Kaffee bei Bach

Sunday 21 March 2010
2100

I spent a most delightful Sunday afternoon at the Heiligengeistkirche (Church of the Holy Spirit) in Heidelberg, Germany. Today is the 325th birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach, so they held a series of music programs in the church. I happened to see a poster when I was out and about on Friday. I tried to buy a ticket then, but the advance sales places didn’t have the same type of ticket that the poster described (I wanted an all-day ticket so I could choose which performances to see), so I called and asked. They said to just come to the performance and buy the tickets then.

There were several different performances available. I chose to go to one on Sunday afternoon, called "Kaffee bei Bach" (Coffee with Bach). It was scheduled to last two hours (1500-1700) and included coffee and cake served at little tables. It sounded nice, so I made that my plan.

Getting ready to go was interesting. I decided I wanted to dress up a bit from what has become my usual off-duty appearance. I actually counted today, and since being mobilized and sent to the desert in October 2006, I have worn something besides my Army uniform or blue jeans and a t-shirt about seven times. I went to my oldest daughter’s graduation, my son’s graduation, my mother’s 25th wedding anniversary, my youngest daughter’s band concert (twice),the family Thanksgiving in 2009, and I surprised my girlfriend once over this past Christmas break by wearing some nice clothes once (!) The fact is that almost all my civilian clothes were left behind and packed away, and I just haven’t had them available. But now I have them here, so I really looked forward to getting out in something nicer.

Unfortunately, although I have unpacked all the boxes labeled “clothes” (a.k.a. “cloths” on the ones the movers labeled), I have not really sorted them all yet nor taken stock. I do know that I don’t have everything, but I don’t know exactly what I’m missing. This was the first time I’d tried to assemble a decent outfit since unpacking my boxes and throwing all the stuff in the closet.

It’s still fairly cool outside and the church was cool when I visited it before, so I figured wool pants and a tweed jacket would be best. I found a pair of navy blue pants, a light blue shirt, my grey pullover v-neck sweater and grey tweed jacket. I dusted off my black loafers and thought I was set, except….no black belt! I also can’t find any black socks, but I thought I could make do with grey. But having no black belt was a potential problem. I decided to solve the problem by wearing the sweater, which would cover the belt. I would be uncomfortable, but nobody would see it so it would be OK.

I got dressed a little early and went back to writing my blog entry on Constanta. I soon began to overheat, and realized that the sweater was a no-go. Now what to do? (remember, nothing in Germany is open on Sunday, so I couldn’t just run out and buy a belt). Fortunately I had a solution – cordovan! I have a pair of cordovan loafers as well as a cordovan belt. Since they match, and go with practically anything, I would be OK. I didn’t think the blue pants looked right, so I searched some more and finally found my grey ones. Now I was comfortable!

If all this seems silly, you try leaving home on short notice with a couple of duffel bags that don't include civilian clothes, having other people pack all your stuff and put it into storage when you’re not there, and then coming back 3 ½ years later and trying to find all the stuff you know you ought to have *someplace*. It’s interesting, to say the least. So anyway, I was looking forward to feeling civilized and going to a concert.

I went downtown, parked, and walked to the church. When I got in all the seats at the tables were taken, but there were little stand-up tables at the back, and one of those was free so I stood there. I noticed that the two ladies next to me had pulled up chairs to their table, so I did the same. It was fine to start with, but did not promise to be a good seat during the concert as the stand-up tables were too high and would be in the way. Then one of the ladies put her chair in front of the table, and her friend and I immediately did the same.

I heard one of the ladies make an interesting comment to the other after this. She said “Wir sind die Nachkriegsgeneration, und wir wissen was zu tun”. This translates as “We are the post-war generation, and we know what to do”. This was interesting at so many levels! Apparently moving your chair from its original location is very daring, but putting it in front of your little stand-up table is downright radical! Good thing we are the Nachkriegsgeneration. Those good little Germans from before the war would not have dared to challenge authority and convention in such a way – it simply wasn’t done! It sounds ridiculous to our ears, but perhaps not so surprising once you know the Germans. “Alles unter kontrolle in Deutschland” is the byword here. How interesting that this lady was conscious enough of this to comment on it. I suspect she was making a joke, but it’s interesting even in that light.

We had our coffee and cake, and the concert started. The first piece was Bach’s “Kaffeekantate”, BWV 211. Here is some background information on it: 

Open Culture on the Coffee Cantata , 

and of course the obligatory Wikipedia entry: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_Cantata

I had never heard of this piece before, and so of course had no idea what was going on. At this point I did not know that they had given out programs (I had missed it at the door), so I didn’t have the libretto. I picked up the gist of the story by understanding some of the words, and more from the actions of the vocalists. At first I was confused by the fact that the servers kept taking coffee up to the female vocalist, and the male vocalist kept taking it away from her. I finally realized that it was a part of the performance, and was able to enjoy it even though I didn’t know the whole story until I went out and picked up a program during a pause.

