01	Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Recitative) / Hat man nicht mit seinen Kindern (Aria)						04:06
	02	Ei! wie schmeckt der Coffee susse (Aria)						05:08
	03	Madchen, die von harten Sinnen (Aria)						03:49
	04	Heute noch (Aria)						07:06
	05	Die Katze lasst das Mausen nicht (Trio)						04:31
	06	Sinfonia						02:02
	07	Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet (Duet)						01:18
	08	Ach, es schmeckt doch gar zu gut (Aria)						01:20
	09	Ach, Herr Schosser, geht nicht gar zu schlimm (Aria)						01:34
	10	Unser trefflicher lieber Kammerherr (Aria)						02:06
	11	Das ist galant (Aria)						01:51
	12	Funfzig Taler bares Geld (Aria)						01:08
	13	Klein-Zschocher musse (Aria)						05:51
	14	Es nehme zehntausend Dukaten (Aria)						00:58
	15	Gib, Schone (Aria)						00:48
	16	Dein Wachstum sei feste (Aria)						05:57
	17	Und dass ihr's alle wisst (Aria)						01:12
	18	Wir gehn nun, wo der Tudelsack (Duet)						01:05

Coffee Cantata / Peasant Cantata [C-1]

Christopher Hogwood

The Academy of Ancient Music

Soprano: Emma Kirkby; Tenor: Rogers Covey-Crump; Bass: David Thomas

L'Oiseau-Lyre Sep 1986 TT: 24:37



Cantata No. 211, "Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht," (Coffee Cantata), BWV 211 (BC G48)
Composition Date - 1732-1734
Publication Date - 1881

Composition Description by Blair Johnston
It is neither the lessons of the Lutheran faith nor the depth of his own spiritual beliefs that J.S. Bach explores in his 211th cantata, Schweige stille, plaudert nicht, BWV 211; rather, it is a simple, earthly pleasure that had recently taken hold of European society, moving poets first to extoll and then, as in the case of Christian Friedrich Menrici Picander's text for BWV 211, to satirize: namely, coffee. The citizens of Leipzig, the city that Bach called home from 1723 on, were by all accounts especially enamored of this new, stimulating, and as some people of the time felt, dangerous beverage; in the Coffee Cantata, a concerned Leipzig father seeks to break his daughter from her addiction to it. Finally, by threat of preventing her from marrying, he succeeds in doing so; but after he leaves to find a husband for her, she turns full circle and proclaims that no suitor need bother her unless he is willing to insert a clause into the marriage contract that she can make coffee whenever and however she pleases!

This most secular and comical work, which was probably composed sometime in the mid-1730s, is indeed a far cry from the Bach cantata as most people understand it. The Coffee Cantata has ten musical numbers (five of them recitatives) and three characters. Schlendrian, the father, is a bass; Lieschen, his daughter, is a soprano; and there is a tenor narrator. The orchestra is made up of strings, basso continuo and a single flute. The narrator sets the stage with a few brief measures of recitative (No. 1), and then Schlendrian grumbles his way through a D major aria, the strings twitching happily, the bass plodding steadily (No. 2). Schlendrian confronts his "naughty daughter" in No. 3. Lieschen sings lovingly of her favorite beverage in her first aria (No. 4), but tension arises between father and daughter again in No. 5. Then Schlendrian seems to get an idea (No. 6), and in the recitative of No. 7 he unleashes his secret weapon: she's grounded from going on any more dates until she gives up coffee forever. Lieschen, excited at the prospect of really getting a husband, sings a bouncing G major aria (No. 8); and then comes the punch line: the tenor narrator tells, in recitative (No. 9), that Lieschen is only playing a game with her father. An absurd final "chorus" (really just the three singers) in G major comments that if all the old maids and mothers and grandmas drink coffee, how can the daughters refuse it?




