Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring from Cantata 147

Today's famous piece and be downloaded here. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, is the most common English title of a piece of music derived from a chorale setting of the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 ("Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life"), composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1723. The same music on different stanzas of a chorale closes both parts of the cantata.
A transcription by the English pianist Myra Hess (1890–1965) was published in 1926 for piano solo and in 1934 for piano duet.^[1] It is often performed slowly and reverently at wedding ceremonies, as well as during Christian festive seasons like Christmas and Easter.^[2]For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Brandenburg Concerto No.1 in F, 2nd movement theme.

Today's classical piece can be downloaded here. The Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046, is the first of six great concertos which, taken in combination, add up the most complex and artistically successful failed job application in recorded history. They were written around 1721 and dedicated to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg in March of the same year. Bach's position at Cöthen was becoming less desirable to him; his wife had died in 1720 while Bach accompanied his employer, Prince Leopold of Anthalt-Cöthen, to Carlsbad. The prince was also reallocating funds from music to his palace guard, no doubt because the prince's new wife was not a music lover. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Brandenburg Concerto No.1 in F, 1st movement theme

Today's classical piece by J.S.Bach can be downloaded here. Though the first movement does not have a tempo marking, performances of the four-movement work are about 20 minutes in duration. Each movement has a brisk pace and extraordinary counterpoint that inventively shades and blurs the contrast between the small concertino group and the tutti ensemble. Along with the horn, the violino piccolo seems to have been included in order to draw more attention to the innovative qualities of the music. The Brandenburg Concertos contain some of Bach's most brilliant counterpoint, and the attention-grabbing orchestration of the first concerto has not diminished the work's value at all. It is among Bach's best works.

 For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Bist Du Bei Mir

Today's classical aria has wrongly attributed to J.S. Bach for many years, this aria originally for female voice is by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, can be downloaded here. "Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden" (If you are with me, I go with joy) is an aria from Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel's opera Diomedes, which was first staged on 16 November 1718. The aria is best known as "Bist du bei mir", BWV 508, a version for voice and continuo found as No. 25 in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. For more information look here and here. Enjoy!