We had a baptism during Mass today - a wee little one, born not more than two months ago, probably less. He was quiet throughout, except he did cry from the (cold, I presume) water. It was good to be a witness to it, to hear the prayers for the parents and be reminded by Father to pray for him.
I saw this on Instagram - a quote from Johann Sebastian Bach, whose birthday anniversary it is today: "Without my morning coffee I'm just like a dried up piece of roasted goat." Well! One tends to think of these people as superhuman, but - I guess not.
I love the JS Bach quote! After fathering all those children and composing such a quantity of beautiful music it is good to know he couldn't have done it without his morning coffee! A dried up piece of roasted goat?! :D
ReplyDeleteI know - I guess it's something he had actually eaten, at some time?? :D
DeleteDear Lisa, may I put this quote into context ? Bach might have been useless without caffeine but we have no way of knowing as this quote is not biographical. The quote is taken out of context - it comes out of one of his humorous cantatas "Kaffeekantate". This is a lovely dramatic piece featuring Lieschen and her father. Lieschen is a very headstrong girl, full of spunk. And she loves coffee and likes to drink a lot of it. Her father shares the beliefs of his European contemporaries that this newfangled luxury - apart from being expensive - is fairly dangerous if not taken in moderation (and the European coffeesets of that time have minuscule cups ! You can still find this belief in Mozart´s time - he has composed a lovely canon warning against the dangers of coffee ...). So he wants to bribe his daughter to give up coffee. Lieschen, however, is immune to the lure of new ribbons and dresses. She prefers to drink coffee. As a last desperate measure the father comes up with the ultimate threat of not allowing her to marry if she were not to give up coffee. She remains stubborn but suddenly caves in and asks her father to look for suitable suitors for she has taken her private measures on the sly: She spread the word that only suitors would be considered who would allow her to have as much coffee as she deems necessary - which would be quite a lot if you consider the quote ! -- I love the cantata; perhaps you will enjoy it, too ! Adi from Germany
ReplyDeleteAdi, I actually have a recording of Thomas Quasthoff singing that piece. While reading your comment, that title was nagging at me with some familiarity. I haven't played this CD in a while, but my memory is telling me it was cute and humorous sounding. I'll play it again - thank you! This is fascinating. xo
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