Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing pairs words by Charles Wesley with a melody by Felix Mendelssohn, two men who never met and who each wrote their half for an entirely different purpose. The result is one of the most-sung hymns in the English language, a Nativity carol of soaring, triumphant lines.

Origins

The lyrics were written by the prolific English hymnist Charles Wesley and first published in 1739 in the collection Hymns and Sacred Poems. Originally, the opening lines read, "Hark how all the welkin rings, Glory to the King of Kings," where "welkin" was an old English term for the heavens. In 1753, Wesley's colleague George Whitefield revised the text to the familiar modern version. Wesley initially disliked the changes, but Whitefield's revisions helped the hymn gain broader appeal.

Mendelssohn's Melody

The carol was not originally paired with the tune we know today. In 1840, the famous German composer Felix Mendelssohn wrote a secular cantata called Festgesang to celebrate the four-hundredth anniversary of Johannes Gutenberg's printing press. In 1855, fifteen years after the melody's debut, English musician William H. Cummings adapted Wesley's lyrics to fit Mendelssohn's energetic tune, creating the classic holiday carol sung today.

Who wrote the lyrics to "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"?

Charles Wesley wrote the original lyrics to the hymn in 1739. Wesley was a key founder of the Methodist movement and wrote thousands of hymns during his life, many of which remain staple pieces in Christian worship services.

How did Felix Mendelssohn contribute to the carol?

Felix Mendelssohn composed the music that is now universally used for the carol. He did not write it as a religious piece, but rather as a secular cantata in 1840 to honor the invention of printing. The music was adapted to fit the Christmas lyrics by William H. Cummings in 1855, after Mendelssohn's death.