The music of P.D.Q. Bach, the last (and least) of J. S. Bach’s sons, is being celebrated in a special “Retrogressive” this week at Manhattan’s Symphony Space. The occasion is the 40th anniversary of the first performance of the, alas, entirely fictional composer’s music by Peter Schickele.
Says Playbill Arts:
“Shickele who is also known as a composer of concert music under his own name and as the host of the radio program Schickele Mix, first uncovered P. D. Q. Bach’s music in 1954. In that year, according to his web site, ‘Professor Peter Schickele, rummaging around a Bavarian castle in search of rare musical gems, happened instead upon a piece of manuscript being employed as a strainer in the caretaker’s percolator. This turned out to be the Sanka Cantata.’
As a long-suffering fan of P.D.Q. Bach’s “music,” I do wish I could be there.
