The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach

Humorist, composer, musicologist Peter Schickele has been delighting concert-goers for three decades with his lecture-concerts on the music of J.S. Bach's most fictitious son, P.D.Q. The DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY is satire liberally salted with silliness, punsterism and a few interesting facts about the Bachs. Here he and Voegeli team up for more of an audio version than a mere abridgment. Marred by a stingy sampling of music, odd sound effects and some technical glitches, the program doesn't really warm up until the second side, which begins with skimpy excerpts from some P.D.Q. compositions. The flaws, methinks, will hardly faze the author's rabid admirers and will certainly entertain musical cognoscenti with a penchant for Humorist, composer, musicologist Peter Schickele has been delighting concert-goers for three decades with his lecture-concerts on the music of J.S. Bach's most fictitious son, P.D.Q. The Definitive Biography is satire liberally salted with silliness, punsterism and a few interesting facts about the Bachs. Here he and Voegeli team up for more of an audio version than a mere abridgment. Marred by a stingy sampling of music, odd sound effects and some technical glitches, the program doesn't really warm up until the second side, which begins with skimpy excerpts from some P.D.Q. compositions. The flaws, methinks, will hardly faze the author's rabid admirers and will certainly entertain musical cognoscenti with a penchant for silliness. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine