Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem!
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King!

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of the Virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with man to dwell;
Jesus, our Emmanuel!

Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Risen with healing in his wings,
Light and life to all he brings,
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!

Information

sequencer anonymous

info from Montrose Music

The music is from the second chorus of a contata
by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) written in 1840
to commemorate Johan Gutenberg and the invention of
printing. The words are from a hundred years earlier,
written in 1739 by Charles Wesley whose brother, John,
founded the Methodist Church. "Hark, how the welkin
(heaven) rings," he orginally wrote. A colleague, the
Calvinist Whitefield, substituted the familiar opening
line over the protests of the author. In 1855, after both
Wesley and Mendelssohn were dead, Dr. William Cummings put
the words and music together in spite of evidence that
neither author nor composer would have approved. [Quiz note:
Mendelssohn had made it clear that his music was for secular
use, and Wesley had specifically requested slow solemn music
for his words.]