P.D.Q. Bach: Black Forest Bluegrass

1. Blaues Gras (Bluegrass Cantata), S6 String
Composed by P.D.Q. [pseudonym of Peter Schickele] Bach
with Peter Schickele , John Ferrante , New York Pick-Up Ensemble , Donald Palma , Donald Palma , Bill Keith , Bill Keith , Eric Weisberg , Eric Weisberg
Conducted by Robert Bernhardt

2. No-No Nonette for Assorted Winds & Toys, S86
Composed by P.D.Q. [pseudonym of Peter Schickele] Bach
Conducted by Peter Schickele

3. Diverse Ayres & Sundrie Notions for voice, snake & ensemble Hear Me Through
Composed by P.D.Q. [pseudonym of Peter Schickele] Bach

P.D.Q. Bach: Black Forest Bluegrass,Bill Keith,Donald Palma,Peter Schickele,P.D.Q. [pseudonym of Peter Schickele] Bach,Robert Bernhardt,New York Pick-Up Ensemble,Happy Traum,Eric Weisberg,John Ferrante,Vanguard Records,Cantata,Chamber,Chamber Music,Choral,Classical,Comedy,Popular Music,Solo Voice(s) and Small Ensemble,Spoken / Comedy / Radio Shows,Vocal

P.D.Q. Bach: Black Forest Bluegrass
Average customer rating:

An essential part of the hard-core P.D.Q. Bach-lover's collection

Great Album But You Need The Liner Notes

Funny -- but misunderstood

Unintelligible and repetitive

say what?

P.D.Q. Bach: Black Forest Bluegrass

Manufacturer: Vanguard Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Bach, P.D.Q. | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Cantatas | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
General | Comedy | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

P.D.Q. Bach: Liebeslieder Polkas; Twelve Quite Heavenly Songs

P.D.Q. Bach: Music You Can't Get Out of Your Head

Portrait of P.D.Q. Bach

1712 Overture & Other Musical Assaults

P.D.Q. Bach: WTWP Classical Talkity-Talk Radio

ASIN: B000000ELS
Release Date: 1990-01-25

Tracks:

Cant: Blaues Gras (Bluegrass Cantata): Recitative and Aria: 'BLAUES GRAS' - JOHN FERRANTE/PROF. SCHICKELE
Cant: Blaues Gras (Bluegrass Cantata): Recitative: 'O'/Aria: 'DU BIST IM LAND' - JOHN FERRANTE/PROF. SCHICKELE
Cant: Blaues Gras (Bluegrass Cantata): Recitative: 'O'/Duet: 'ICH GEHE' - JOHN FERRANTE/PROF. SCHICKELE
Cant: Blaues Gras (Bluegrass Cantata): Chor: 'ICHE GEHE'/Duet: 'SAG' MIR' - JOHN FERRANTE/PROF. SCHICKELE
NO-NO NONETTE for assorted winds & toys (S. 86): First Movt - Wind octet and percussion/PROF. SCHICKELE
NO-NO NONETTE for assorted winds & toys (S. 86): Second Movt - Wind octet and percussion/PROF. SCHICKELE
NO-NO NONETTE for assorted winds & toys (S. 86): Third Movt - Wind octet and percussion/PROF. SCHICKELE
NO-NO NONETTE for assorted winds & toys (S. 86): Fourth Movt - Wind octet and percussion/PROF. SCHICKELE
NO-NO NONETTE for assorted winds & toys (S. 86): Last Movt - Wind octet and percussion/PROF. SCHICKELE
Diverse Ayres on Sundrie Notions: 'Hear Me Through' - Wind octet and percussion/PROF. SCHICKELE

Customer Reviews:

An essential part of the hard-core P.D.Q. Bach-lover's collection.......2006-04-25

Although this album contains the relatively minor and impenetrable Bluegrass Cantata (I speak German and the puns contained in the work are about as groan-inducing as those that are the hallmark of Peter Schickele's radio program, Schickele Mix), the real jewel of the album is the octet for winds and a bizarre assortment of percussion instruments, the No-No Nonette.

This work is full of clever musical puns and inside jokes that characterize Schikele's later, more mature musical satires like the 1712 Overture and the Short-Tempered Clavier. Like those works, the jokes are purely musical and instrumental, except in those places where the musical toys add a touch of Spike Jones. Where else but in Schickele's world could a wind octet feature a beautiful oboe solo (2nd movement) that suddenly goes haywire, making the soloist make an horrifying leap down from the instruments's highest register to it's lowest played deliberately flat, only later to have the same melody played in country-style parallel thirds by alternating pairs of clarinets and oboes? It's almost like a Mozart octet playing the Judds.

