to delve into some odd subconscious territory of the composer, actually, though it does give us the famous-among-those-who-know-of-it “Et Expecto” monk’s aria amid the goofy-ass rumpus the piece as a whole constitutes (and yes I am well aware of all the Freudianisms I probably just sprinkled across that sentence).

Other not-so-strong stretches include The Stoned Guest and most of Disc 2, actually. Where this stuff shines is often (but not always, the rounds and Christmas pieces being good exceptions) in the live recordings with particularly responsive audiences, some of which seem to be attuned to the material being parodied and therefore quicker on the uptake and bigger with the laughs than a random audience might be. Then again it would have been hard for any audience to not dissolve in laughter when those bagpipes first kicked in (with a steadying wheeze, yet) on the Sinfonia Concertante.

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