[Magdalen] Florence Foster Jenkins.

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

I probably put out too many links, but I was delighted to see that all of
these are readily available on youtube.

Peter is a genius. Not just a novelty -- he's the real deal.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Sat, Aug 1, 2015 at 8:19 AM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com> wrote:

> My community choir did three of his Christmas pieces years ago: "Throw the
> Yule Log On, Uncle John," "Oh Little Town of Hackensack," and a third, the
> name of which escapes me.
> And a few years later, for First Night Charlottesville, I sang with a
> group that gave two performances of the cantata "The Seasonings." It was
> hard to keep a straight face while singing such movements as "If You've Got
> the Money, Honey, I've Got the Thyme" and "Summer Is A-Cumin In."
> I'm going to check out the links you have, James--should make for some
> good chuckles!
>
> > On Aug 1, 2015, at 3:26 AM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
> oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Peter Schickele comes to mind.  He has a piece by him, which he also
> wrote
> > (as he would put it), in which he begins with the Bassoon (his actual
> > instrument), then playing on it as one by one the parts are removed, til
> > all that's left is the bocal!  I loved his show, "Schickele Mix," in
> which
> > he continually showed how all the genres of music are essentially the
> same,
> > or have very similar things going on, and he had the savvy to know how to
> > lead you through the thickets of erudition and show the basics behind the
> > curtain.
> >
> > In the cantata, "Iphigenia in Brooklyn," which he discovered from the
> works
> > of P.D.Q.Bach, there is one section where he scores musicians playing the
> > double reeds, but without the use of oboes or bassoons, as well as a
> > trumpet mouthpiece (bereft of its trumpet). That same movement has -- for
> > no particular discernible reason -- a cantus firmus ("Jesus Loves me,
> this
> > I know").
> >
> > I caught his act at the Bardavon Opera house a few years ago.  He has a
> > schtick of always arriving very late, and his faithful assistant walks
> > around the stage, looking increasingly upset, shading his eyes as he
> looks
> > far to the left and to the right.  Then finally, he begins to announce
> that
> > since Maestro Schickele has not arrived, with deep regret, they will have
> > to --
> > Then: Schickele did actually swing down onto the stage on a rope.
> > (Shouting, "Don't cancel! Don't cancel!")
> > He had a marvelous act, full of fun and gags and incredible insight into
> > this amazing thing we call music.
> >
> > He produced a number of compositions based on collected themes from tons
> of
> > classical works compressed together in one extended piece.
> > Probably the best and most brilliant is the Quodlibet for Chamber
> > Orchestra,
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3SHc5KNv_k
> >
> > and a close second is his composition for full orchestra of Mozart's
> Kleine
> > Nachtmusik, ("Eine Kleine Nichtmusik") in which the other instruments
> have
> > entirely new parts, lampooning every musical cliche in the books.
> >
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68_j6yU4Whg
> >
> > One work, based on the absence of any info on what was happening in 1712,
> > resulted in the 1712 Overture, in which PDQ celebrates his Dad being in
> the
> > Colonies to test a new organ.
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWF2gDZU52U
> > A technically better performance, but without the sight gags:
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQVehnkc68M
> >
> > In our CD of music from the Hudson Valley, we (Kairos, a small choir,
> > artists-in-residence at Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY) included a
> > piece by him from his early years, setting some Japanese poetry.
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTMNFcDWvts
> >
> > James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> > *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> > except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
> >
> >> On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 8:51 PM, <thedonboyd at austin.rr.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> Poor Florence!
> >>
> >> I learned about the unintentionally hilarious FFJ in the 1950s from my
> >> organ teacher, who not only initiated me into the mysteries of Bach,
> >> Vierne, Durufle, Reger, and too many other ecclesiastical musicians to
> >> name, but also exposed this Texas country boy to (the intentionally
> >> hilarious) Anna Russell and the subversive Tom Lehrer.
> >>
> >> Later I came across, and actually heard in performance, Victor Borge,
> >> whose musicianly comedy was of a somewhat different sort.
> >>
> >> If there have been musical satirist/comedians practicing in this vein
> >> since Borge I've missed them.  Anybody know of later, or even current,
> >> performers of this ilk?
> >>
> >> Don in Austin
> >>
>