Knock, Knock

Description

Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, Bass, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, Flute 1, Flute 2, Flute 3, Harpsichord, Contrabass — Just how secular can cantatas get? This age-old question has been given a seemingly definitive answer with P.D.Q. Bach's unique choral cantata KNOCK, KNOCK. Like many of us, P.D.Q. was disturbed by that fact that he could never remember jokes he'd heard when he wanted to tell them later, so what he often did was, when he heard a joke he particularly liked, he would immediately set it to music, this making it easier to remember, sort of like the opposite of how people often put words to instrumental themes in order to give them a firmer cranial foothold. This choral cantata is a setting of a number of jokes in different genres, including the one about the amorous porpoises, baby seagulls and staid lion.