Pearls in Baroque - Bach and Bernier

Coffee houses

Similar to the recent expansion of US coffeehouses such as Starbucks, coffeehouses sprang up throughout Europe in the second half of the 17th century. In Paris alone there were some 380 coffeehouses by 1720. For the bourgeoisie, they were public places of meeting, conversation and discussion, where coffee was drunk, newspapers were read and music was listened to. The social impact of coffee houses in the Baroque period is somewhat comparable to that of the Internet today. The growing interest in coffee provided poets and some composers with a popular subject. In a book of cantatas about mythology by the French court composer Nicolas Bernier, 'Le Caffé' stands out with this unusual subject for a cantata. The piece is several decades older than the only other extant and more famous 'Kaffee Kantata' by JS Bach. In 'Le Caffé' coffee was praised for its uplifting effect, while Bach's 'Kaffee Kantata' addresses the downside of coffee in a story about a father's fear that his daughter is addicted to coffee. Both cantatas are on the program of this exclusive concert.

Brandenburg Concerto No. 5

It also contains the fifth of Bach's famous (six) Brandenburg Concertos , which take their name from the fact that Bach had written them for Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Brandenburg. The fifth Brandenburg concerto is special because of the prominent solo for harpsichord, in addition to solo parts for traverso and violin. The program is completed with the Gavotte from Bach's Third Partita , performed with baroque dance in historical costume.