The music was beautiful and the singing was exquisite. The church reminded me a lot of the chapel at Ladywood High School in Livonia, except that being Lutheran it didn’t have the big edifice in the middle that the Catholics have (I’m not sure what it’s called). We all sat in the central aisle, and the performers were seated towards the front of the church, but still well within the central aisle portion. It was very intimate. I was quite surprised that only perhaps about a hundred people were in attendance. I would have expected it to be packed, but perhaps they are just used to this sort of thing here and regard it as nothing special.

I really enjoyed it very much – not only the music, but the humor of the whole situation. They set up tables in the middle of the church, and served coffee and cake while they played the cantata celebrating the drinking of coffee. The servers were even dressed in 18th century costumes. It was very light-hearted and fun.

The second piece they played was Bach’s Orchestral Suite in B-minor, BWV 1067. This was really wonderful. The ensemble was made up of 2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello, 1 bass, 1 piano-like instrument (very small, not sure what it was), 1 bassoon, and 1 flute. The flute player was really excellent – I was completely enchanted by her playing. I believe the selected work was intended to highlight her to some degree, as her name (Eve Cambreling) was on the program along with the vocalists. She certainly deserved it - in my estimation she stole the show. She not only played beautifully, she was so animated that she seemed almost to be dancing with her instrument. I found listening to her and watching her play was an almost transcendent experience – there were times when I was just swept away by the music. It reminded me of the scene in the movie “The Elephant Man” when John is at the opera and becomes transfixed by it. Part of it was that her animated style of playing reminded me of Anna. I’ve seen Anna play in concert, and noticed that she seems to play with her entire body even when confined to a chair. This young woman was an order of magnitude more free in her movements, and I have to think it affects her playing – she literally threw herself into her music. I wonder if it’s something about the flute? Perhaps, but I think it’s more of an attitude and orientation. Not quite Ian Anderson, but the same passion in a more refined sort of a way.

The Orchestral Suite offered plenty of opportunities to showcase her talent, and she certainly rose to the occasion. I am no expert on music, but I think that she will be someone to watch. She is pretty young and still at (or near) the beginning of her career, but with her passion and talent I’d expect her to go far. I’m a confirmed fan! The players received an extended ovation at the end of this piece, and she got special attention – the audience was notably appreciative of her in particular, and rightly so.

I took a short (very poor quality) video of a part of the performance, but have been unable so far successfully to post it anywhere. Facebook video isn't working, and it's too big for this blog. I mainly took it for Anna to see Eve play, though, and I already shared it with her earlier via Skype. So that purpose is accomplished.

There was a pause in between the major parts of the program, during which a smaller group of musicians played something or another while the hosts served out more coffee and cake. It was pleasant and helped to maintain the atmosphere.

The final piece was called the “Bauernkantate” (Peasant Cantata), BWV 212. The host made some introductory remarks about it but I didn’t really follow along. At least I had the libretto this time and was able to more or less follow the story. It was hard because it was totally in peasant slang (or perhaps archaic German? Or both?) . It had something to do with having a new lord, and whether he was good or not, and paying taxes, and drinking. Whatever it was about, it was very enjoyable music.

By this time in the program, I found myself looking at my watch from time to time, not because I was tired of the music, but rather because I didn’t want it to end. Being unfamiliar with the works, I couldn’t tell when it was nearly over, but I hope it would go for the whole allotted time. As it was, it ended about 1645 or so.

It’s been a long time since I felt so charged up by something like this. I lingered around the church for awhile, savoring the afterglow of the performance. I wanted to express my appreciation to the players, but I only saw one come out the front – I guess the others must have gone out by the back door. I eventually left the church, and walked slowly down the Hauptstrasse in Heidelberg, reluctant to go home but anxious to write about the experience. Had I had my laptop with me, it’s a cinch that I’d have sat down in a restaurant or coffee house someplace and written right away. But I didn’t. So I just enjoyed the walk to my car, looking around at all the people who had been right in the neighborhood but didn’t choose to attend.

I came home and immediately looked up Eve Cambreling’s next performance here – May 8th in the same church. I hope I can go to it. (Dear U.S. Army: Please don’t sent me to Romania again!) I just had to write this entry without delay, and so after I finished the overdue one on Constanta, I stayed up to finish this one. It’s now almost 5:30 AM on Monday, and I don’t feel any more like sleeping than I did earlier in the evening. Good thing this is a four-day weekend or I’d probably have a hard day at work!

Maybe it’s my long absence from the cultural institutions of western civilization, but I feel very privileged to have been able to attend a performance like this. I used to go out to Ann Arbor from time to time and attend faculty and student recitals, and even pay for the occasional concert. I had lost track of just how much I miss that sort of culture until today. Now I have an idea I won’t be able to get enough of it.

Mood: Happy
Music: Bach – Orchestra of the Moscow Bach Center - Orchestral Suite in B-Minor BWV 1067