Origins of Songs

By Aaron's Request:

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
1661 A.D.

Someone said that it doesn't matter who gets the credit so long as the work gets done. Here's Exhibit A: "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," a lovely, lilting baroque melody often played at weddings. A recent poll touted it as the overwhelming favorite of all the compositions of the great musician, Johann Sebastian Bach.

But it was actually composed by another Johann - the German musician, Johann Schop. Born about 1590, Schop was a gifted musical prodigy, a gifted youth and accomplished instrumentalist who became one of seventeenth-century Europe's best known composers, conductors, and performers.

In 1614, Schop was appointed probationary musician in the Hofkapelle, the national or royal orchestra of Saxony. His performances on the lute, cornet, and trombone were lauded, but he was exceptionally gifted on the violin. As a result, he was invited to become a permanent member of the Hofkapellein 1615.

Johann, however, had better offers, and he left Saxony for Copenhagen where he joined the musical staff of King Christian IV. He performed there until 1619 when the plague drove him from Denmark. He returned to Germany, and by 1621, he had become the leading musician in Hamburg, a city that paid him handsomely and was determined to keep him. Johann took charge of the choirs and orchestras, and planned church music for civic occasions. He became Hamburg's musical ambassador to the rest of Germany and to all of Europe, doing much to shape German religious and classical music in the seventeenth century. Many of his melodies found their way into Lutheran hymnals. "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" is a good example, accompanied by words composed in 1661 by Martin Janus, and evangelical pastor in Silesia.

It was the famous Leipzig church musician, Johann Sebastian Bach, who "borrowed" this work and rearranged it into the beautiful piece it is today. Bach began working on this arrangement during the Christmas season of 1716, but it wasn't performed publicly until July 2, 1723, when it appeared as the final choral selection in one of his cantatas. Bach ended up with the credit, but always remember: Behind one Johann stands another. Behind every famous person is a host of faithful, gifted souls, and, in the end, all the glory goes to God.

Or as Bach would say: SDG - Soli Deo Gloria: To God Alone be the Glory.

 

Sorry guys.

I was reminded in December of the official Copyright policy concerning the posting of entire pages of work without credit. I have posted 5 additional things since.

Most of my posting in this thread has not been my research. It has come from a book called Then Sings My Soul by Robert Morgan. While I have thrown in my own notes occasionally, the lion's share of the work has been his.

I apologize for misleading anyone into thinking it was entirely my own work. This was not my intention. Most of the posts in this thread I made before being aware of the policy. Please forgive me, and know that I will not be posting anything that is not original here, should the thread remain open at all. That is up to the moderators. However, others have posted extensively here as well, and I believe that work is their own.

Please forgive me. My purpose was to help educate, not to steal. For more of these articles, see Dr. Morgan's book, as well as its sequal.

In His Grip,
joshua