The penultimate movement is a stroke of genius, with frenetic oboe and horn riffs sounding like something out of Dvorak's wind music framing a B section featuring a serene horn solo (with clarinets murmuring along) echoed by a music box playing an identical passage (per Schickele custom made for his composition according to later commentary on Schickele Mix). . .after each horn entrance the music box is opened again to play, clearly having not been wound since the prior measures. With each entrance, it adds to the schmaltz of the tune by playing ever slower.

This album is not for the P.D.Q. Bach dabbler who wants a quick laugh from some of his more obvious satires, but I spent years trying to find this album back in print just so I could enjoy this underrated part of the P.D.Q. Bach canon.

Great Album But You Need The Liner Notes.......2006-04-04

Look at Peter Shickelie's web-site. He sounds like he's a little bit annoyed at the relase of this album on CD. The reason: the title piece on the album, Black Forest Bluegrass, was written entirely in German. Apparently, he wrote it when he found out a large group of Germans would be attending one of his PDQ Bach concerts and he wanted to provide them with a piece in their native language. When it was produced as an album, the liner notes containing the full translation were printed on the album cover so that those of us not fluent in German could enjoy it. It was never meant to be presented without the translation, and yet, when it was produced on CD, they left out the translation, making the entire song unintelligible. Fortunately, its pretty easy to find the translation online (like on Shickelie's own website).

Even without the words, Black Forest Bluegrass is pleasent to listen to and quite a clever merger of bluegrass and Baroque music. There are two other pieces on the album: No-No Nonette, a piece which uses toys as some of the instruments (pop-gun, music box, a doll that says "Ma-Ma", etc). Its clever, but pretty slow. "Now Hear Me Through" is an excerpt from "Diverse Airs On Sundry Notions" which are a series of advertisements composed by and purportedly endorsed by PDQ Bach. These are cute, but brief. The remainder of these fake-ads appear on one of his other albums "Report From Hoople." You get the impression that these are the leftovers that they couldn't fit on that album.

All-in-all Blackforest Bluegrass is the one piece that really makes this album, and if you're going to buy it (which I reccomend if you like Peter Shickelie's other work) make sure that you download a translation so that you can enjoy it fully.

Funny -- but misunderstood.......2003-01-22

Be warned! This album is not for everyone.

For one to appreciate this album to its fullest, one needs to be versed in both German and English, be able to shift between them with ease, appreciate bluegrass music, appreciate late 18th/early 19th Century music, and be able to honestly laugh at all of the above. Since I fit this description, I feel well qualified to comment here.

Schickele's voice is raw, and unmelodic, but so are many early American folk singers at the most fundamental level. And this lends some measure of humor to the entire musical adventure on this album. The translations from German to English (as written) don't do the cantata the justice it deserves as the linguistic jokes and turns-of-phrase easily fly over a non-German/English-speaker's head -- and the heads of some academically trained listeners, too. It might take a second listen for the gags to fully be understood.

For any other follower of PDQ Bach, the musical gags and word plays here may seem flat and lacking, especially given some of the other offerings on the market. If you're intending to laugh uproariously, and you don't understand German, you will find this album a huge disappointment. It's just not that type of album. That said, even the English "advertising" madrigal included on the album is merely cute -- not guffaw inducing -- as is the fully instrumental No-No Nonette (which might put you to sleep, despite the strange toy sounds). A mediocre offering for most.

For the very small niche for which this album must have been intended, this album offers a few good laughs.

Unintelligible and repetitive.......2003-01-01

If you liked Schickele's Oedipus Tex, then you've heard pretty much all the ideas used in the Blugrass Cantata before. This recording, however, has an impenetrable libretto sung in German, with no translation in the cover notes. It's also sung mostly by Peter Schickele, whose voice is dull, flat, and less than melodic.

The No-No Nonette is also less than inspired.

All in all, a great disappointment. Buy Oedipus Tex, it's hilarious and very clever. Leave this one on the shelf.

say what?.......2001-04-21

I am slowly increasing my P.D.Q. Bach collection and just received Black Forest Bluegrass two days ago. As noted in a previous comment, a significant portion of this album of P.D.Q.'s work is sung in German. Perhaps the original 33 1/3 rpm album had a lyrics translation section in the jacket, but I have found the disc version, at least the one I received, does not have such a feature. I do not speak German, and as such, have no idea what is and what is not funny.

The blend of bluegrass and "classical" certainly is the highlight of this work of P.D.Q., but not knowing what the lyrics are, certainly hurts the overall listening experience.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

Let's Start a War...Said Maggie One Day [Import]

Shine on Brightly [Live]

Poet II

Play Mode [Import]

Pfitzner: Von deutscher Seele

Scene It All

Pulp Fusion, Vol. 2: Return to the Tough Side [Import]

So Tough

Punch Drunk Piranha

Rough Technique V.2 [Import]

The Jubes

Musica Nuda V.2