' (Be still, stop chattering), BWV 211, also known as the ''Coffee Cantata'', is a secular

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it probably between 1732 and 1735. Although classified as a cantata, it is essentially a miniature comic opera. In a satirical commentary, the cantata amusingly tells of an addiction to (or rather dependence on) coffee.

History and text

Bach regularly directed a musical ensemble based at Zimmermann's coffee house called a

collegium musicum The Collegium Musicum was one of several types of musical societies that arose in German and German-Swiss cities and towns during the Reformation and thrived into the mid-18th century. Generally, while societies such as the (chorale) cultivated ...

, founded by Georg Philipp Telemann in 1702. The libretto suggests that some people in eighteenth-century Germany viewed coffee drinking as a bad habit. However, the work is likely to have been first performed at the coffee house in Leipzig. The cantata's libretto (written by

Christian Friedrich Henrici Christian Friedrich Henrici (January 14, 1700 – May 10, 1764), writing under the pen name Picander, was a German poet and librettist for many of the cantatas which Johann Sebastian Bach composed in Leipzig. Henrici was born in Stolpen. He stud ...

, known as Picander), features lines like "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". Bach wrote no operas: the cantata was written for concert performance, but is frequently performed today fully staged with costumes.

Scoring

The work is scored for three vocal soloists in the roles * Narrator, tenor * Schlendrian (Stick in the Mud),

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Lieschen, his daughter,

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

. The orchestra consists of flauto traverso, two violins obbligato, viola, cembalo and

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

.BWV 211 Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht
University of Alberta

Movements

Recordings

Emma Kirkby Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, (; born 26 February 1949) is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings. Education and early career Kirkby was educated at Hanford School, Sherborne School for Girls in Dors ...

, Rogers Covey-Crump, David Thomas,

Academy of Ancient Music The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is a British period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after an 18th-century organisation of the same name (originally the A ...

Christopher Hogwood Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (10 September 194124 September 2014) was an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer, and musicologist. Founder of the early music ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music, he was an authority on historically info ...

. ''J.S. Bach: Coffee Cantata / Peasant Cantata''. L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1987. * Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Ton Koopman. ''J.S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 4''. Antoine Marchand, 1996. * Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki,

Makoto Sakurada is a Japanese tenor in opera and concert. Biography Makoto graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts. He went to study in Italy in 1997, and continues to work there. He has recorded Bach cantatas in the complete set directed by Masaaki Su ...

Carolyn Sampson Carolyn Sampson (born 18 May 1974) is an English soprano in opera and concert. Specialising in historically informed performance, she has sung in Masaaki Suzuki's recording project of Bach cantatas and has appeared at the English National Opera. ...

Stephan Schreckenberger Stephan Schreckenberger (born 16 February 1955) is a German bass singer and conductor, especially in the field of early music. From 2003, he has been a teacher at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt, and from 2011 the directo ...

. ''Bach Secular Cantatas BWV 210 and BWV 211''. BIS, 2004.

Notes

References

External links

Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht, BWV 211
performance by the Netherlands Bach Society (video and background information) *
Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht
history, scoring, Bach website

English translation, University of Vermont
Bach Cantata Translations
German libretto with parallel English translation by Pamela Dellal {{DEFAULTSORT:Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Coffee Cantata) Secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach Coffee culture Music in Leipzig 1735 compositions Works about coffee