Romancing the Bean Series
by Caffeine Cowboy
Tales from the Old Country
Coffee Cantata by Johan Sebastian Bach
“No daughter
of mine will drink coffee!” declares Schlendrian. (Stuffy in German) “But father, if I don’t have at least three
small cups a day, I’ll soon be as dried-out as an un-basted roast!”
Cleverly,
Schlendrian proposes, “Fine, then make your choice, a husband or coffee!” His willful daughter seemingly demurs to her
father's restriction but with a stage whisper tells the audience, “Any man who
wishes to win my hand must first promise to supply all of the coffee I want!”
Amused by the Parisian fad for coffee, Bach asked the
famed poet and satirist Picador to write a libretto with coffee as its
theme. The story mirrored the attitude
of the German elite toward women and the middle class. Coffee was too special
for the commoner and coffeehouses were no place for a lady!
As seen on U-tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6-PRCv7SfM
Before public
music halls existed in Germany, cafés attracted music lovers by sponsoring
performances by collegia musica (the association of private musicians).
From 1720 to1740, Bach performed for the
public and experimented with new pieces at Zimmerman’s Kaffeehaus in
Leipzig. The Coffee Cantata was
first performed there in 1734. It was a
musical and community success.
The most famous
coffee snob:
