Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring Brass Quartet (Bach/arr. Marlatt)

GRADE 3

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), a consummate musician, was the outstanding member of a centuries-old Thuringian family of musicians.

Building on the materials and practices of both earlier and contemporary musicians, Bach produced a tremendous amount of choral and instrumental compositions which summed up the progress of music to his time while developing music artistry to an immeasurably remarkable plane.

This composition is perhaps the most familiar of Bach’s chorale preludes. It follows the usual chorale prelude plan in which the phrases of the chorale melody are interspersed with an on-going florid counter-melody or counterpoint.

Notes by Kenneth Bray

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