Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Chorale "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" (‘Jesus bleibet meine Freude'), Cantata BWV 147 (1723)
Myra Hess, transcription for solo piano (1926)
Nikolai Lugansky, 2020
Concert dedicated to Vedernikov
Moscow Conservatory kzread.infoehC4_nZzgeY
“…It is the last movement from the Cantata No 147, Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (‘Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life’) where it is sung by the chorus with trumpet doubling the melody. Strings and continuo provide the accompaniment, with oboes joining the violins for the triplets. The rise and fall in the dynamic level of the chorale mirrors the words:
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 gibet;
Ach drum laß ich Jesum nicht,
Wenn mir gleich mein Herze bricht.
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 light impassioned,
striving still to truth unknown,
soaring, dying round thy throne.
“
- Angela Hewitt