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The Echo Sonata for Two Unfriendly Groups of Instruments is a satirical instrumental work written by Peter Schickele under the pseudonym of P.D.Q. Bach, whom Schickele studies as a "scholar".
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The Echo Sonata for Two Unfriendly Groups of Instruments is a satirical instrumental work written by Peter Schickele under the pseudonym of P.D.Q. Bach, whom Schickele studies as a "scholar".
The piece is a sextet intended in the baroque style, the two unfriendly groups of instruments being the three woodwinds — flute, oboe and bassoon — and the three brass; trumpet, french horn and trombone. The basic premise is that the woodwinds play the piece straightforwardly, while the brass instruments (who don't like the woodwinds and/or the conductor) do everything possible to pervert the work, including playing their echo atonally/arhythmically, playing in a carnival or ragtime style, ignoring their cue (even when repeated) and then playing "nanny nanny boo-boo" over the subsequent woodwind line, and dramatic ritardandos and rallentandos that cover the other group's parts. This understandably frustrates the woodwinds and the conductor. At the breaking point, the conductor and/or woodwind group pull out guns and point them at the brass section, whose broad, obnoxiously loud line trails off. The woodwinds play their final line, and the brass finally cooperate... until they refuse to play their final note, which is completed by the woodwinds.
The piece appears in two albums, Report From Hoople: P. D. Q. Bach On The Air and Portrait of PDQ Bach . In the former, the presentation of the piece is itself satirical in nature with the piece (recorded on tape) being played too slow, then too fast, and even backwards (Schickele quips while attempting to fix the problem, "This is a heck of a way to start a morning, isn't it?") before the machine playing the tape explodes. The second later album features the piece in its entirety (though the recorded introduction to the piece still pokes fun at the recording and editing process).
A musical ensemble, also known as a music group, musical group, or a band is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, such as the jazz quartet or the orchestra. Other music ensembles consist solely of singers, such as choirs and doo-wop groups. In both popular music and classical music, there are ensembles in which both instrumentalists and singers perform, such as the rock band or the Baroque chamber group for basso continuo and one or more singers. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles. Some ensembles blend the sounds of a variety of instrument families, such as the orchestra, which uses a string section, brass instruments, woodwinds, and percussion instruments, or the concert band, which uses brass, woodwinds, and percussion. In jazz ensembles or combos, the instruments typically include wind instruments, one or two chordal "comping" instruments, a bass instrument, and a drummer or percussionist. Jazz ensembles may be solely instrumental, or they may consist of a group of instruments accompanying one or more singers. In rock and pop ensembles, usually called rock bands or pop bands, there are usually guitars and keyboards, one or more singers, and a rhythm section made up of a bass guitar and drum kit.
An orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments:
Peter Schickele was an American composer, musical educator and parodist, best known for comedy albums featuring his music, which he presented as being composed by the fictional P.D.Q. Bach. He also hosted a long-running weekly radio program called Schickele Mix.
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