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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1980)
THE BATTALION Page 5 THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1980 local fjCracked classical music of aP.D.Q. Bach entertains Aggies USDA CHOICE BEEF SALE Sides 225 lbs. & up $ 1.28 ib Hinds 125 lbs. & up $ 1.45 ib. YIELD GRADE I s and 2’s CUT-WRAPPED and QUICK FROZEN FULLY GUARANTEED Effective thru Feb. 6, 1980 j, l By TODD WOODARD .A I Campus Reporter W Rappelling down from the Rudder piAuditorium balcony, Professoi Petei "i ISchickele made his Texas A&M Uni- Irersity debut Wednesday night. I Schickele brought his “Intimate iP.D.Q. Bach,” a hilarious spoof on ■ the solemnity of classical music, be- I fore a crowd that was packed in to see - 1 1 the MSC Opera and Performing Arts ! ISociety presentation. * 1 "Intimate P.D.Q. Bach,” despite a the title’s implication, is not a one- man show. Schickele portrays the USE wild-haired discoverer of a vast col lection of composition by J. S. Bach’s youngest, most-neglected and strangest child. But Schickele is not alone. He is joined by stage manager William Walters, keyboard man David Oei and tenor John Ferrante in a program that contained as many puns as there was music. SJJ In describing the four periods of ipis his fictitious composer’s life, Schick- ^ »le said P. D. Q. Bach went through a 1 soused, er brown-bag period, span- ,Bl1 Ining much of his life. [ But the audience broke up when ] [Schickele said Bach skipped his next iBeriod, 4«d remained in stitches Iwhen Schickele reminded them that Wfiit was no laughing matter. ; Shickele’s dress was a laughing Block by itself. Orange Brogans, tat tered and dirty black pants,a shirt icked in one side, and a threadbare let of tails completed the image of a rofessor from the University of outhem North Dakota at Hoople. The zany costume combined with his description of Sonata ' Abas- soonata” as a strange, dramatic, in coherent, d#»b piece brought two gr«y-hair£lL»?pmen t« ]^y*tcrics. OhC tost her glasses in <krV the Dthcr was in fits of laughter for almost i minute, 6) Oei, a black belt in piano, joined Schickele in Sonata for only the end of the piece. Schickele played both piano and bassoon simultaneously. He played the piano with the bas soon, and with his rear. He also man aged to use his hands. In the second piece Falsetto tenor John Ferrante sang high-pitched lyrics with accompaniment. Schick ele feverishly whirled a long white tube to produce the strangest sound ever to grace a concert hall. During “Sheperd on the Rocks, With a Twist” he used a tromboon, a trom bone fitted with a bassoon mouth piece. “Goldbrick” variations put the lights out. Oei played piano while Schickele turned the music. Oei claimed he couldn’t see the music, so announcer Walters brought out a floodlamp with soon burned out. He brought several light sockets, two of them took out the lights. When he plugged in still another socket, the podium exploded. As the concussion passed and the smoked cleared, Oei played on, lights or no. It was an unilluminating experience. The one liners, “I can’t drink beer all day and keep it to myself,” “the timely death of P. D.Q.,” “designing underwear for Frederick the Great, ” “bearded girls don’t get propose.d to everyday,” P.D.Q. described as “a pimple on the face of music” brought howls from the crowd. But even good humor can be overdone. After the intermission some peo ple left, and the humor was not as wrenching. What elicited deep laughs at first got less volume at last. Slapstick is great in small doses, but P.D.Q. was too much of a prescrip tion. Even so, the show was enjoy able and the audience res-ponded with a standing ovation. P.D.Q. is certainly worth sore sides, too long or not. "S Big Results! CLASSIFIED ADS! FORT * \l A H y STEAKHOUSE A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE IN GOOD FOOD, FUN AND FRIENDS. 2528 S. Texas College Station *« cketi 911 8356. i area illega -4 i com' ther I 125| jogs 170. MIDNIGHT SPECIAL w . ■ . ■ All you can eat BUFFET STYLE EVERY THURSDAY 11 pm till 1 am College Station PH.696-2512 Peter Schickele and John Ferrante sing “Twelve Heavenly Songs” to the accompani ment of David Oei on piano. Schickele brought his classical music parody show “P.D.Q. Bach” to the Texas A&M campus Wednesday night. The Opera and Performing Arts Society spon sored the show. Staff photo by Paul Childress IRKADHELD MEATS A FREEZER SERVICE 2701 S. Texas Av». 822-1594 Sound Guard Record Cleaning Kit $495 ^ KENWOOD disewasher Refill $4 50 f—mrTTi- r-gr # © 006 SA-200 Technics- LSK-200...8-INCH, 2-WAY SPEAKER SYSTEM w/f/7 no more than 0.04% total harmonic distortion. SRV€ OV€R 40% R€G. $425 0 pr gMarnag |mnn| IflKMaiaHBffi&H = &sl — j B.y <®^ RS-M11 Front-loading, vertical-hold cassette deck with FL peak meters and Dolby* noise reduction. FL meters give accurate peak indication within J.1 dB at 0 VU. SL-B2 Belt-drive semi-automatic turntable. 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