Listening / watching exercise: Bach: The Coffee Cantata (BWV 211)

Tell the students:

“Cantatas are dramatic musical pieces that tell a story. During his life as church musical
director in Leipzig, Germany, Bach wrote a new cantata every Sunday for years, but almost
all of the cantatas were religious. This is a non-religious cantata that he wrote for fun, to
perform with his friends in his favourite local coffee bar.”

Show the students the video performance of the Coffee Cantata (about 25 minutes) at the
following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nifUBDgPhl4

Tell them that there will be questions afterwards on the instruments, and the story, so they
should pay attention. Please make sure that the subtitles are turned on and large enough
that the students can easily read them.

After the video of the Coffee Cantata, here are some research questions for the students to
answer using their computers. They can write their answers in the Journal section of
Managebac, in a one note journal, in a MS word document, or with pen and paper.

- How many singers are in the piece, and what are their voice types?
- Name one of the important instruments in the orchestra.
- What year did Bach write this cantata?
- Why do you think coffee was such a big deal in those days?
o Hint: https://www.history.com/news/coffee-houses-revolutions

- Schlendrian is really upset about his daughter’s coffee habit. Have your parents ever
been angry because you won’t stop doing something? Can you imagine something
that your parents are as concerned about you using as he is?
- Who won the argument, Schlendrian or Liesgen?

If the students finish early, you could let them research other songs about coffee. They can
record the artists and the songs in their Managebac journal.