"" (; Jesus, my joy) is a

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

in German, written by

Johann Franck Johann Fran(c)k (1 June 1618 – 18 June 1677) was a German politician (serving as mayor of Guben and a member of the Landtag of Lower Lusatia) and a lyric poet and hymnist. Life Franck was born in Guben, Margraviate of Lower Lusatia. After vis ...

in 1650, with a melody, Zahn No. 8032, by

Johann Crüger Johann Crüger (9 April 1598 – 23 February 1662) was a German composer of well-known hymns. He was also the editor of the most widely used Lutheran hymnal of the 17th century, '' Praxis pietatis melica''. Early life and education Crüger was b ...

. The song first appeared in Crüger's hymnal in 1653. The text addresses Jesus as joy and support, versus enemies and the vanity of existence. The poetry is

bar form Bar form (German: ''die Barform'' or ''der Bar'') is a musical form of the pattern AAB. Original use The term comes from the rigorous terminology of the Meistersinger guilds of the 15th to 18th century who used it to refer to their songs and the ...

, with irregular lines from 5 to 8 syllables. The melody repeats the first line as the last, framing each of the six stanzas. Several English translations have been made of the hymn, including

Catherine Winkworth Catherine Winkworth (13 September 1827 – 1 July 1878) was an English hymnwriter and educator. She translated the German chorale tradition of church hymns for English speakers, for which she is recognized in the calendar of the Evangelical Lut ...

's "Jesu, priceless treasure" in 1869, and it has appeared in around 40 hymnals. There have been choral and organ settings of the hymn by many composers, including by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

in a

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

, BWV 227, for unaccompanied chorus, and a

chorale prelude In music, a chorale prelude or chorale setting is a short liturgical composition for organ using a chorale tune as its basis. It was a predominant style of the German Baroque era and reached its culmination in the works of J.S. Bach, who wrote 46 ...

, BWV 610, for organ. In the modern German Protestant hymnal, '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'', it is No. 396.

Text

The text is presented in six stanzas of nine lines each. It is in

; three lines form the ''Stollen'', three the ''Abgesang'', with the

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...

6.6.5.6.6.5.7.8.6. The last line of the last stanza repeats the first line of the first stanza. The song is written in the first person, addressing Jesus. The theme of turning away from the world and to Jesus made the hymn suitable for funerals, seen as the ultimate turning away from the world: # ''Jesu, meine Freude'' (Jesus, my joy) # ''Unter deinem Schirmen'' (Beneath your protection) # ''Trotz dem alten Drachen'' (I defy the old dragon) # ''Weg mit allen Schätzen'' (Away with all treasures) # ''Gute Nacht, o Wesen'' (Good night, existence) # ''Weicht, ihr Trauergeister'' (Go away, mournful spirits) The first stanza sets the theme of love to Jesus and the desire to be united with him, who is named Lamb, as in , and Bridegroom, based on . It is a parody of the love song "Flora, meine Freude", published in 1645 by

Heinrich Albert Heinrich Friedrich Albert (12 February 1874 to 1 November 1960) was a German civil servant, diplomat, politician, businessman and lawyer who served as minister for reconstruction and the Treasury in the government of Wilhelm Cuno in 1922/1923. ...

, organist at the

Königsberg Cathedral , infobox_width = , image = Kaliningrad 05-2017 img04 Kant Island.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Front (west side) of the cathedral , map_type = , map_ ...

. The second stanza describes the protection of Jesus against threats by

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

, enemies, thunder, hell and sin, all pictured in drastic images. The third stanza repeats three times ''Trotz'' (defiance), facing the enemies "old dragon" (''alter Drachen''), death (''Tod''), and fear (''Furcht''). The believer, feeling safe even in adverse conditions as expressed in , stands and sings (''Ich steh hier und singe''). The fourth stanza turns away from worldly treasures and honours, which should not separate the believer from Jesus. The fifth stanza repeats four times "Gute Nacht" (Good night), to existence in the world, to sins, to pride and pomp, and to a life of vice. The last stanza imagines the entry of Jesus as the "Freudenmeister" (master of joys), as a comforter in every misery. It alludes to Jesus entering after the resurrection ().