Cantata No. 212, "Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet," (Peasant Cantata), BWV 212 (BC G32)
Composition Date - Aug 30, 1742
Publication Date - 1881
First Performance - Aug 30, 1742

Composition Description by Brian Robins
Along with the Coffee Cantata (BWV 211), the "Peasant Cantata" reveals Bach's rich but little-known comedic vein. The occasion of its composition was the appointment in 1742 of the Leipzig chamberlain Carl Heinrich von Dieskau as Provost (ruler) of a number of villages in the immediate vicinity of Leipzig, where Bach was based as cantor. To celebrate the event (and Dieskau's birthday), a fete was held, probably in the village of Klein-Zschocher, at which the principal entertainment was a firework display and the performance of Bach's cantata. The idea for a musical contribution came from Picander, the pseudonym of poet Christian Friedrich Henrici, himself a government official in Leipzig. Bach had enjoyed a particularly fruitful collaboration with Picander during the 1730s, the partnership producing not only the St. Matthew Passion and St. Mark Passion, but a number of sacred and secular cantatas. There are two rustic characters in this cantata, a courting couple sung by soprano and bass, Picander accordingly setting parts of the text in Saxon dialect (the title is an example). It is now also known that Bach's music drew heavily, perhaps exclusively, on popular tunes of the day, giving the cantata a deliberately bucolic character unique in his music. The opening sinfonia, a potpourri of dance tunes, is followed by a duet based on a rustic bourree in which the couple celebrate the arrival of a new lord of the manor who gives them beer - "real strong stuff." In the succeeding accompanying recitative (in which Bach introduces the tune of the "Quodlibet" from the Goldberg Variations) the peasant flirts with his girl, who responds with an aria in polonaise style expressing the excitement of love. Dance, in fact, dominates the musical numbers, among them the famous "La Folia," which Bach uses for the accompaniment to the aria (No. 8), in which the soprano sings the praises of the new chamberlain. Most maintain the same rustic quality, the sole exception being the more courtly minuet as the soprano sings of the sweetness of life in Klein-Zschocher (No. 14). These simple sentiments of courtship and fealty are rounded off with another delightful duet in which the couple announce their intention to leave for the tavern "where the bagpipes drone." It has been suggested that Bach, the highly sophisticated urban musician and master of counterpoint, was simply making ironic comment on the crudity of popular music in the Peasant Cantata. True or not, the work remains one of his most infectiously enjoyable.







Cantata BWV 211
Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Kaffeekantate)

German Title
Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Kaffeekantate)

English Title
Be quiet, stop chattering (Coffee Cantata) (by Richard Stokes)

Event
Cantata performed by the Collegium Musicum in Zimmermann's Coffee House

Composed
Leipzig, 1734-1735

Text
Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander)


Scoring
Soloists: Narrator (Tenor), Lieschen (Soprano), Schlendrian (Bass)
Orchestra: Transverse flute, 2 violins, viola, harpsichord continuo


References
BGA: XXIX | NBA: I/40 | BC: G 48 | Zwang: W 17 | First Published: Berlin, Vienna & Leipzig, 1837


BWV 211
Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht [Kaffee Kantate]
("Be quiet, do not chat" [Coffee Cantata])
Date of composition: c. 1732?1735 (probably before September 9, 1734)
Librettist: Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander)

Vocal parts/characters:

Narrator-tenor
Schlendrian-bass
Lieschen, Schlendrian's teenage daughter-soprano

Instruments:

transverse flute
strings (2 violins + 1 viola)
continuo (harpsichord)

General comments:

Coffee, like chocolate and ice cream, began as a luxury of the upper classes, but by the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries became less expensive and enjoyed by rich and poor alike. (It seems that alcohol is one of the few consummary vices that has stayed relatively inexpensive since early civilization.) In Bach's day, not unlike today, coffee was seen as somewhat dangerous--especially for young people.

Bach's Collegium Musicum regularly practiced and performed in Zimmerman's Coffee House; perhaps Bach decided to set Picander's 1727 satire about the German coffee craze to music as a comic tip of the hat to Zimmerman. In any case, here we have one of Bach's most humorous works as a befuddled father tries to get his headstrong teenage daughter to kick the coffee habit. Bach had several daughters of his own; he clearly knows how difficult it is to handle teeenage girls!

Movement-by-movement description:

1. Recitative "Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht"

Here, in secco recitative the narrator tells us to "be quiet" and listen to his tale of the grumpy Schlendrian, who is "growling like a bear" because of something his daughter, Lieschen, has done.

MIDI file for this movement

2. Aria "Hat man nicht mit seinen Kindern"

Schlendrian complains about the "hundred vexations" that children bring; his daughter, Lieschen, pays no heed to anything he says. A fast-paced, comic number with string accompaniment; one can hear Schlendrian's bear-like growling in some passages.

MIDI file for this movement (incomplete)

3. Recitative "Du boses Kind, du loses Madchen"

Schlendrian asks Lieschen to give up coffee, but Lieschen complains that without coffee, she will become "dried up like a roasted goat."

4. Aria "Ei! wie schmeckt der coffee susse"

Accompanied by the flute, Lieschen sings the praises of coffee, saying it is better than kisses and "muscatel wine." She ends by suggestively saying that if anyone wants to please her, "then he should pour coffee for me."

In a wonderful set of lectures on "Bach and the High Baroque," Professor Robert Greenberg of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music proposes that the appoggiatura on "susse" ("tastes") may suggest the "taste" of the kisses-making the coffee "an object of psychological transference and sublimation? No wonder Dad's worried!"

5. Recitative "Wenn du mire nicht den Coffee lasst"

Schlendrian threatens to deny Lieschen several things-going to parties, taking walks, clothes, watching people pass the window, ribbons for her hair-but Lieschen doesn't care, so long as she has her coffee.

6. Aria "Madchen, die von harten Sinnen"

Schlendrian at first complains about how difficult girls are to "win," but finally schemes against Lieschen, noting that if one "finds the right spot" one can "come away victorious." His scheming is musically depicted with some rather slimy figures in the strings.

7. Recitative: "Nun, folge, was dein Vater spricht"

Here, Schlendrian plays his trump card: marriage. He threatens to deny Lieschen a husband if she doesn't give up the dreadful beverage; she relents, vowing never to drink another drop. Professor Greenberg thinks that Lieschen planed it this way all along: that Schlendrian had denied Lieschen a husband in the past and now finally relents in order to get Lieschen off the coffee.

8. Aria "Heute noch"

A joyous, sensual number, with an invigorating harpsichord and string accompanament; Lieschen sings longingly of a husband, encouraging her father to get her one now. With luck, she has "traded coffee for a lover." Again to quote Professor Greenberg, "I think there's something a little more than...oh...platonic in Lizzie's voice."

MIDI file for this movement (incomplete)

9. Recitative "Nun geht und sucht der alte Schendrian"

Bach is said to have written the libretto for this and the next number himself; his experience as a father shows the wily nature of a horny teen. The narrator returns to tell us that, when Scheldrian goes to find Lieschen a husband, Lieschen lets it be known that she will only marry men who are willing to write into the marriage contract that she can drink coffee whenever she wants.

10. Trio "Die Katze lasst das Mausen nicht"

The narrator, Lieschen, and Schlendrian all join together in a rousing, comical trio, singing that "cats won't stop chasing mice," just as girls will never give up their coffee. Since their mothers and grandmothers drank coffee, they argue, who can blame the girls? An upbeat, though absurd, ending to a charming cantata.

Libretto:

Also see Walter F. Bischof's complete Bach Cantata Libretti in German for BWV 211

Unfortunately, I have not yet had a chance to transcribe Henry Drinker's translation of this cantata, but here is the original German text (you can tell from the descriptions above roughly what they're saying).

1. Recitative "Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht"

Narrator:
Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht,
und horet, was jetzund geschicht:
Da kommt Herr Schlendrian
mit seiner Tochter Lieschen her;
er brummt ja wie ein Zeidelbar
Hort selber, was sie ihm getan!

2. Aria "Hat man nicht mit seinen Kindern"

Schlendrian:
Hat man nicht mit seinen Kindern
hunderttausend Hudelei!
Was ich immer alle Tage
meiner Tochter Lieschen sage,
gehet ohne Frucht vorbei

3. Recitative "Du boses Kind, du loses Madchen"

Schlendrian:
Du boses Kind, du loses Madchen,
ach! wenn er lang' ich meinen Zweck:
Tu mir den Coffee weg!

