I think Boccherini’s “La Musica Notturna”, with the way it jumps from melodrama to playfulness and back, is enormously witty.
I was aware of his other, serious work. When I said he’s not really a classical composer, I was referring to the fact that he lives now, rather than during the typical classical music time period. That’s all. I understood the OP to mean he was looking for actual, old classical music that was funny.
Yeah, that’s what I originally intended, though modern recommendations are welcome as well.
Many good suggestions – I had completely forgotten about Le Boeuf sur le Toit, but that is a very funny piece indeed.
Back when I was in high school, the band and choir would occasionally perform a piece or two by PDQ Bach. I was the instigator in the case of the choir, suggesting to the director that we perform “Throw the Yule Log On, Uncle John” (AKA “Throw the Yule Log…ON Uncle John”). It became a tradition to do so until the director retired. (I’m so…proud.)
I don’t remember what the band performed, but I do remember a couple of instructions in the score. At one point, the clarinet players had to play only using mouthpiece and barrel. At another point, the percussionists were instructed to pick up every loose piece of metal or other un-attached solid object they could find…and then drop them. There was another piece where the french horns were half-full of water.
And then there was the opera, “The Abduction of Figaro.” It starts with Figaro on his deathbed, followed by the entry of a pirate who hijacks the bed to Cuba. (Really!) At one point, the female lead (“Doña Donna”) begins an aria thusly:
“You make me so mad!
You make me SO MAD!”
To which the male lead (“Donald Giovanni”?) responds:
“How mad do I make you, Doña Donna?”
"You make me so mad that I’m not gonna sing this damned aria!" – and she storms off.
After a moment of confusion, Prof. Schickele shouts, “Okay, skip to letter X!”
I saw this on a videotape borrowed from the library, something like 20 years ago, so I have no idea if you’ll be able to find a copy. But it’s worth a look.
Also, if you can find a video of a performance by Victor Borge, that’s also a winner. (I seem to recall PBS stations giving them out during pledge drives…)
The standard PDQ Bach piece for high school concert band is “The Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion”, and those directions sound familiar. I would think that’s it.
JS Bach thought Vivaldi was a genius. I’d say he was more of an expert than any schlub around today who disses Vivaldi.
Oh, and another vote for Haydn. But he didn’t start trying to be funny until the latter part of his career. Start at the end and work backward until you stop smiling.
Nobody’s said anything about Vivaldi. Defensive much?
I associate the Saber Dance with humorous car chases. So I guess that’s kind of funny.
Automatic reflex defense against those who automatic reflex diss because of all the hoopla around the Four Seasons.
As implied by Wakinyan’s post (and backed up for me by my own experience with a great many self-styled classical music “experts”), there is a strong strain in the world of classical music appreciation that more or less opines “if you want Baroque, why bother with Vivaldi when you have Bach?” I personally would not do without either of them.
I was responding to Wakinyan’s obvious appreciation of this state of affairs, rather than to any comment made in the thread.
The polka from “The Golden Age” by Shostakovich is the first thing that comes to mind.
Some of Poulenc’s stuff uses humor. For example, “Valse” from “5 piano pieces” and the Christmas motet “Hodie Christus Natus Est”.
As long as Schickele’s been mentioned, I’ll mention the Hoffnung Festivals. Donald Swann’s wonderful send-up of the second movement of Haydn’s “Surprise” symphony, “Let’s Fake an Opera” (or “The Tales of Hoffnung”), “Horrortorio” and other good stuff.
I laugh every time I listen to Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies. That could be because I picture Danny Kaye singing to them, though.
“My friend, are you aware,
that you’re losing your hair?”
Ooh! That’s a great hotel.
I always thought Fucik’s Enter the Gladiators was pretty silly. You know, the clown song, circus song, whatever.
Wasn’t Ives the one who did “Variations on America”? I think the purpose was to come up with something so outlandish that it would end the proliferation of composers doing variations. The “variations to end all variations” as it were. At least that is what I remember Virgil Fox saying on one of his albums I had.