Hymn tune and musical settings

IMSLP387900-PMLP627564-Buxtehude - Jesu meine Freude - tab score

The hymn tune, Zahn 8032, in

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

culminates in the long phrase of line 8 and repeats line 1 in line 9, framing the stanza. One of the earliest choral settings occurs in the cantata BuxWV 60 by

Dieterich Buxtehude Dieterich Buxtehude (; ; born Diderik Hansen Buxtehude; c. 1637 – 9 May 1707) was a Danish organist and composer of the Baroque period, whose works are typical of the North German organ school. As a composer who worked in various vocal ...

, composed in the 1680s. David Pohle set it for four voices, three instruments and continuo.

Settings by Christoph Graupner

The most prolific arranger of the tune was

Christoph Graupner Christoph Graupner (13 January 1683 – 10 May 1760) was a German composer and harpsichordist of late Baroque music who was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel. Life Born in Hartmannsdorf ...

, who, between 1709 and 1753 produced 36 original settings for performance within his cantatas for Sundays and feast days of the church calendar. Graupner uses a variety of orchestrations for these settings. For instance, in his very first setting, which ends his second cantata for the 13th Sunday after Trinity 1709 ''Meine Seufzer, meine Klagen'' ( GWV 1154/09b) the accompaniment is scored for unison violins, viola and continuo. On the other hand, the setting of two stanzas from the text ''Nun ist auferstanden'' in Graupner's cantata ''Was sucht ihr den Lebendigen bei den Toten'' (GWV 1128/47) for Easter Sunday 1747 calls for a pair of trumpets and ''four'' timpani. Characteristic of many of Graupner's chorale settings, he often accompanies ''Jesu, meine Freude'' with virtuoso instrumental parts. A fine example is his setting of the third stanza of ''Jesu, meine Freude'', ''Trotz dem alten Drachen'' which concludes his 1751 cantata for the first Sunday of Lent ''Wer unter dem Schirm des Höchsten'' (GWV 1120/51).

Settings by Johann Sebastian Bach

The hymn is the basis for

's motet of the same name, BWV 227. Scored for five vocal parts—two

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

s (S),

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

(A),

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

(T) and bass (B)—Bach alternates the stanzas of the chorale and text from Paul's

epistle to the Romans The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that salvation is offered through the gospel of J ...

. Within an overall symmetrical structure, he varies his treatment of the verses of the hymn: stanzas 1 and 6 (transcribed below) are the same simple four part setting; stanzas 2 and 4 are settings with the

cantus firmus In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition. The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect tr ...

in the soprano and an expressive accompaniment in the lower three or four voices; stanza 5 is a

chorale fantasia Chorale fantasia is a type of large composition based on a chorale melody, both works for organ, and vocal settings, for example the opening movements of Bach's chorale cantatas, with the chorale melody as a cantus firmus. History Chorale fantas ...

with the cantus firmus in the alto; and stanza 3 is based on a free paraphrase of the hymn tune. << << \new Staff \new Lyrics \lyricmode \new Lyrics \lyricmode \new Staff >> >> \layout \midi Bach also used the tune as a cantus firmus, played by a trumpet, in an aria of his cantata ''Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen'', BWV 12 (1714). He closed ''Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget'', BWV 64, a

Christmas cantata A Christmas cantata or Nativity cantata is a cantata, music for voice or voices in several movements, for Christmas. The importance of the feast inspired many composers to write cantatas for the occasion, some designed to be performed in church ser ...

of 1723, with the fifth stanza, and his 1724 cantata ''Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen?'' BWV 81, with the second stanza. The closing chorale of cantata ''Bisher habt ihr nichts gebeten in meinem Namen'', BWV 87, (1725) is a stanza from a hymn by

Heinrich Müller Heinrich Müller may refer to: * Heinrich Müller (cyclist) (born 1926), Swiss cyclist * Heinrich Müller (footballer, born 1888) (1888–1957), Swiss football player and manager * Heinrich Müller (footballer, born 1909) (1909–2000), Austrian ...

on the same tune. Bach set the hymn for organ in BWV 610, one of the

s in his

Orgelbüchlein The ''Orgelbüchlein'' (''Little Organ Book'') BWV 599−644 is a set of 46 chorale preludes for organ — one of them is given in two versions — by Johann Sebastian Bach. All but three were written between 1708 and 1717 when Bach served as org ...

