Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 07/27/2013, uploaded on 07/27/2013

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring      Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged by Myra Hess

The transcription of Bach’s Chorale Jesu, Joy of Man’s desiring (“Jesus bleibet meine Freude“), written in 1926, has become not only Myra Hess’s most popular work, but also one of Bach’s most played compositions.  Hess’s own recording, as well as that of Dinu Lipatti, is a best-seller and landmark of her art.

The piece is taken from the Cantata no. 147 (“Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben“) and consists of a ritornello in undulating triplets that alternates with three chorale verses in different voicings.  Throughout the work the atmosphere remains peaceful and serene – the tempo indication is “Simple and flowing“. In today’s program it forms a marvelous introduction to Schubert’s great sonata in the same key of G major.       

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.