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VANGUARD RECORDINGS FOR THE CONNOISSEUR

An Hysteric Return

at CARNEGIE HALL

The Royal P.D.Q. Bach

Festival Orchestra Jorge Mester, Conductor

The Okay Chorale John Nelson, Director

DESIGN / JULES HALFANT

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Oratorio: “The Seasonings” (S. V2 tsp.)

“Unbegun” Symphony

Pervertimento for Bagpipes, Bicycle, and Balloons (S. 66)

Stephen Schmidt, Producer

The Tromboon Discovery of “The Seasonings”

The Bicycle The Windbreaker

An Hysteric Return

BD.Q. BACH at CARNEGIE HALL with Professor Peter Schickele

The Royal P.D.Q. Bach Festival Orchestra Jorge Mester, conductor

Produced by Stephen Schmidt

PROGRAM Side One

ORATORIO—“THE SEASONINGS”, S. y2 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

LORNA HAYWOOD, soprano JOHN FERRANTE, tenor

MARLENA KLEINMAN, alto WILLIAM WOOLF, bass

THE OKAY CHORALE; John Nelson, director

terest, in such a short time, and with so little reason. Groping for

an explanation of this situation, some psychologists have suggested

that the modern concert goer, constantly exposed to the perfections

of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music, has developed a deep-seated

inferiority complex which can be best relieved by listening to the

all-too-human efforts of P.D.Q., who, although unpredictable in

many ways, is dependably fallible. Certain scholars, on the other

hand, have claimed that the popularity of J.S. Bach’s only-forgotten

son is due to the fact that he represents the seamy side of 18th

century music, a side which was either neglected or suppressed

until the recent development of hard-core musicology. Music critics,

however, have pointed out that audiences seem to be moved to the

point of laughter by P.D.Q. Bach’s egregious limitations, and it is

probably this more than anything else that accounts for the irre¬

sponsible enthusiasm shown by these audiences; to them and to

thousands of record buyers, P.D.Q. Bach can do no right. I suppose

this is better than complete apathy, but I must confess that I was

hoping for a more serious consideration of the numerous singular

aspects of his music. Fortune (or is it perhaps one of the Muses? ) has continued to

guide me to the hiding places of long-lost P.D.Q. Bach manuscripts,

and each new discovery is greeted with a sense of anticipation which

borders on the apprehensive. The unearthing of the grand oratorio,

“The Seasonings”, however, was especially exciting, since it proved

beyond a doubt that P.D.Q.’s inabilities were not limited to the

smaller forms; every measure of this monumental work is infected

with the same lofty intentions which permeate the cantata “Iphigenia

in Brooklyn” and other shorter pieces, and the carrying out of these

intentions is equally disappointing. The road to musicians’ Hell

must be paved with P.D.Q. Bach compositions.

His instrumentation, however, is always interesting; in “The

Seasonings” he employs a lurid assembly of instruments which,

in addition to the usual trumpets, timpani, and strings, includes a

push-button chord organ, two slide whistles, two kazoos (the in¬

struments themselves are modern, but for the sake of authenticity

they are equipped with original 18th century tissue paper), a shower

hose in D, a tromboon (this instrument is a hybrid—that’s the nicer

word—constructed from parts of a bassoon and a trombone; it has

all the disadvantages of both), a windbreaker and a slide wind-

breaker (perhaps the less said about these the better; they consist

of tuned mailing tubes, and are sometimes referred to in old treatises

as “mailing tubas”), and, interestingly enough, a foghorn. I don’t

know of any other piece, intended for performance on the land,

that uses a foghorn. Equally adventuresome in orchestration is the Pervertimento,

which was perhaps P.D.Q. Bach’s most notorious work during his

own lifetime. The virtuosity of the bicycle and bagpipes parts is

considerable; the balloonist, on the other hand, has very little to

do, although a great deal is required of the balloons themselves.

