Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
performed by: The Concordia Choir
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The lyrics to this carol were written by Charles Wesley, an English Methodist leader, in 1739, but the present-day melody wasn't composed until a century later. Nor was it originally written as the joyous carol we know today, but as a solemn hymn.
The original Hymn for Christmas-Day was published in his brother's collection Hymns and Sacred Poems, with the opening line, “Hark how all the welkin rings”. (The word “welkin” refers to heaven.) George Whitefield's adaptation of 1758 changed it to “Hark! the Herald Angels sing”, along with other minor alterations.
In 1840, Mendelssohn wrote Festgesang, also known as the Gutenberg Cantata, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Johannes Gutenberg's invention of movable type printing. Fifteen years later, William H. Cummings adapted the melody to fit Wesley's lyrics, and that is the version we sing today.
The original lyrics, including verses not sung today, are here.
Hymns and Sacred Poems (Fourth Edition, 1743).