Lifelong Learning – German

Well, nothing really! Johann Sebastian Bach’s rare worldly Cantata is just the opposite of a Valentine’s day music. Which seems natural in a way, as Germans do not have the reputation of being, to put it mildly, overly demonstrative when it comes to matters of the heart.

In this cantata’s aria #4, an exasperated father wants to make it clear to his daughter that it is time to look for a husband, become more serious and she absolutely has to kick this bad coffee drinking habit of hers. She on the other hand says:

Ei! wie schmeckt der Coffee süße,
Lieblicher als tausend Küsse,
Milder als Muskatenwein.
Coffee, Coffee muss ich haben,
Und wenn jemand mich will laben,
Ach, so schenkt mir Coffee ein!

In other words “Oh! How sweet coffee tastes, sweeter than a thousand kisses (makes you wonder, how Tim Horton’s coffee would compare), sweeter than muscatel. I have to have coffee, coffee and if anyone wants to refresh me, just pour me some coffee!”

(Grammar points: Look for the two modal verb constructions. Which are the meaning carrying verbs in those sentences? Die Antwort finden Sie hier.)

So she definitely is not into the Valentine’s Day “hysteria” (no offence meant, it’s just a different cultural perspective)  that seems to grab all of North America in the short month of February. In fact even today, Valentine’s Day is not  such a big thing in the German speaking countries. Since however, there is a lot of money to be made for florists, jewellers and restaurants, mention of this date in the media is becoming ubiquitous. However, I am not sure how much it has taken hold in the consumer psyches yet.

Übrigens, wussten Sie, dass Kaffee im 17. Jahrhundert in Preussen Schmuggelware war? Nur dem preussischen Staat war der Import von Kaffee erlaubt. (More at German Wikipedia).

Die Kantate wurde ca. 1734 komponiert, um in diesem Leipziger Kaffeehaus, rechts an der Ecke, aufgeführt zu werden:

Hier ist der komplette Text der Kaffeekantate.

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