Lieschen:
Herr, Vater, seid doch nicht so scharf!
Wenn ich des Tages nicht dreimal
mein Schalchen Coffee trinken darf,
so werd' ich ja zu meiner Qual
wie ein verdorrtes Zienbrachten

4. Aria "Ei! wie schmeckt der coffee susse"

Lieschen:
Ei! wie schmeckt der coffee susse,
lieblicher als tausend Kusse,
milder als Muskatwein.

Coffee, Coffee, muss ich haben,
und wenn jemand mich will laben,
ach, so schenkt mir coffee ein!

5. Recitative "Wenn du mire nicht den Coffee lasst"

Schlendrian:
Wenn du mire nicht den Coffee lasst,
so sollst du auf kein Hochzeitfest,
auch nicht spazieren gehen.

Lieschen:
Ach ja!
Nur lasset mir den Coffee da!

Schlendrian:
Da hab' ich nun den kleinen Affen!
Ich will den keinen Fischbeinrock
nach jetz' ger Weite schaffen.

Lieschen:
Ich kann mich leicht dazu verstehen.

Schlendrian:
Du sollst nicht an das Fenster treten
und keinen sehn vorubergehn!

Lieschen:
Auch dieses; doch seid nur gebeten
und lasset mir den Coffee stehn!

Schlendrian:
Du sollst auch nicht von meiner Hand
ein silbern oder goldnes Band
auf deine Haube kriegen!

Lieschen:
Ja, ja! nur lass mir mein Vergnugen!

Schlendrian:
Du loses Lieschen du,
so gibst du mir denn alles zu!

6. Aria "Madchen, die von harten Sinnen"

Schlendrian:
Madchen, die von harten Sinnen,
sind nicht leichte zu gewinnen.
Doch trifft man den rechten Ort,
ol so kommt man glucklich fort.

7. Recitative: "Nun, folge, was dein Vater spricht"

Schlendrian:
Nun, folge, was dein Vater spricht!

Lieschen:
In allem, nur den Coffee nicht.

Schlendrian:
Wohlan, so musst du dich bequemen,
auch niemals einen Mann zu nehman.

Lieschen:
Ach ja! Herr Vater, einen Mann!

Schlendrian:
Ich schwore, dass es nicht geschicht.

Lieschen:
Bis ich den Coffee lassen kann?
Nun, coffee, bleib nur immer liegen!
Herr Vater, hort, ich trinke keinen nicht.

Schlendrian:
So sollst du endlich einen kriegen!

8. Aria "Heute noch"

Lieschen:
Heute noch
lieber Vater, tut es doch!
Ach, eine Mann!
Wahrlich, dieser steht mir trefflich an!

Wenn es sich doch balde fugte,
sass ich endlich fur Coffee,
eh' ich noch zu Bette geh',
einen wackern Liebsten kriegte!

(Picander's libretto stops here; Bach supposedly wrote the next two numbers himself.)

9. Recitative "Nun geht und sucht der alte Schendrian"

Narrator:
Nun geht und sucht der alte Schendrian,
wie er vor seine Tochter Lieschen
bald einen Mann verschaffen kann;
doch Lieschen streuet heimlich aus:
Kein Freier komm' mir in das Haus,
er hab' es mire denn selbst versprochen
und ruck es auch der Ehestiftung ein,
dass mir er laubet moge sein,
den Coffee, wenn ich will, zu kochen.

10. Trio "Die Katze lasst das Mausen nicht"

Narrator, Lieschen, and Schendrian:
Die Katze lasst das Mausen nicht,
die Jungfern bleiben Coffeeschwestern
Die Mutter liebt den Coffeebrauch,
die Grossmama trank solchen auch,
wer will nun auf die Tochter lastern!







Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht
(Be quiet, stop chattering!)
Cantata 211

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Leipzig Collegium Musicum Concert
Rating: 1+
It has been suggested that, since Bach had a daughter named Elisabeth, that he based the characters of the gloriously witty Coffee Cantata on himself and that daughter. Alas, this reasoning really has to be abandoned since the date of this work (around 1732-4) would have meant Elisabeth, aged 6-8, would have had to be thoroughly precocious! Still, it's still an amusing hypothesis to think that Bach may have presented himself in self-parody as the rather narrow minded and slow witted Schlendrian (the name translates roughly as "Mr.Stuck-in-a-rut" or "Mr Routine").

