Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 02/22/2017, uploaded on 10/18/2017

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring      Johann SebastianBach, arr. Myra Hess

Bach originally composed the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 (“Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life”) in 1716, while in Weimar, and revised it for performance during the feast of Visitation in 1723 in Leipzig. The resulting ten-movement cantata is broken into two parts, and the last movement of each part is based on the chorale Jesu, meiner Seelen Wonne by Martin Luther. It is often recognized under the title Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, which approximates the German Jesus bleibet meine Freude (“Jesus shall remain my gladness.”) This chorale movement, and the popular piano arrangement of it by Dame Myra Hess, remains one of Bach’s most well-known compositions.                            Notes by Joseph DuBose

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.