The cantata Jesu, der du meine Seele is one of the famous cycle of chorale cantatas which Bach wrote during the second year of his Leipzig appointment.  It was probably performed for the first time on 10 September 1724, the fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, in one of the principal Leipzig churches.  The text is based on Johann Rist’s at that time widely known hymn of 1641.  As in most of the cantatas of this cycle, the corner-stones are provided by the first and last verses, which appear in an unaltered form; whereas the middle verses were freely remodelled as arias and recitatives.<br>