Have
you had a chance to go see any of Collegium Cincinnati’s Bach Festival
performances so far this month? There have been a variety of excellent programs
around town. If you haven’t had a chance yet, it’s not too late. This Tuesday,
March 31 at 7:00pm they are performing Bach’s most famous secular work, the Coffee Cantata! Best of all, you are
invited to sing along with the performers! For more details, check this out.
Coffee Cantata? Yes, this
fun work tells of an argument between a father and daughter over the
consumption of coffee. Whether you enjoy a cup of coffee or not, you are sure
to enjoy this satirical work. Not sure what a cantata is? It is a type of
musical work that is written for voice (soloists and/or choir) and an
accompanying ensemble. There are sacred cantatas used in Lutheran services that
set texts from the day’s Gospel reading and also secular cantatas that contain
non-religious subjects. Like opera, cantatas typically used arias (expressive
solo sections), recitatives (style of singing that resembles speech), duets,
and choruses throughout.
During
Bach’s day, there was a group of middle class, amateur musicians in Leipzig
that called themselves the Collegium Musicum. Bach directed the ensemble and
often times they performed at the local coffee house. Perhaps this Coffee Cantata was among the repertoire
used in their performances?
Below
you can read the translation of the text for Bach’s amusing Coffee Cantata. Don’t forget to join the
fun and enjoy this work live on March 31!
Narrator:
Be
quiet, do not chat,
And
listen to what happen now:
Here
comes Mr. Schlendrian
With
his daughter Liesgen,
He
grumbles like a grizzly bear;
Hear
for yourselves, what she has done to him!
Father:
With
children, aren't there
a
hundred thousand aggravations!
Whatever I, all the time and every day,
tell my daughter Liesgen,
slides on by with no effect.
You
naughty child, you wild girl,
ah!
When will I achieve my goal:
get
rid of the coffee for my sake!
Daughter:
Father
sir, but do not be so harsh!
If
I couldn't, three times a day,
be
allowed to drink my little cup of coffee,
in
my anguish I will turn into
a
shriveled-up roast goat.
Ah!
How sweet coffee tastes,
more
delicious than a thousand kisses,
milder
than muscatel wine.
Coffee, I have to have coffee,
and, if someone wants to pamper me,
ah, then bring me coffee as a gift!
Father:
If
you don't give up coffee for me,
you
won't go to any wedding parties,
or
even go out for walks.
Daughter:
Okay
then!
Only
leave my coffee alone!
Father:
Now
I've got the little monkey!
I
will buy you no whalebone dress of the latest fashion.
Daughter:
I
can easily put up with that.
Father:
You
may not go to the window
and
watch anyone passing by!
Daughter:
This
too; but be merciful
and
let my coffee stay!
Father:
You'll
also not receive from my hand
a
silver or gold ribbon
for
your bonnet!
Daughter:
Sure,
sure! Just leave me my pleasure!
Father:
You
naughty Liesgen,
you
grant all of that to me?
Girls
of stubborn mind
are
not easily won over.
But
if the right spot is touched,
Oh!
Then one can happily get far.
Now
do what your father says!
Daughter:
In
everything but coffee.
Father:
All
right then! So you will have to content yourself with never having a husband.
Daughter:
Ah
yes! Father, a husband!
Father:
I
swear that it will never happen.
Daughter:
Until
I give up coffee?
All
right! Coffee, lie there now forever!
Father
sir, listen, I won't drink none.
Father:
So
finally you'll get one!
Daughter:
Even
today,
dear
father, make it happen!
Ah,
a husband!
Indeed,
this will suit me well!
If
it would only happen soon,
that
at last, instead of coffee,
before
I even go to bed,
I
might gain a sturdy lover!
Narrator:
Now
old Schlendrian goes and seeks
How
he, for his daughter Liesgen,
might
soon acquire a husband;
but
Liesgen secretly spreads the word:
no
suitor comes in my house
unless
he has promised to me himself
and
has it also inserted into the marriage contract,
that
I shall be permitted
to
brew coffee whenever I want.
Everyone:
Cats
do not give up mousing,
girls
remain coffee-sisters.
The
mother adores her coffee-habit,
and
grandma also drank it,
so
who can blame the daughters!
