Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Textual history#

“Hymn for Christmas-Day” first appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739), compiled by Charles Wesley and his brother John. George Whitefield, who, like the Wesleys, was an early leader of the Methodist movement, subsequently included it in his Collection of Hymns for Social Worship (1753). Whitefield omitted the eighth and tenth verses and made various revisions to the remaining ones, chief of which was the alteration of the opening couplet. Whitefield’s version was included in Martin Madan’s Collection of Psalms and Hymns (1760) with another significant change, namely the alteration of the end of verse two to “With th’ angelic host proclaim / Christ is born in Bethlehem”. The carol made its first appearance in an Anglican publication in 1782, when it was included in a supplement to Tate and Brady’s New Version of the Psalms of David. The New Version and its supplement were bound up with all copies of the Book of Common Prayer, which enabled the carol to diffuse widely, becoming one of the “great four” Anglican hymns. A final change occurred when it was added to Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861), namely the alteration of the end of verse four to “Pleased as man with man to dwell / Jesus, our Emmanuel”.

Mendelssohn melody#

In 1855, British musician William Hayman Cummings, organist at Waltham Abbey Church, adapted a movement from Felix Mendelssohn’s secular Festgesang to fit the lyrics of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”. Wesley had originally envisioned the words being sung to the same tune as his Easter hymn “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”. In Britain, the carol is popularly performed in an arrangement that retains Cummings’ original harmonisation of the Mendelssohn tune for the first two verses, but adds a soprano descant and a last verse harmonisation for the organ in verse three, by Sir David Willcocks. This arrangement was first published in 1961 by Oxford University Press in the first book of the Carols for Choirs series. For many years it has served as the recessional hymn of the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. % There are many different arrangements; % this is from https://imslp.org/wiki/File:PMLP576994-Hark_the_Herald_Angels_Sing_Full_Score.pdf \header tagline = ##f \layout indent = 0 \context \Score \remove “Bar_number_engraver” global = \key f \major \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t soprano = \relative c’ \global c4 f f4. e8 f4 a a (g) c c c4. bes8 a4 g a2 c,4 f f4. e8 f4 a a (g) c4 g g4. e8 e4 d c2 \repeat unfold 2 c'4 c c f, bes a a (g) d'4 d d c bes a bes2 g4 a8 (bes) c4. f,8 f4 g a2 d4. d8 d4 c bes a bes2 g4 \tempo 4=102 a8 (bes) c4. f,8 f4 g f2 \bar " ." alto = \relative c’ \global c4 c c4. c8 c4 f f (e) f e d g f4 e f2 c4 c c4. c8 a4 f’ f2 e4 d e4. c8 c4 b c2 \repeat unfold 2 c4 c c f g f f (e) bes'4 bes bes a g fis g2 e4 e4 f4. c8 c4 e f2 bes4 bes bes a g fis g2 c,4 e4 f4. f8 c4 c c2 tenor = \relative c \global a'4 a a4. g8 f4 c’ c2 c4 c d d c c c2 a4 a a4. g8 f4 c’ d2 c4 d c4. g8 a4 f e2 \repeat unfold 2 c'4 c c c c c c2 d4 d d d d c bes2 c4 c c4. a8 a4 c c2 4 q q bes2 c4 c c4. a8 a4 bes a2 bass = \relative c \global f4 f f4 c a4 f c'2 a4 a bes bes c4 c f2 f4 f f c d4 c b4. (g8) a4 b c4 f4 g c2 \repeat unfold 2 c'4 c c a e f c2 bes4 bes bes bes bes d g2 bes4 bes a f c4 c f2 bes,1~ bes4 d g (f) e bes’ a f c4 c f2 verseOne = \lyricmode \set stanza = “1.” Hark! the her – ald an – gels sing, “"Glo” – ry to the new – born King; peace on earth, and mer – cy mild, God and sin – ners rec – on – “ciled!"” \break Joy – ful, all ye na – tions rise, join the tri – umph of the skies; With th’an – gel – ic host pro – claim “"Christ” is born in Beth – le – “hem!"” Hark! the her – ald an – gels sing, “"Glo” – ry to the new – born “king."” verseTwo = \lyricmode \set stanza = “2.” Christ, by high – est heav’n a – dored, Christ, the ev – er – last – ing Lord! late in time be – hold him come, Off – spring of the Vir – gin’s womb: veiled in flesh the God – head see; hail th’in – car – nate De – i – ty, pleased as man with men to dwell, Je – sus, our Em – man – u – el! verseThree = \lyricmode \set stanza = “3.” Hail, the heav’n – born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Right – eous – ness! Light and life to all he brings, ris’n with heal – ing in his wings. Mild He lays his glo – ry by, born that we no more may die, born to raise us from the earth, born to give us sec – ond birth. \score \new ChoirStaff > \new Lyrics \lyricsto “soprano” \verseOne \new Lyrics \lyricsto “soprano” \verseTwo \new Lyrics \with \override VerticalAxisGroup #‘staff-affinity = #CENTER % a little less spacing \lyricsto “soprano” \verseThree \new Staff \with midiInstrument = “tuba” > » \layout \midi \tempo 4=112

Handel melody#

An uncommon arrangement of the hymn to the tune “See, the Conqu’ring hero comes” from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus, normally associated with the hymn “Thine Be the Glory”, is traditionally used as the recessional hymn of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. This is broadcast live each year on Christmas Eve on RTÉ Radio 1. The usual three verses are divided into six, each with a refrain. The arrangement features a brass fanfare with drums in addition to the cathedral organ, and takes about seven and a half minutes to sing. The Victorian organist W. H. Jude, in his day a popular composer, also composed a new setting of the work, published in his Music and the Higher Life.

In popular culture#

A popular carol, appearances of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” in popular culture include: * A Charlie Brown Christmas – sung by the children’s choir in the closing scene, one of the most famous uses of the hymn in popular culture. * The Muppet Christmas Carol – featured as part of the film’s Christmas music and atmosphere. *South Park – in the episode “Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!”, the song is used in a parody of the closing choir scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas.

See also#

• List of Christmas carols

External links#

• “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, various versions at Hymns and Carols of Christmas
• (to the arrangement by David Willcocks) sung by the Georgia Boy Choir
• , Mendelssohn’s “Vaterland, in deinen Gauen” from his Festgesang