PETER SCHICKELE AT BELHAVEN'S ARTS CENTER, APRIL FOOL'S DAY, 2004

   Peter Schickele, humorist, composer, musician, and biographer of
P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742), the youngest and most forgettable of the
offspring of J.S. Bach, appeared - after a lengthy introduction
consisting mostly of silence (except for laughter). Schickele has
devoted so much research and energy into bringing P.D.Q. to life that
he has really gotten inside the soul of P.D.Q., and in fact the two
appear to have merged.

   The humor bordered on slapstick, but was for the most part related
to music. The only difficulty was in some spots it would help if one
knew a little German, and some of the European classical literature.
For example, Schickele suggested that Wagner disliked the German poet
Goethe, referring to him as "That darned Goethe", a mistranslation of
the title of Wagner's opera the "Goetterdammerung". To be fair, when
ever one speaks before an audience one must make assumptions about
the audience and it would be reasonable to expect some musical
sophistication in this case. Other humor was more timely.

   Musically the program began with music of P.D.Q. Bach: three
selections from his Little Notebook for "Piggy" Bach S. 3 Little -
Minuet in 3D Major, Chorale Prelude "Scintilla, Scintilla", and
Dance of the Various Body Parts. There followed Four Next-To-Last
Songs S. -1 - Das kleines Birdie, Der Cowboykinig. Gretchen am
Spincycle, and Es war ein dark und shtormy Night. This part closed
with Shepherds on the Rocks, with a Twist, S. 12 to 1.

   The second part opened with Three Canons: Hedi McKinley, The Brothers
Joad, and D'Indy's Turkey, followed by Three Songs: "Dear, If You
Change" (anonymous lyrics), Blue Window, and If You Will Try It, all
by Schickele; Rounds: The Mule, P.D.Q. Step Crab Dinner, and O Serpent,
by P.D.Q. Bach. The program closed with Schickele's Two for the Road:
Cyndi, and Songs from Shakespeare: Macbeth's Soliloquy, Hamlet's
Soliloquy, The Three Witches from 'Macbeth', Juliet's Soliloquy, and
Funeral Oration from 'Julius Caesar'.

   In these Schickele was either at the piano, or singing baritone,
and was assisted by tenor David Dusing and soprano Michele Eaton,
both of who had extraodrinary voices and musicality. Dusing also doubled
as Schickele during the introduction, and Eaton as an officious nurse
Schickele also performed briefly on a couple of P.D.Q. Bach's favorite
instruments, a whirling tube and the tromboon, a trombone body fitted
with the mouthpiece of a bassoon. It is no coincidence, I think, that
Schickele studied the bassoon at some length. In any case the music was
always entertaining and at the same time exceptionally well-crafted. I
especially liked the canons and rounds when the three singers sang
a capella. They made the music sound easy when it wasn't.

   Schickele's versatility as a composer was obvious, even when limited
to three voices, a keyboard, and two strange instruments! He has many
works, for a great variety of ensemble large and small, including one
for "Two Groups of Unfriendly Instruments". He is also one of the most
effective forces in popularizing classical music as well as music
theory (if it is possible to popularize that subject!), through his
radio program "Schickele Mix", which, until relatively recently, was
carried on PRM. Unfortunately it has been dropped in an effort by the
management to change the public perception of the station. Classical
music, at least as practiced at PRM by William Fulton and his staff for
more than a decade, is - in the larger sense - a living museum of our
musical culture. Popular music changes continually; new styles emerge
and are forgotten. On the other hand, classical music - in time -
incorporates the best of the different styles and adds them to the body
of classical music without discarding the old. Two examples are ragtime,
now rarely heard outside the classical music arena, and spirituals,
which are very often part of concerts by classically-oriented choral
groups. One might say that the society that abandons classical music
is committing cultural suicide. But I digress. In any case Peter
Schickele deserves very high marks in the efforts to make sure that we
do not abandon classical music.

   We are indebted to the World Performance Series for bringing Peter
Schickele to Jackson (actually a return visit), as well as for bringing
a great variety of other programs, from jazz to gospel to multimedia to
choral to piano to humor - all of which fit under the large umbrella of
lassical music. Thalia Mara, for whom the Thalia Mara Arts International
Foundation, the parent of World Performance Series is named, would be
pleased!

                                            - Glenn A. Gentry