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Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht ("Be still, stop chattering") (aka The Coffee Cantata) (BWV 211) is a secular cantata written by Johann Sebastian Bach between 1732 and 1734. Although classified as a cantata, it is essentially a miniature comic opera.
In a satirical commentary, the cantata amusingly tells of an addiction to coffee, a pressing social problem in eighteenth century Leipzig, where this work was premiered.
The cantata's libretto (written by Christian Friedrich Henrici) features lines such as "If I can't drink my bowl of coffee three times daily, then in my torment, I will shrivel up like a piece of roast goat"—a sentiment that would likely have been appreciated by the patrons of Zimmerman's Coffee House in Leipzig, where Bach's Collegium (the Collegium Musicum, founded by Georg Philipp Telemann in 1702) would have originally performed the work.
The cantata was written for concert performance originally (Bach wrote no operas) [1], but is frequently performed today fully staged with costumes and blocking.
| Role |
Voice type |
Premiere Cast, 1734 |
| The Narrator |
tenor |
|
| Schlendrian, (literally Stick in the Mud) |
baritone |
|
| Lieschen, daughter of Schlendrian |
soprano |
|
[edit] Movements
| Movement |
Title |
Characters |
Synopsis |
| 1 |
Recitativo: Schweigt stille |
Narrator |
The narrator tells the audience to quiet down and pay attention, before introducing Schlendrian and Lieschen. |
| 2 |
Aria: Hat man nicht mit seinen Kindern |
Schlendrian |
Schlendrian sings in disgust of how his daughter refuses to listen to him, even after telling her 1,000 times. |
| 3 |
Recitativo: Du boses Kind |
Schlendrian and Lieschen |
Schlendrian asks her daughter again to stop drinking coffee, Lieschen defiantly tells her father to calm down. |
| 4 |
Aria: Ei! Wie schmeckt der Coffee susse |
Lieschen |
Lieschen sings a love song to her coffee |
| 5 |
Recitativo: Wenn du mir nicht den Coffee lasst |
Schlendrian and Lieschen |
Schlendrian starts giving ultimatiums to his daughter, threatening to take away her meals, clothes, and other pleasures. Lieschen doesn't seem to care. |
| 6 |
Aria: Madchen, die von harten Sinnen |
Schlendrian |
In this sung monologue, Schlendrian tries to figure out what his daughter's weak spot is, so she absolutely couldn't want to drink coffee again. |
| 7 |
Recitativo: Nun folge, was dein Vater spricht! |
Schlendrian and Lischen |
Schlendrian threatens to prevent his daughter from marrying if she fails to give up coffee, Lischen has a sudden change of heart. |
| 8 |
Aria: Heute noch, lieber Vater |
Lieschen |
Lieschen thanks her father for offering to find her a husband, and vows to give up coffee if she can have a lover instead. |
| 9 |
Recitativo: Nun geht und sucht der alte Schlendrian |
Narrator |
The narrator states that while Schlendrian goes out to find a husband for his daughter, Lieschen secretly tells potential suitors that they must let her drink her coffee if they care to marry her. |
| 10 |
Trio: Die Katze lasst das Mausen nicht |
Tutti |
All three characters sing the moral of the story, "drinking coffee is natural". |
[edit] References
[edit] External Links
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Cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach |
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| List of cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach · List of Bach cantatas by liturgical function |
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