In the first movement they are thrice rubbed the wrong way. In the

last movement a small balloon, filled with air but unknotted, can

be heard as it is released for a short jet flight; and at the end of

the piece, a large bunch of helium-filled balloons is released. As

they float towards the ceiling, three pitch pipes, attached to the

mouth of one of the balloons, play the final chord. This spectacular

ending suggests that the work was written for some grand festivity

at the court; perhaps it was performed outdoors, with royal falcons

sent off to retrieve the pitch pipes.

The bicycle is used in several ways. In the second and last move¬

ments a siren mounted on the rear wheel sings the plaintive melo¬

dies ; in the Trio of the Minaret, the performer blows on the handle¬

bars as if they were a trumpet; and in the final movement, after

the passage for siren, playing cards are allowed to flap on the

spokes of the rear wheel as it turns, thus producing a percussive

effect known to every small boy but, until P.D.Q. Bach, unknown

VANGUARD

I STEREOLAB VSD-79223

also on mono, VRS-9223

to even the most sophisticated masters of orchestration. The first

performance in Bach’s day of this work was marred when the soloist

got a flat tire, but unfortunately Stradivarius made no bicycles, and

the modern ones seem to be more reliable.

P.D.Q. demonstrated his mastery of the bagpipes in his Sinfonia

Concertante, but in the Pervertimento he achieves a variety of tim¬

bres which forces us to consider him history’s greatest composer of

classical music for bagpipes and orchestra. In the third movement

he instructs the player to remove the chanter (the part on which

one plays the melody) from the rest of the instrument and to play

it as he would an oboe. Since a bagpipes player is not trained as an

oboist, the resulting sound, however jarring, is not unexpected. In

the Romanza I, he uses a small practice bagpipe without drones

which sounds as if it has a sinus condition. It is used when a bag¬

piper wants to avoid disturbing his neighbors; after several hours,

however, it may seriously disturb the bagpiper himself. This move¬

ment is the only instance in the entire literature, as far as I have

been able to ascertain, of the indication “molto vibrato” for a bag¬

pipe. Actually this is probably another case of P.D.Q. Bach’s un¬

intentional originality. The man for whom he wrote the part was

one of his most devoted drinking companions, and from all reports

the poor fellow had very little choice about whether to use vibrato

or not. The notes at the end of this movement are played by detach¬

ing the drones and playing them separately. In the last movement

the full instrument is employed for the first time.

P.D.Q. Bach has been accused of gimmickry, but I think it is

safe to say that no other instruments could convey his own peculiar

vision, in all its myopia, as faithfully as do these. So we have used

the authentic instruments whenever possible; it seems the least we

can do for a composer who is now so misunderstood, and who was

himself so misunderstanding. Professor P. Schickele

P.D.Q. Bach’s Musical Debut on Vanguard

P.D.Q. BACH (1807-1742) ?

Concerto for Horn and Hardart, S. 27

Cantata, “Iphigenia iri Brooklyn”, S. 53162

Quodlibet for Small Orchestra (Schickele)

Sinfonia Concertante for Bagpipes, Left-handed Sewer Flute and

Double-reed Slide Music Stand, S. 98.6

featuring Peter Schickele, Ferrante, Hambro, Froelich, Eisenstadt; Cham¬

ber Orchestra conducted by Jorge Mester VRS-9195 (mono) & VSD-79195 (stereo)

“Demonstrates that the art of intelligent comedy may not be dead

on records.” (Chosen as one of the best records of the year).

H. Kupferberg, N.Y. Herald Tribune

“A gigantic spoof of baroque music, recorded at an unforgettable

concert performance in New York’s Town Hall. . . riotously funny.

P. Affelder, Newark News

“Luckily, the concert was recorded and Vanguard has released the

disk. And the good news is that this disk is just as funny as the concert

was.” H. Klein, New York Times

“Awe-inspiring event. .. now been made available to an even wider

audience through the medium of recordings.” I. Kipnis, HiFi/Stereo Review

This is a VANGUARD STEREOLAB recording, employing a multi-channel com¬ plex of microphones, tape recorders and amplifiers of advanced design, so that these varied channels are engraved in the dual grooves of the stereophonic disc. This disc is playable with any stereophonic cartridge, and reproduced through a stereophonic system, it affords a roundness, clarity, definition, physical presence and natural directionality, so that all awareness vanishes of any intermediary between the listener and the live performance. VANGUARD RECORDING SOCIETY, INC., NEW YORK PRINTED IN U.S.A.

