Mary wrote:

>Do you know any good recording of Jesus My Friend by Bach that you can
>recommend?

I have tried to remember a piece by Bach called before translation Jesu
meine Freund but I can't.  Could it be a mistranslation of Jesu meine
Freude, usually translated Jesu joy of man's desire (or is that only used
for Jesu bleibet meine Fruede?)?

If Mary asks about the motet Jesu meine Freude the best of those I have
listened too is the one led by Ton Koopman.  I read on another list that
the recording by Andrew Parrott, using solo voices, is very good, but I
have not found it in a shop, though it is available by Amazon.com.  Other
versions I have heard are Herreweghe, Harnoncourt and Schneidt.  The latter
uses the boy's choir Regensburger Domspatzen.  Nice, but a little to slow.
I prefer Koopman's more dramatic version.

If it is the short piece Jesu bleibet meine Freude Mary asks for I have
no suggestion.

If there really exist a Jesu meine Freund I would be happy to know more
about it.

Per Baeckstroem