Christmas Carols and Songs We Love : Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

Note: I have several posts here related to Advent and Christmas. Just type ADVENT in the Search window above or click on the link to the right.

I was classically trained to play the piano so I will probably always have a preference for beautiful music, particularly in its original form.  This particular piece is often heard at Christmas and is a favorite at weddings.  Jesu is of course, Jesus.

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

by Johann Sebastian Bach, 1723

Original Version on piano  at THIS LINK.

Here is the song with vocals by Celtic Women.

One of Johann Sebastian Bach's most popular compositions is Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.  Originally composed for trumpet, oboe, strings and organ, it is perhaps best known in a piano arrangement by Dame Myra Hess (1890-1965).  This Bach piece is a 3-minute extract [Movement #10, Chorale: Jesus bleibet meine Freude, more accurately translated Jesus shall remain my gladness]  from a thirty-minute cantata which was originally written for the 4th Sunday of Advent.  That cantata is just one of over 200 that survived. Those 200 cantatas form only a fifth of Bach's works. And those thousand-odd works are only a fraction of what survived.  

SOURCE

English Lyrics

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 fashioned,

With the fire of life impassioned,

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.

A little bit about the composer, Johann Sebastian Bach:

Bach said, "Music's only purpose should be the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit." Music was given to glorify God in heaven and to edify men and women on earth. It wasn't to make lots of money, or to feed the musician's ego, or to be famous. Music was about blessing the Lord and blessing others.

Bach's own life was in complete accord with his beliefs. Though he possessed a musical genius found perhaps once in a century, he chose to live an obscure life as a church musician. Only once in his 65 years did he actually take a job where his brilliance might bring him to the world's notice. For a while, he worked as Kapellmeister of the court of Prince Leopold. But such surroundings were a distraction to him. He soon left to accept a lowly position as cantor at a church in Leipzig, where he would again be cloistered in his unacclaimed but beloved world of church music.  SOURCE

Psalm 33:3 

Sing to Him a new song; 

Play skillfully with a shout of joy. 

1 Peter 5:6 

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, 

that He may exalt you at the proper time...