P D Q Bach, RIP

The American composer Peter Schickele, famed for his best-selling Bach parodies, has died at his home, near Woodstock, aged 88.

Aside from ‘discovering’ works by the lesser-known Bach progeny, he composed more than 100 works for orchestra, as well as arrangements for Joan Baez and Buffy Sainte-Marie. He was best friends at Juilliard with Philip Glass.

P D Q stood for pretty damn quick.

Allan Kozinn writes: ‘Peter Schickele’s humor was special – getting all the jokes required a certain degree of musical literacy, but even if you missed the arcane stuff, his shows were a lot of fun. He was also a genuinely nice guy. And there was his serious/non-comic work, which I liked a lot as well.’

Obit here.