Others

Other Baroque composers who have composed chorale preludes on the hymn tune include

Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow or Zachau (14 November 1663, Leipzig – 7 August 1712, Halle) was a German musician and composer of vocal and keyboard music. Life Zachow probably received his training from his father, the piper Heinrich Zachow, o ...

Johann Gottfried Walther Johann Gottfried Walther (18 September 1684 – 23 March 1748) was a German music theorist, organist, composer, and lexicographer of the Baroque era. Walther was born at Erfurt. Not only was his life almost exactly contemporaneous to that ...

and

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

(HWV 480). Later chorale preludes included a work by

Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (21 November 1718 – 22 May 1795) was a German music critic, music theorist and composer. He was friendly and active with many figures of the Enlightenment of the 18th century. Life Little is known of Marpurg's ear ...

, while

Johann Gottfried Müthel Johann Gottfried Müthel (January 17, 1728 – July 14, 1788) was a German composer and noted keyboard virtuoso. Along with C.P.E. Bach, he represented the Sturm und Drang style of composition. As far as is known, he was the first to use t ...

wrote variations in D minor on the tune.Johann Gottfried Muethel (1728–1788) / Complete Fantasies / Choral Preludes
aeolus-music.com

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

wrote a chorale cantata on the hymn for choir and orchestra in 1828.

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

composed a prelude as No. 21 of his 52 Chorale Preludes, Op. 67 in 1902. Preludes were also written by

Sigfrid Karg-Elert Sigfrid Karg-Elert (November 21, 1877April 9, 1933) was a German composer in the early twentieth century, best known for his compositions for pipe organ and reed organ. Biography Karg-Elert was born Siegfried Theodor Karg in Oberndorf am Neckar, ...

(Op. 87, No. 2),

Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling (9 May 1904 in Hannover – 9 December 1985 in Berlin) was a German composer. The son of a chemical manufacturer, Schwarz-Schilling embarked upon his musical studies in 1922, first in Munich and – interrupted by sev ...

(1927),

Karl Höller Karl Höller (25 July 1907 – 14 April 1987) was a German composer of the late Romantic tradition. Biography Karl Höller was born in Bamberg, Bavaria. He came from a musical family on both sides: his father Valentin Höller was the Bamberg Cath ...

(Op. 22, 1936),

Joseph Ahrens Joseph Johannes Clemens Ahrens (April 17, 1904 in Sommersell – December 21, 1997 in Berlin) was a German composer and organist. Ahrens received early training in organ and choral music with Wilhelm Schnippering in Büren and Fritz Volbach i ...

(1942) and

Max Drischner Max Drischner (31 January 1891 – 25 April 1971) was a German composer, Kantor, organist, and harpsichordist. Life and work Max Drischner was born in Prieborn (now Przeworno), Silesia. After completing his A-levels at the grammar school in Zül ...

(1945).

Günther Marks Günther Marks (28 November 1897 – 4 March 1978) was a German church musician, organist and composer. He was born in Gollnow, Pomerania, and died in Dahme, Brandenburg Dahme (also: Dahme/Mark) is a town in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brande ...

composed in 1970 a partita for viola and organ on the tune. In 2005,

Gerhard Präsent Gerhard Präsent (born 21 June 1957) is an Austrian composer, conductor and academic teacher. Professional career Born in Graz, Präsent studied from 1976 at the Musikhochschule Graz, composition with Iván Erőd and conducting with Milan Horvat ...

arranged Bach's chorale prelude for

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

, in ''Three Choral Preludes and Aria by

, completed and arranged for string quartet'', also in a version for string trio. Steven Sametz composed a ''Fantasia on "Jesu, meine Freude"'' for

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

choir and digitally delayed treble instrument in 2009.

References

External links

*
"Jesu, meine Freude"
( BWV 358) performed by the

Netherlands Bach Society The Netherlands Bach Society ( nl, Nederlandse Bachvereniging) is the oldest ensemble for Baroque music in the Netherlands, and possibly in the world. The ensemble was founded in 1921 in Naarden to perform Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach's ''St Matthew ...

{{authority control 17th-century hymns in German 1653 works