1992: Philharmonic plays Carnival of the Animals
1992: Philharmonic plays Carnival of the Animals - Katy took me to see Joshua Bell at the Ordway for my birthday this past May. In addition to the violins sounding gorgeous, Mr. Bell was (to my untrained ears) awe-inspiringly amazing. (For someone who made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 18, I should hope so!)
Anyhow, one of the movements performed was Carnival of the Animals, which is typically accompanied with prose by Ogden Nash. In the past decade or so, however, verses by Mr. Peter Schickele are also used. He’s famous for inventing a fictional brother of J.S. Bach’s, named P.D.Q. Bach. Interestingly enough, P.D.Q. Bach actually has real recordings. For example, Oedipus Tex and Other Choral Calamities. Anyhow, now that you know who he is, a joke from Mr. Schickele:
The “Elephants” movement, for example, was preceded by a parable in which an elephant with a dreadful cold decides that he is at death’s door, and gives away all his worldly possessions. He wakes up the next day cured of his cold but penniless, from which Mr. Schickele drew the moral, “just because your trunk is packed doesn’t mean you’re ready to go.”