The story concerns Schlendrian's attempts to curb his lively and mischievous daughter Lieschen's love for coffee. He threatens her with withdrawal of privileges, which she willingly gives up in favour of coffee, and then he ups the stakes and tells her that she'll never find a man to marry if she doesn't renounce her addiction. At this, she seems to give in but the narrator tells us that any suitor of hers will have to promise Lieschen to allow her her favourite tipple. The vivacious Lieschen finally outwits her slow witted father and the final trio affirms that some minds will never be changed. Certainly not politically correct these days (unless one identifies coffee with things more potent!) but, as has been asserted many times, Bach's closest foray towards opera. Given the skill with which he musically adumbrates the characters, one is left wondering what would have happened had Bach got the job at Dresden!

The work opens with a recitative from the narrator introducing Schlendrian and Lieschen and the plodding but attractive first aria has Schlendrian bemoaning his daughter's disobedience. Lieschen's famous aria "Mm, how sweet the coffee smells" is accompanied by a tremendous flute obbligato, perhaps the finest in all the cantatas. More threats follow and Schlendrian's next aria shows him more confident in his ability to win his daughter over than subsequent events suggest he should be. Lieschen's second aria, again beautiful, shows her apparently submitting to the thought of marriage but the final recitative gives the game away. A final trio adds a suitable bit of morality to a very fine orchestral accompaniment.

Copyright c Simon Crouch, 1999.
You may freely distribute this work provided that it is unaltered and that no charge is made and this copyright notice is retained


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Cantata BWV 212
Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet

German Title
Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet

English Title
We've a new lord of the manor (by Richard Stokes)

Event
Cantata Burlesque [Peasant Cantata], in hommage of Carl Heinrich von Dieskau of Klein-Zschocher

Composed
Leipzig, 1742

Text
Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander)

Scoring
Soloists: Soprano, Bass
Orchestra: transverse flute, horn, 2 violins, viola, continuo

References
BGA: XXIX | NBA: I/39 | BC: G 32 | Zwang: W 23 | First Published: BG, 1881

Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet
(We have a new squire)
Cantata 212

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Oath of allegiance to Carl Heinrich von Diskau
Rating: 2
The libretto of the Peasant Cantata BWV 212 was written by Picander (he of the the St. Matthew Passion) on the occasion of the new chamberlain Carl Heinrich von Diskau receiving allegiance as Lord of the Manor of Kleinzchocher (near Leipzig). As Picander was a government official responsible for collecting liquor taxes in the region and therefore answerable to the new Lord, it's a fair bet that this work was intended to ingratiate himself with the new boss! Fortunate in the choice of his composer partner, Picander cannot have failed to achieve his wish.

The Peasant Cantata is described as a cantata en burlesque on Picander's printed libretto and Bach's score fully complements the intentions of the libretto: A courting couple, he wanting a quick roll in the hay, she disliking such vulgarity, all to the background of praise for the new squire. Bach's music is suitably rustic and full of quotations from popular songs and other borrowings. For such a short piece (the work usually lasts for around half an hour) there are many movements, twenty four in all. Most are therefore very short and there are only two really substantial arias neither of which is original to this work (Klein-Zschocher musse is taken from the lost cantata BWV Anh I 11 and Dein Wachstum sei feste comes from BWV 201). Because of the large number of movements, I won't comment on all of them individually, rather I shall just say that they more than adequately express the rustic charm required of them. However, it's worth pointing out that the opening sinfonia and the closing chorus are excellent examples of Bach's use of popular tunes of the time, setting the tone for the piece and providing a perfect conclusion respectively. The first substantial aria (Klein-Zschocher musse),for soprano solo, benefits from an attractive flute accompaniment and the second (Dein Wachstum sei feste), this time for bass, is a merry affair with particularly attractive string accompaniment. However, rather than providing inspirational high points in the cantata, they provide a gentle oasis amongst all the other comings and goings.

Having said that all of this works so well, you may be surprised at my rating: the trouble is that the work really doesn't seem to me to have any great substance to it. Beautifully crafted certainly, but up to Bach's highest levels of inspiration? I think not.

Copyright c Simon Crouch, 1999.
You may freely distribute this work provided that it is unaltered and that no charge is made and this copyright notice is retained