Renowned composer and humorist Peter Schickele, known for his work on the fictional character P.D.Q. Bach, has passed away at the age of 88. His daughter, Karla Schickele, confirmed that his health had been in decline following an infection last fall.
With a career spanning over five decades, Schickele was trained at Juilliard and produced a wide range of melodic chamber music, vocal works, symphonic scores, and film soundtracks. However, he gained the most recognition for his comedic genius and his portrayal of P.D.Q. Bach, the supposed “last and least” child of J.S. Bach.
Schickele’s comedic performances often included a mix of expert musical jokes and more accessible humor. He would interrupt serene baroque adagios with boogie-woogie tunes or add popular songs like “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” to J.S. Bach preludes. His compositions under the name P.D.Q. Bach parodied popular classical works, with titles like “The Seasonings,” “Sanka Cantata,” “Oedipus Tex,” and “Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice.”
In addition to his unique compositions, Schickele also built his own instruments for P.D.Q. Bach performances. For example, he created the nine-foot “Concerto for Horn and Hardart,” complete with cartoonish wind instruments, zany percussion, and a set of coin-operated windows and a coffee spigot.
When performing as P.D.Q. Bach, Schickele adopted the persona of Professor Peter Schickele, the head of the Department of Musical Pathology at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople. He would often make a dramatic entrance, arriving late and causing chaos, with his shirt untucked and his tuxedo disheveled. His shows were deadpan parodies of musicological lectures, introducing newly “discovered” works by P.D.Q. Bach with a mix of faux-history and jokes poking fun at contemporary musicians.
Schickele released more than a dozen albums as P.D.Q. Bach between 1965 and 2007, and his work is discussed in the book “The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach” (1976). Four of his albums won Grammy Awards for best comedy album, including “1712 Overture & Other Musical Assaults,” “Oedipus Tex and Other Choral Calamities,” “Classical WTWP Talkity-Talk Radio,” and “Music for an Awful Lot of Winds & Percussion.” He also received a Grammy for best classical crossover album for his 1998 album “Hornsmoke: Music of Peter Schickele.”
Schickele’s musical talent extended beyond his work as P.D.Q. Bach. He wrote humorous songs, including blues and country versions of Shakespearean soliloquies, as well as new texts for Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” and Saint-Saëns’s “Carnival of the Animals.” He also composed serious concert music, often featuring folk-like melodies and painterly elements.
Born on July 17, 1935, in Ames, Iowa, Schickele’s parents both had careers in academia and science. He began studying composition and playing the bassoon and piano at a young age. He received his bachelor’s degree in music from Swarthmore College in 1957 and completed his master’s degree at the Juilliard School in 1960. He taught at Juilliard before leaving to focus on his P.D.Q. Bach performances.
Schickele’s success with P.D.Q. Bach allowed him to pursue other aspects of his composing and performing career. He formed the chamber-rock-jazz trio Open Window in 1967 and contributed music to the Broadway show “Oh! Calcutta!” He also hosted the radio show “Schickele Mix,” exploring the elements of music and showcasing various genres.
Peter Schickele leaves behind a legacy of musical comedy and innovative compositions. His ability to blend humor and classical music will be remembered and cherished by fans around the world..
