The Seasonings (S. 1½ Tsp.) Oratorio for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass Soloists. Mixed Chorus (SATB) and Orchestra by PDQ Bach 4-Part - Sheet Music

SKU: PR.411410540

ISBN 9781491109434. UPC: 680160087723. 6.875 x 10.5 inches. Text: Peter Schickele.

The Seasonings is, as far as is known, the only oratorio written by P.D.Q. Bach, and we must thank God for small favors. The oratorio was written during the last of the composer’s three creative periods—Contrition—when he gave up many, though not all, of the extravagance of the Soused Period, and the characteristically incompetent characteristics of the Initial Plunge. The work was first published in Liverpool by Jonathan “Boozy” Hawkes, who has been of one P.D.Q.’s many drinking companions. Since the original manuscript has never been found, and since the first published edition was already in English, with no credit given for the liberetto, we can only speculate about the authorship of the text; or, of course, we can simply not think about it at all.
THE SEASONINGS is, as far as is known, the only oratorio written by P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742)?, and we must thank God for small favors. The last and least of the great J.S. Bach's 20-odd children was not only the oddest, but also the least understood, since there was so little to understand. He lived an exceptionally pointless life which is mirrored with amazing fidelity in his compositions.The oratorio was written during the last of the composer's three creative periods - contrition- when he gave up many, though not all, of the extravagances of Soused Period, and the characteristically incompetent characteristics of the Initial Plunge. The work was first published in Liverpool by Jonathan "Boozy" Hawkes, who has been one of P.D.Q.'s many drinking companions in Wein-am-Rhein during the Soused Period. Since the original manuscript, or ms., has never been found, and since the first published edition was already in English, with no credit given for the libretto, we can only speculate about the authorship of the text; or, of course, we can simply not think about it at all.THE SEASONINGS is recorded on the Vanguard album "An Hysteric Return; P.D.Q. Bach at Carnegie Hall" VSD79223, which is more than you can say for the Mona Lisa.