A Tribute to Peter Schickele
Peter Schickele: "MORNING MUSIC is a string of beads; each bead is a concentrated, somewhat static musical section. One of these sections is fast and driving, another is languid, others flow in a songlike manner, but they all have a rather hypnotic quality. Although there is no direct reference to the music of India, this work has, to me, the feeling of a piece to be played at sunrise, in the manner of a morning raga. This piece was not commissioned; it simply wanted to be written. It was first performed by Jack Behrens and the composer on February 6, 1983 at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario." Peter Schickele (Morning Music completed February 5, 1983. Final revision January 30, 2009). Laura Leon and Blair McMillen, piano Morning Music for Piano, Four Hands from Morning Music: Piano Works by Peter Schickele & P.D.Q. Bach â„— 2014 Musical Tapestries Inc. Produced/Engineered by Adam Abeshouse. Theodore Presser Company. Permission: Carl Fischer, LLC. CD cover art, design and video ©2024 Karen Leon/Broken Tail Productions. www.lauraleonpiano.com
P.D.Q. Bach's Three Teeny Preludes: "The most obvious speculation concerning the origin of these three gem-like studies is that they were written for the composer's own use in teaching piano to various Baroque and Classical youngsters. This speculation, however, is weakened if not demolished by two important facts: 1) P.D.Q. Bach rarely knew what time of day it was, or even what day it was, making it extremely unlikely that he would have been able to accommodate a regular schedule (or, as the English say, schedule) of students; b) P.D.Q.Bach's own level of proficiency at the piano would seem to preclude his being in a position to teach the instrument to anyone else. A more plausible speculation concerning the origin of these three gem-like studies is that they were written for the composer's own use, period; that is, he wanted to write something that he could get through himself without resorting to singing instead of playing the fast passages, and muttering, "Und so fort" ("And so forth") whenever there were sixteenth notes in the left hand. Judging from internal evidence, the Three Teeny Preludes were composed in Baden Baden Baden, where the composer spent The Contrition Period of his life, trying to recuperate from the Soused Period of his life, an effort that was cut short by the composer's timely death." Prof. Peter Schickele, Hoople, North Dakota 193 years to the day after the premiere of Don Giovanni Laura Leon, piano Three Teeny Preludes by Peter Schickele ©1981 from Morning Music: Piano Works by Peter Schickele & P.D.Q. Bach â„—2014 Musical Tapestries Inc. Produced/Engineered by Adam Abeshouse. Theodore Presser Company. Permission: Carl Fischer, LLC. CD cover art, design and video©2024 Karen Leon/Broken Tail Productions. www.lauraleonpiano.com
A tribute to Peter Schickele "AMAZING GRACE has become one of the most popular folk hymns in the country, and deservedly so. Not only has it been sung by singers of every kind but it has even been recorded by a bagpipe band accompanied by a symphony orchestra. My setting contrasts simple declarations of the melody with a quasi-canonic, three-part section." Peter Schickele, 1989. Amazing Grace from Morning Music: Piano Works by Peter Schickele & P.D.Q. Bach â„—2014 Musical Tapestries Inc. Produced/Engineered by Adam Abeshouse Theodore Presser Company. Permission: Carl Fischer, LLC. www.lauraleonpiano.com Broken Tail Productions/Karen Leon film ©2020Karen Leon/Broken Tail Productions.