Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring

About This Song

“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” is the 10th movement from the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 (“Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life”), composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1723. Bach had created this piece for voices accompanied by continuo, strings, oboes, and trumpets. The chords produced in the composition follow Bach’s signature style. The prelude starts on “G Major” (I chord) and subsequently offers a typical Baroque ending – “D Major” to “G Major” (V chord to I chord). It unfolds at a slow-moving pace that is andante moderato, or “walking moderately.” The prelude contains three parts, and all of them are counterpoint and are equipped with their own distinct triplet melodies. Bach was famed as a church musician who dazzled throughout his lifetime for his work on organs, churning out new pieces at an alarming rate and consistency. The composition offers its own intellectual rigor, culminating into a piece of transcendent beauty as it unfolds. Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” along with his cantata and other works form the foundations of Western Art Music. It is regarded as one of his most enduring creations and is considered as the principal mainstay of almost all of Bach’s works. (The audio for this score uses an instrumental sound sample to demonstrate the arrangement.)