The Kona Coffee Cantata

The Kona Coffee Cantata originated, appropriately enough, over coffee and conversation in 1981 between composer Jerre Tanner and Christine Jones, a classical music lover and co-owner of The Coffee Cantata, a coffee shop in Kailua-Kona on Hawaii Island. Jones suggested that Tanner write a companion piece to Bach's Coffee Cantata. Tanner and his librettist agreed to create a Baroque Hawaiian Style for the new work. Says Tanner: "We would combine Baroque musical traditions with Hawaiian musical traditions as seamlessly as possible looking for a common ground between the two so that our audience would accept this cross-cultural hybrid." The listener can hear recitativo secco, arias with instrumental obbligatos, cabalettas displaying vocal pyrotechnics, fugues, chorale preludes, florid ornamentation and those sturdy Baroque walking bass lines. On the Hawaiian side, there are hints of ancient chant and hula rhythms sounded by the ipu hula - a traditional drum-like instrument used for the dance. The rest of the Orchestra is made up of strings, flute and basso continuo, the same instrumentation as Bach's Coffee Cantata. As well, just like the Bach work, Tanner's Cantata uses three characters sung by a soprano, tenor and bass. The work received its premiere in a somewhat abbreviated version by the Uptown Opera at Lindaman's Gourmet-to-Go Restaurant in Spokane, Washington on November 13, 1986. Jerre Tanner is the composer of Boy With Goldfish which is also available on Albany TROY353.