- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJohann Peter Schickele
- Nicknames
- Bach
- P.D.Q. Bach
- Peter Schickele is a renowned American composer. Inspired by the music of Spike Jones, as a young teenager, he also studied composition and music history at Juilliard. After graduating from Juilliard he asked himself what in the world he was going to do with a PhD in music history, and proceeded to rewrite it (history, that is) by discovering works by Johann Sebastian Bach's heretofore unknown 21st child, "last and by far the least", "a pimple on the face of music", P.D.Q. Bach. PDQ's music had its first public performance in 1965, and lectures by "Professor Schickele" (of the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople, or "U of SND at H" for short) have delighted audiences ever since. Although the first ten PDQ Bach albums on Vanguard hold his most inspired work, only his latest five albums (on Telarc) have earned him proper recognition, with four of the five winning Grammy Awards in comedy. In 1993 he stopped touring with PDQ Bach to devote himself more fully to 'real' composing (which he's done all along, in spite of the spectre of PDQ Bach which often resulted in even his most serious work eliciting laughter) and his radio show "Schickele Mix". His weekly show (of which there have been 168 episodes) features an eclectic mix of music from many cultures and centuries; he's perfectly happy to illustrate a musical point using a "suite" that combines music of seeming opposites: Bach and the Beatles; Heavy Metal bands and Classical string quartets. You can find him on the radio or in New York City every week after Christmas performing P.D.Q. Bach at Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center.
- IMDb mini biography by: Mark Maimone <mwm@cmu.edu>
- SpouseSusan Sindall(October 27, 1962 - January 16, 2024) (his death, 2 children)
- ChildrenMatt SchickeleKarla Schickele
- ParentsRainer Schickele
- RelativesRené Schickele(Grandparent)David Schickele(Sibling)
- His defeat of (among others) Sam Kinison for best comedy album was part of The Howard Stern Show legacy, when Sam, recorded live during the event, muttered: "PDQ Bach... PDQ Bach..." after losing.
- His latest albums (on Telarc) have earned him proper recognition, with four of them winning Grammy Awards in comedy.
- His radio program, "Schickele Mix," has produced 168 episodes. In 1993 it won both the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award and the Gold Award for Programming Excellence from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In early 2005, there were no plans to produce additional new episodes due a shortage of funding.
- One of only two performers (the other being Bill Cosby) to win the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in four consecutive years.
- For his performances he is known as Peter Schickele, Professor of Music Pathology at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople. He refers to himself as a musicolologist.
- Although he is generally associated with classical music, his varied works included recordings for children and folk music, including a long running professional relationship with Joan Baez.
- I have a long history of fooling around with other people's music.
- Many composers have written for double-reeds, but P.D.Q. Bach is the only one I know to do so without the use of oboes and bassoons.
- In general, the dance music of P.D.Q. Bach, although we have no documentary evidence of this, suggests that one of his legs was shorter than the other.
- It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that certain je ne sais quoi.
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