While today it is almost heard exclusively at weddings and during the seasons of Christmas and Easter, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” or more properly in German “Jesus bleibet meine Freude” by itself, it is the final movement of longer piece. The cantata “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben” was composed by Johann Sebastian Bach between 1716 and 1723 during what is known as his Weimar period. Today it is rarely heard in its original setting.
Enjoy “Hertz und Mund und Tat und Leben” performed in its original voicing by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, Ton Koopman conducting.
