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The Daily Insight

When was Jesu meine Freude composed?

Author

Emma Johnson

Updated on April 21, 2026

“Jesu, meine Freude” (Jesus, my joy) is a hymn in German, written by Johann Franck in 1650, with a melody, Zahn No. 8032, by Johann Crüger. The song first appeared in Crüger’s hymnal Praxis pietatis melica in 1653.

What are Bach motets?

Bach’s motets are his only vocal works that stayed in the canon without interruption between his death in 1750 and the 19th-century Bach Revival. In the early 19th century, six motets (BWV 225, 228, Anh.

What church did Bach write Jesu meine Freude for?

Jesu, meine Freude is one of six works which comprise the generally accepted and most often recorded Bach motet canon (BWV 225–230). These have traditionally been assumed to be written for St Thomas’s Church, Leipzig, between 1723 and 1727.

What is the name of the motet Jesu meine Freude?

It is named after the Lutheran hymn ” Jesu, meine Freude “, of which the motet contains, in its odd-numbered movements, all six stanzas of Johann Franck ‘s poetry and various versions of Johann Crüger ‘s hymn tune. The text of the motet’s even-numbered movements is taken from the Epistle to the Romans.

How many voices does Jesu meine Freude have?

Four verses from the Epistle are set in motet style, two for five voices and two for three voices. The central movement is a five-part fugue. Bach used word painting to intensify the theological meaning of both hymn and Epistle texts. Jesu, meine Freude is one of the few works by Bach for five vocal parts.

What is the melody of the first line of Bach’s motet?

In the version of the 1682 Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch, the hymnal used in Leipzig, the melody of the first line is the same as that of the last line. The hymn tune appears in two variants in the uneven movements of the motet. Most of Bach’s motets are difficult to date and Jesu, meine Freude is no exception.