WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Carl Orff is a very famous (real) composer from Germany. One of his great works is Carmina Burana. Carl Orff was also very interested in teaching music to children and created all of the Orff instruments (xylophones and such) that we use in music class. "Orph" sounds like "Orff" and is the first syllable of "Orphan" THE STORY: JS Bach died when PDQ was only eight. Apparently, he was left on his own to fend for himself. None of the family would take him in, and the only orphanage in town has no record of PDQ - the orphanage was run by Carl Orph.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: A VERY famous (real) British music publishing company is called Boosey & Hawkes. PDQ was quite a drunkard and many of his friends were as well. They drank lots of booze. Remember, we often speak of someone's "untimely" death, meaning that the person died too soon. THE STORY: One of PDQ's very close friends was Jonathan "Boozey" Hawkes. After PDQ's timely death, Boozey Hawkes married PDQ's wife, Betty-Sue and they moved to Liverpool, England, to set up a publishing house. Betty-Sue spent much of her time overseeing the publication of several of PDQ's works.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: A felony is a major crime like burglary or murder. The suffix, "ious" means possessing or full of. So felonious would be something pertaining to a felony. There is a very famous (real) jazz piano player named, Thelonious Monk. He was part of the bebop movement. A monastery is a place where a religious community of monks live. THE STORY: This story begins as the teller is going to a monastery looking for a particular monk who might know of PDQ Bach. "I soon learned, however, that the intended recipient of my letter was no longer at the monastery, having been exposed as a thief and sent away with a brand on his forehead signifying to all the world that he was a felonious monk." (Schickele pg. 219)

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: In Germany, there are a number of towns along the Rhine (Rhein) River that are called "Something-on- the-Rhine" like: "Eltville-am-Rhein" or "Ludwigshafen-am-Rhein" or "Ingelheim-am-Rhein". (These towns are all real.) The Rhine valley is noted for its wonderful wines. "Wein" is "wine" in German. "W" is pronounced like a "V" in German, so it would be pronounced "Vine". Liebfraumilch is a famous kind of German wine (real). Pronunciation: final b's in German are unvoiced, so the word "lieb" (dear) in this compound would be pronouced nearly identically to the English "leap". "Frau" sounds somewhat like "brow" (He wiped the sweat from his brow). Milch is like no sound we have in English, but means milk & sounds somewhat like our word. Remember that PDQ loved his wine!! THE STORY: PDQ spent a good portion of his life in the town of Wein-am-Rhein (not real). It is said that this town is "remarkable not only for its intoxicating atmosphere, but also for its extraordinary plumbing system ... which brings hot and cold running wine into every dwelling." (Schickele pg. 219) Wein-am-Rhein, famed for its delicious, robust wine, Leapfrogmilch, seemed like the perfect place for PDQ! (thanks to Greg Poole, a K-8 music teacher in Maryland, for his pronuciation assistance!)

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Historians often classify an artist's works by where the person was employed or what kind of techniques he/she was using. So JS Bach's time in Leipzig is often called his "Cantata Years" or "Cantata Period" because he spent a lot of his time writing church music. Or Beethoven's works are often divided into his "First Style Period" or "Second Style Period" or "Third Style Period." Or in visual arts, Picasso had his "Blue Period" or his "Rose Period." "Soused" means drunk. (pronounced like "loused" - like "He loused up with that one!) THE STORY: PDQ Bach moved to Wein-am-Rhein in January of 1778 and remained there until May of 1807 -- he lived there during his entire Soused Period. "The Soused Period was by far the longest period in P.D.Q. Bach's creative life, lasting from the beginning of 1778 until the end of April 1807. During this period, P.D.Q. developed a richer sense of harmony due to almost constant double vision..." (Schickele, page 172)

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: (A) In Germany there is a kind of container, sort of like a very large coffee cup, called a stein, in which beer is served. Steins may be decorated in various fashions, and vary in detail from place to place around the country. Years ago, they differed from town to town, and even between the taverns within a single town. (B) There is a piano manufacturer called "Steinway". (C) Musicologists [people who study music histroy], like other historians and antiquarians, like to date things, so they can say that this piece was written in the year "x", and that piece in the year "y", etc. THE STORY: P. D. Q. Bach, always a heavy drinker, used to weigh down his manuscript paper with almost anything that came to hand. Often a stein - whether full, empty, or "partially used," was the first thing that came to hand. Since the bottoms of these steins were often damp due to P. D. Q.'s rather sloppy drinking habits, they would leave a ring on the paper of his manuscripts. By knowing the characteristics of the steins in the various taverns in which P. D. Q. was wont to hang out, and by knowing the dates of his tenure at each of these places (often by means of the dunning letters ["you still owe for dinners on the following dates!"] on the back of which he wrote his scores) we are able with great confidence to determine just where and when P. D. Q. wrote each of his compositions. This method of dating by the rings the steins left on the manuscripts is known as the "Steinway". (Reported by Edward Oleen)