PDQ Bach: Suite No. 1 For Cello All By Its Lonesome

Suite No. 1 For Cello All By Its Lonesome (S. 1a)
By P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742)?
Edited with the loneliness known only to those of integrity, by
Professor Peter Schickele

1. Preludiamble
2. Sarabanda Carmen Miranda
3. Gigue-o-lo


The following program notes appear printed in the sheet music. I wish I could take credit for them, but I'm not that funny.:


P.D.Q. Bach’s composing life has been divided, and not a moment too soon, into three creative periods: the Initial Plunge, the Soused Period, and Contrition.  That the unaccompanied cello suites hail from the last of these periods is indicated by the fact that they harken back, stylistically speaking, to the composer’s father, Johann Sebastian Bach, yet lack the poignant anarchy that is so characteristic of the works of the Initial Plunge, the other period during which the scourge of Wein-am-Rhein was in a paternally emulative mode.


The original manuscript (or “ms.”, as we professionals say) bears the inscription “For Clara Bow.”  Since P.D.Q. lived more than a century before the silent screen star, there has been speculation that the composer was musically and/or romantically (or both) involved with some German ancestor of The “It” Girl, but if there was indeed such a person in his life, it seems more likely that she would have been connected (either as dedicatee or performer[or both]) with the CONCERTO FOR TWO PIANOS VS. ORCHESTRA IN E♭ MAJOR, since, in German, “Das ‘Es’ Mädchen” means not only “The ‘It’ Girl,” but also “The ‘E Flat’ Girl.”


It turns out, however that “Für Clara Bow” is not a dedication at all, but rather an indication of what kind of bow is to be employed when performing the pieces; that is, the curved bow that P.D.Q.’s father is presumed to have intended for the performance of his unaccompanied cello suites is to be eschewed for these works in favor of an English “clear bow,” the word “clear” used here in the sense of “straight,” as in, “you can see clear across town from this window; that bump on the horizon is the tax collector’s aushaus.”


Nevertheless, the first person to play these suites was, in all likelihood, another woman, the fiery Russian cellist Pia Tigorsky.  Her virtuosity in juggling paramours was as legendary as was that which she displayed with involved with her instrument, and she is known to have been in Baden Baden Baden at the same time that P.D.Q. Bach was there, perpetrating the works of his Contrition Period.  This “brilliant comet in the musical heavens,” as the English historian Chuck Burney called her, thought of herself as Cleopatra, and spent her highly nomadic life looking for her Antony, who, in addition to be the love of her life, would help her start a music school.  She was born in Siberia and died in Philadelphia, having failed to find Tony or found Curtis.  (Incidentally, Pia Tigorsky was, as far as can be ascertained, the first woman ever to play all six of the unaccompanied cello suites by J.S. Bach above the Arctic Circle.)

Professor Peter Schickele

Department of Musical Pathology

University of Southern North Dakota

At Hoople

RC: Self-proclaimed “musicolologist” Peter Schickele (b. 1935) has devoted much of his professional career to the “discovery” of works by P.D.Q. Bach, the (fictional) son of Johann Sebastian Bach.  In actuality, Schickele writes music satirizing J.S. Bach, filled with jokes intended for those with musical savvy.  Distributed by Public Radio International, Schickele Mix served as a vehicle for Schickele’s joking musical mind from 1992-2007.


A well-rounded musician and colleague heard the end of my recital preview. When I finished and walked off stage, she asked me what this last piece was. She said it sounded like Bach, but there something was wrong. That's the point! When Schickele writes as P.D.Q. Bach, he uses elements of J.S. Bach's music, but does changes things around to entertain the musically learned. My favorite example of Shickele's blatant satire is in P.D.Q. Bach's Short-Tempered Clavier: Preludes and Fugues in All the Major and Minor Keys Except for the Really Hard Ones. I am unfortunately unable to link to that music here, but I highly suggest you seek it out elsewhere. In this work, Shickele satirizes J.S. Bach's Well Tempered Clavier, using contemporary popular melodies to write preludes and fugues. The Suite No. 1 For Cello All By Its Lonesome is less outwardly funny. The first movement is similar to the prelude of Bach's third cello suite, and the third movement can more-or-less be linked to the gigue of the fourth Bach cello suite. However, J.S. Bach never wrote blues scales in his music, as far as we know...


I recommend searching for some P.D.Q. Bach videos on YouTube. You'll find some fun things like "The Art of the Ground Round," and more!