Melodic Musings on Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
The Best Moments
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: Chorale "Jesu bleibet meine Freude"
I'm Bach, and I'm glad to share the best moments of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring with you. You'll hear how a calm choir tune floats above a lilting, rocking string line in G major, and why that gentle pairing has comforted listeners for so long. My fellow composers and I also help you, on this site, to recognize our pieces the moment they begin, so give the Trainer a go whenever you like.
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Rocking the Cradle in G Major
I start this chorale in G major, in a gentle 9/8 rhythm, with the strings rolling along as steadily as a rocking chair that has never once been told to stop. Then the choir comes in with a slow, plain tune on top, as if the singers are calmly walking across a floor that the strings keep polishing underneath them.
A Borrowed Tune, Fully Disclosed
I have to confess that I didn't write the melody, because it comes from Johann Schop and belongs to a song called "Werde munter, mein Gemüte". The words were written by Martin Janus in 1661, so my own part was surrounding that tune with so many busy, weaving lines that nobody notices I was mostly the arranger.
The Title I Never Gave It
I closed the cantata with this tune as movement 10, and it also appears earlier, as movement 6, with different words. The English name "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" came much later through Myra Hess's piano version in 1926, and in 1972 Apollo 100's instrumental "Joy" climbed to number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, which is more chart success than I ever expected in Leipzig.
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When I think back over these moments, what stays with me most is how much stillness can fit inside a piece of music. This chorale was never meant to stand on its own, because it belongs to my cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147. Yet it has traveled so far from that church service in Leipzig in 1723 that many people know it without ever having heard the rest of the cantata. Its English title came much later, through Myra Hess's piano transcription in 1926, and I never gave the piece that name myself. I find it lovely that a tune carried through so many hands can still feel like a quiet moment shared between old friends. Did you enjoy learning about the best moments of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring? I hope it gave you a few new things to listen for the next time the strings begin to rock and the choir starts to sing. There is still more to explore, because the cantata around this chorale has other movements, and the piece has had many lives in other arrangements. If you're curious, please click on the links provided to keep exploring Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. Then put on a recording, settle into a comfortable chair, and let the music do what it has done for so many listeners: slow the day down a little.