Bach's Coffee Cantata

While recently playing Trivial Pursuit with my family, I found out that Johann Sebastian Bach shares the same love as I do. No, it is not our great musical talents. Although to be sure, they are very similar. He was a coffee guy and wrote a cantata about coffee as a result of his affection for the drink.

Called, Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Be still, stop chattering), the piece is the story of a father who has a daughter addicted to coffee. This seems like a very worthy topic indeed. Here are a couple of lines from this amped-up musical number:

Mm! how sweet the coffee tastes,
more delicious than a thousand kisses,
mellower than muscatel wine.
Coffee, coffee I must have,
and if someone wishes to give me a treat,
ah, then pour me out some coffee!

I think this should be a Kennedy Center performance immediately and will be writing several letters to see if I can get this on the the schedule.

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem has a more expansive look at this cantata. Click here to enjoy.