July 17, 2007

Happy Birthday, Peter Schickele!

Schickele.jpg

The, er, discoverer of P.D.Q. Bach, the last and least of the post-Johann Sebastian generation of Bachs, was born this day in 1935 in Ames, Iowa.

Aside from the music of P.D.Q. Bach that he has "rescued" and recorded, I regularly damn Schikele for the many ear-worms he has planted in my head with his mixed theme pieces such as the "Unbegun Symphony", "Eine Kleine Nicht Musick" and "Bach Portrait". To this day, I cannot hear the opening strains of Brahms' Third Symphony without half expecting the orchestra to suddenly break into "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-Di-Ay".

Nonetheless, Schickele is both a brilliant musician as well as a very funny man and I encourage you to listen to his CDs, radio programs and concerts whenever you get the opportunity. As Bill Cosby used to say, "If you aren't careful, you might learn something."

Posted by Robert at July 17, 2007 09:15 AM | TrackBack
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