COCOA Cantata
for Three Singers and Instrumental Sextet
Written: 2020
Duration: ca. 24’
Libretto: David Cote
Instrumentation: soprano, baritone, bass-baritone, and instrumental sextet (flute, piano, two violins, viola, cello)
Commissioned by Triphammer Arts Inc. with The Arts at Grace and Society for New Music
World Premiere (Virtual): Society for New Music, featuring Julie Ebner, soprano; Steven Stull, baritone; David Neal, bass-baritone; May 23, 2021
World Premieres (Live): American Modern Ensemble, featuring Cree Carrico, soprano; Steven Stull, baritone; David Neal, bass-baritone, presented by Triphammer Arts, CRS Barn Stage, Ithaca, NY, June 13 and 14, 2021; The Arts at Grace; Rose Hall, Cortland, NY, June 15, 2021; Mostly Modern Projects, Universal Preservation Hall, Saratoga Springs, NY, June 17 and 18, 2021; Mostly Modern Projects, Chelsea Market, New York, NY, June 20, 2021
Publisher: Bill Holab Music
View Score | View Piano/vocal Score | Purchase Sheet Music
Also Available: Coffee Cantata (same instrumentation)
About Cocoa Cantata
Cocoa Cantata is a 21st-century response to J.S. Bach’s Coffee Cantata, one of his secular cantatas, c. 1734. A mini-drama with colorful, comical roles for soprano, baritone, and bass-baritone, this work imitates Bach's instrumentation and explores politics and optics in the multibillion-dollar chocolate industry.
Two chocolate executives, one from a global brand, the other a boutique chocolatier, square off over a corporate takeover, when a food scientist introduces a scientifically engineered "Total Cacao." One bite of it, and each "choco boss" is transformed.
Cocoa Cantata runs approximately 24 minutes, incorporating arias for each character, duets, and a final trio. The tone is lightly satirical, with contemporary allusions to fair-trade practices, the chemistry and symbolism of chocolate, and the marketing of pleasure. Cocoa Cantata will be delicious to anyone who loves chocolate—or tries to control their craving for it!
Program Note
Cocoa Cantata is a 21st-century response to J.S. Bach’s Coffee Cantata. Written for soprano, baritone, and bass-baritone, the work explores politics in the multibillion-dollar chocolate industry. Musically, the piece imitates Bach’s instrumentation, but not his Baroque style. The paternalism of Bach’s secular cantata is replaced by a more evolved (yet humorous) attitude toward issues of patriarchy, fair-trade practices, and the marketing of pleasure.
About Cocoa Cantata and Program Note © David Cote. Used With Permission.
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What Is This Feeling?
(Bobby Wonders: Baritone Aria)
What is this feeling flowing into me?
A rush of energy and ecstasy?
My taste buds tingle and I have to smile,
I feel like a kid who could sprint a mile.
Aromas and spice from a distant shore,
sharp yet tender, layered with mystery:
a chocolate bar with a sense of history.
Now it’s all gone, and I want more!
Ambrosia
(Amara Bliss: Soprano Aria)
Ambrosia may be food of the gods,
but this goddess is calling them frauds;
Olympus never had it so fine.
One bite and it’s like I’m drunk on wine.
My body is floating on a cloud of bliss.
Smoky and dark, layered with mystery:
a chocolate bar with a sense of history.
Come down here, angel, and give me a kiss.
Libretto by David Cote. Text Copyright © 2020 David Cote. Used with permission.
Press Quotes
“Both the senses, and–in the chocolate opera–sensualities–are well gratified.”