P.D.Q. Bach - Sonata for Viola Four Hands and Harpsichord (S. 440)
0:00 - Andanteeny
2:27 - Molto fast
3:57 - Ground round
5:11 - Allah breve
Jonathan Faiman and Patricia Plombdon, viola
Tim Young, harpischord
Although there exists an extensive literature for piano, four hands (two people playing at one piano), diligent research has led to the conclusion that the sonata under consideration is in all likelihood the only work ever to have been written for two people playing one viola. The fact that it was written by the last and least of the great Johann Sebastian Bach's twenty-odd children is no surprise; P.D.Q. Bach was certainly the oddest of the lot, and one of his most devious streaks was that which has been called "a criminally irresponsible approach to instruments". Not only did he write for things which wiser composers had the good sense to avoid, such as the left-handed sewer flute, the double-reed slide music stand, and the bicycle, but even when he employed well-established instruments he had a way of making them sound recently invented. This effect, of course, transfers itself to the player, and perhaps one of the reasons that this sonata has not become a part of the standard repertoire is that, when performing P.D.Q. Bach, the best of players sounds as if his father just bought him the instrument a few days ago.
The first movement is a typical Andanteeny, which is more than can be said for the second movement, marked Molto Fast. The heading of the third movement, Ground Round, is a slight misnomer, since it does employ a ground (a constantly recurring melody in the bass), but not a round (an overlapping song such as "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"); furthermore, it does employ a device which is not even mentioned in the heading: pedal point (a long held note). Perhaps this omission is due to a failure to notice that he had used the device, since P.D.Q.'s interest in pedal point and counterpoint was even less than his interest in needlepoint. Nevertheless, the last movement, like many modern soft drinks, uses imitation with similar results. The marking Allah Breve is a quaint reminder of the composer's association with the Middle East; years earlier, P.D.Q. had worked his way up from assistant warper to head woofer in a Turkish rug factory, and the influence of that time is evident in several other pieces as well, such as the Minaret and Trio in the Pervertimento, and, most notably, the Mass in the Allah Mode.
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