Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

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Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring is the title of a transcription by the English pianist Myra Hess (1890-1965) of the chorale that ends each part of the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Hess's transcription was published in 1926 for piano solo and in 1934 for piano duet, but the transcription itself has since been arranged for various instruments and combinations.[1] Today, it is often performed at wedding ceremonies slowly and reverently, in defiance of the affect suggested by Bach in his original scoring, for voices with trumpet, oboes, strings, and continuo. Written during his first year in Leipzig, Germany, this chorale movement is one of Bach's most enduring works.

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[edit] Background

Much of the music of Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben comes from Bach's Weimar period. This earlier version (BWV 147a) lacked the recitatives, but included the opening chorus and the four arias incorporated into the later version. For Leipzig, Bach added three recitatives and the celebrated chorale movement which concludes each of the two parts.[2]

Although it is the 32nd surviving cantata that Bach composed, it was assigned the number BWV 147 in the complete catalogue of his works.[3] Bach wrote a total of 200 cantatas during his time in Leipzig, largely to meet the Leipzig Churches' demand for about 58 different cantatas each year.

Contrary to the common assumption, the violinist and composer Johann Schop, not Bach, composed the movement's underlying chorale melody, Werde munter, mein Gemüthe; Bach's contribution was to harmonize and orchestrate it.[4] The frequent use of arrangements of the piece in modern weddings is in no way related to its scope or Bach's intent for it. Rather, it was one segment of an extended, approximately 20-minute treatment of a traditional Church hymn, as is typical of cantatas of the Baroque period.

[edit] Instrumental Arrangements

Bach scored the chorale movements (6 and 10) from Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben for choir, trumpet, violin, optionally oboe, viola, and basso continuo. The music's wide popularity has led to numerous arrangements and transcriptions, the best-known being that for piano by Dame Myra Hess of Hugh P. Allen's choral version to a poem by Robert Bridges given as Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.[4]

[edit] Text

[edit] English Translation

Jesu, joy of man's desiring,
Holy Wisdom, Love most bright;
Drawn by Thee, our souls, aspiring,
Soar to uncreated light.
Word of God, our flesh that fashion'd,
With the fire of life impassion'd,
Striving still to truth unknown,
Soaring, dying, round Thy throne.

Through the way where hope is guiding,
Hark, what peaceful music rings!
Where the flock, in Thee confiding,
Drink of joy from deathless springs.
Theirs is beauty's fairest pleasure;
Theirs is wisdom's holiest treasure.
Thou dost ever lead Thine own
In the love of joys unknown.

[1]

[edit] Original German lyrics

Jesus bleibet meine Freude,
meines Herzens Trost und Saft,
Jesus wehret allem Leide,
er ist meines Lebens Kraft,
meiner Augen Lust und Sonne,
meiner Seele Schatz und Wonne;
darum lass' ich Jesum nicht
aus dem Herzen und Gesicht. (from BWV 147, Chorale movement no. 10)

Wohl mir, dass ich Jesum habe,
o wie feste halt' ich ihn,
dass er mir mein Herze labe,
wenn ich krank und traurig bin.
Jesum hab' ich, der mich liebet
und sich mir zu eigen giebet,
ach drum lass' ich Jesum nicht,
wenn mir gleich mein Herze bricht. (from BWV 147, Chorale movement no. 6)

The translation[5] of these original verses does not correspond closely to the most common English version, with the direct translation of the first line "Jesus shall remain my gladness" being replaced by "Jesu, joy of man's desiring".

[edit] Pronunciation

In the United States, the first word, "Jesu", is most commonly spoken as if it were German or Latin, with a "y" sound as the first consonant, resulting in an odd inconsistency with the word that immediately follows, "joy." In Great Britain and Canada, by contrast, the word "Jesu" is spoken and sung with a standard English "j" sound.[citation needed] Since the initial two words of the English poem are the first of many alliterative pairs in the verse (i.e. "flesh" and "fashioned", "word" and "with", "striving", "still" and "soaring", "throne" and "through", "drink" and "deathless", etc.), it is safe to conclude that the poet intended that "Jesu" and "joy" should begin with the same consonant when sung.[citation needed]

[edit] In Popular Culture

[edit] Media

[edit] References

  1. ^ Boyd, M., ed. "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", The Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach, Oxford University Press
  2. ^ "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben", The Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach, Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Bach Cantatas, Chronological Listing
  4. ^ a b Arnold, Denis (1983), The New Oxford Companion to Music, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0193113163 
  5. ^ BWV 147 Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben

[edit] External links