Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
| Hark! The Herald Angels Sing | |
|---|---|
Worship of the Shepherds, 1539, by Bronzino | |
| Genre | Christmas carol |
| Written | 1739 |
| Text | Charles Wesley |
| Based on | Luke 2:8–14 |
| Meter | 7.7.7.7 D with refrain |
| Melody | "Vaterland, in deinen Gauen" from Festgesang by Felix Mendelssohn, adapted by William H. Cummings |
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is an English Christmas carol authored by Charles Wesley in 1739. The carol, based on Luke 2:8–14, describes an angelic chorus singing of Christ's nativity.
Wesley's version, entitled "Hymn for Christmas-Day", consisted of ten four-line verses. The version most commonly sung today includes six of these, arranged into three eight-line verses, with a refrain. The modern text incorporates revisions made by a number of authors, among them George Whitefield, who altered the opening couplet from "Hark how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings" to the familiar "Hark! the herald angels sing / Glory to the newborn King".
Various settings have been used for the carol. Since the mid-19th century, it has usually been sung to a melody from Felix Mendelssohn's Festgesang zum Gutenbergfest (1840), originally composed for the 400th anniversary of the invention of the printing press.