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Coffee Connotations

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16th Century Ottoman Coffeehouse

Detail from a 16th-century Ottoman miniature of a busy coffeehouse. (Wikipedia)

This episode originally aired June 10, 2024.

Grab a cup of your favorite brew and get ready to perk up as we travel the coffee trading routes from the Arabian Peninsula to Western Europe. This hour, we’ll explore the musical connotations of coffee in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries and learn about meanings associated with the drink, its consumers, and spaces of consumption. Musicians are depicted in some of the earliest illustrations of coffeehouses in 16th century Türkiye. These spaces remained closely connected to music making as coffeehouses began to spread throughout Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.

PLAYLIST

Orient-occident: 1200-1700
Hespèrion XXI
Alia Vox 2006 / 829410084161
Anon. (arr. D. Cantemir)
Tr.1 Murass'a Usul Düyek (Makam Rast) (4:40)

Segment A:

J.S. Bach, The Coffee Cantata
Amor Artis Chorale and Baroque Orchestra
Lyrichord Early Music / LEMS8039
J.S. Bach
Tr.9 Recitative: Du boses Kind, du loses Madchen (0:35)
Tr.10 Aria: Ei, wie schmeckt der Coffee susse (4:15)
Tr.11 Recitative: Wenn du mir nicht den Kaffee lasst (1:08)
Tr.12 Aria: Madchen, die von harten Sinnen (2:24)

Musick for severall friends: English 17th century theatre music
Newberry Consort; Mary Springfels, conductor
Harmonia Mundi 1989 / HMU907013DI
John Wilson
Tr.11 Cheerful Ayres or Ballads: Awake, awake! The morne will never rise (2:01)
Tr.12 Wherefore peep'st thou, envious day? (2:46)

MAYNARD, J.: XII Wonders of the World (The) / RAVENSCROFT, T.: Yonder comes a courteous Knight
The Consort of Musicke ; Anthony Rooley, conductor
Decca 2010 / 00028947847625
[Originally issued l'Oiseau-Lyre 1980 / DSLO 545]
Tobias Hume
Tr.14 The First Part of Ayres: Tobacco, tobacco (1:46)

Theme Music Bed: Ensemble Alcatraz, Danse Royale, Elektra Nonesuch 79240-2 / B000005J0B, T.12: La Prime Estampie Royal

:59 Midpoint Break Music Bed:

Orient-occident: 1200-1700
Hespèrion XXI
Alia Vox 2006 / 829410084161
Anon. (arr. D. Cantemir)
Tr.21: Turna (Makam 'Uzäl Sakil) (excerpt of 3:44)

Segment B:

The Palais-Royal
Ensemble Battistin
ABC Classics 2006 / Label ID# 196292178517
Nicolas Bernier
Tr. 21 L'Astre dont chaque nuit la clarte douce et pure (That Star, whose soft, pure radiance each night) (0:56)
Tr. 22 Air gai: Cafe, du jus de la bouteille (Coffee, of the draught in the bottle) (4:17)
Tr. 23 Recitative: Quand und habille main t'apprete (When a skillfull hand prepares you) (0:34) [CUT if needed]
Tr. 24 Air gai: O toi, liqueur que j'aime (O thou, liquid that I love) (6:32)

Royal delight: 17th C. ballads & dances.
King's Noyse
Harmonia Mundi 2005 / HMX 2907370.71
Anon.
Disc 2, Tr.23 Nottingham Ale (2:47)

Featured Release:

Routes du café
Ensemble Masques
Alpha 2019 / ALPHA543
Nayî Osman Dede
Tr.1 Taksim ney (2:39)
Tr.10 Taksim oud (1:09)
Tr.12 Taksim ney II (:56)
Tr.11 Rast Dilârâ Saz Semâî (4:12)
Tr.15 Wahda sarabande (3:51)

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