Side Two

1. “UNBEGUN” SYMPHONY (Professor P. Schickele) III. Minuet IV. Andante—Allegro

2. PERVERTIMENTO FOR BAGPIPES, BICYCLE AND BALLOONS, S. 66

Allegro moulto Romanze I (Chi Largo)

Romanze II (Adagio Sereno) Presto Changio

Minaret and Trio

MAURICE EISENSTADT, bagpipes ROBERT LEWIS, balloons

PETER SCHICKELE, bicycle

In the year which has elapsed since his music was first introduced

to an eagerly skeptical public, P.D.Q. Bach has emerged as a unique

phenomenon in the current Baroque revival. It would be difficult

to name another composer whose works have aroused so much in-

A Quick and Easy Guide to the “Unbegun Symphony” Themes in Order of Appearance

III.—Menuet

Symphony No. 41 in C major, “Jupiter” (Mozart) - Du, du, liegst mir in

Herzen” - Cielito Lindo (C. Fernandez) - Symphony No. 39 in E flat major (Mozart) - Symphony No. 8 in F major (Beethoven) - Die Fleder-

maus (Joh. Strauss Jr.) - “Clementine” (P. Montrose) - Symphony No. 4

in E minor (Brahms) - Carmen (Bizet) - The Blue Danube (Joh. Strauss

Jr.) - The Swan (Saint-Saens) - Symphony No. 3 in E flat, “Eroica”

(Beethoven) - Symphony No. 6 in F major, “Pastoral’ (Beethoven) - The

Band Played On” (C. P. Ward) - Symphony No. 41 in C major, “Jupiter”

(Mozart)

IV. — Andante-Allegro

Symphony No. 2 in D major (Brahms) - “Beautiful Dreamer” (Foster) -

“Tha-ma-ra-boum-dee-he” (Lemon-Deransart) - Overture to “William Tell”

(Rossini) - The Irish Washerwoman - The Camptown Races (Foster) -

Symphony No. 9 in D minor (Beethoven) - “Onward Christian Soldiers”

(Sullivan) - Overture to “The Marriage of Figaro” (Mozart) - Symphony

No. 41 in C major, “Jupiter” (Mozart) - Overture to “Russian and Lud¬ milla” (Glinka) - “Joy to the World” (Handel) - Symphonie Fantastique

(Berlioz) - Symphony No. 41 in C major, “Jupiter” (Mozart) - “Anchors

Aweigh” (Savino-Zimmerman-Lottman) - Symphony No. 6 in B minor,

“Pathetique” (Tchaikowsky) - “You Are My Sunshine’ (Davis-Mitchell) -

1812 Overture (Tchaikowsky) - Symphony No. 1 in C minor (Brahms) -

“Dies Irae” - Symphony No. 9 in C major (Schubert) - March Slav (Tchaikowsky) - Symphony No. 5 in E minor, “New World (Dvorak)

Russian National Anthem, as in “1812 Overture” (Tchaikowsky) - Lohen¬

grin (Wagner) - The Mikado (Sullivan) - Etude (Kreutzer)

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AN HYSTERIC RETURN p.D.Q. BACH AT CARNEGIE HALL

’ "UNBEGUN” SYMPHONY (Prof. P. Schickels) III. Minuet

IV. Andante ■ Allegro 10:45

VSD-79223-B ( s, Side Two XSV 122353

2 PERVERTIMENTO FOR BAGPIPES, BICYCLE AND BALLOONS. S. 66

Allenro moulto - Romanze II (Adagio Sereno) AMinaret and Trio - Romanze I (Chi Largo) -

Presto Changio 12:26 Maurice Eisenstadt, bagpipes; Peter Sch.ckele, bicycle,

Robert Lewis, balloons The Royal P.D 0. Bach Festival Orchestra

Jorge Mester, conductor

Copyright 1966 Vanguard Rcording Society, Inc., N-Y.

Recorded in U.S.A.

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