Hark the Herald Angels Sing
- 1.Accompaniment0:34
- 2.Accompaniment + Melody0:34
“Hark the Herald Angels Sing” is a Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection Hymns and Sacred Poems. Its lyrics had been written by Charles Wesley. Wesley had requested and received slow and solemn music for his lyrics, not the joyful tune expected today. Moreover, Wesley’s original opening couplet is “Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings”.
The popular version is the result of alterations by various hands, notably by Wesley’s co-worker George Whitefield who changed the opening couplet to the familiar one, and by Felix Mendelssohn, whose melody was used for the lyrics. In 1840—a hundred years after the publication of Hymns and Sacred Poems—Mendelssohn composed a cantata to commemorate Johann Gutenberg‘s invention of movable type printing, and it is music from this cantata, adapted by the English musician William H. Cummings to fit the lyrics of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, that propels the carol known today.
This version of ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ is taken from “100 Carols for Choirs”. I have recorded it with just 3 standard verses and also another version where the descant is verse 3 so you can choose which suits you. To purchase the sheet music please click here.
Purchase includes:
- Accompaniment (3 standard verses)
- Accompaniment (last verse descant)
- Accompaniment + Melody (3 standard verses)
- Accompaniment + Melody (last verse descant)
- Accompaniment + Full Score (both melody and descant on last verse)
€3,50
Product Description
“Hark the Herald Angels Sing” is a Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection Hymns and Sacred Poems. Its lyrics had been written by Charles Wesley. Wesley had requested and received slow and solemn music for his lyrics, not the joyful tune expected today. Moreover, Wesley’s original opening couplet is “Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings”.
The popular version is the result of alterations by various hands, notably by Wesley’s co-worker George Whitefield who changed the opening couplet to the familiar one, and by Felix Mendelssohn, whose melody was used for the lyrics. In 1840—a hundred years after the publication of Hymns and Sacred Poems—Mendelssohn composed a cantata to commemorate Johann Gutenberg‘s invention of movable type printing, and it is music from this cantata, adapted by the English musician William H. Cummings to fit the lyrics of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, that propels the carol known today.
This version of ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ is taken from “100 Carols for Choirs”. I have recorded it with just 3 standard verses and also another version where the descant is verse 3 so you can choose which suits you. To purchase the sheet music please click here.
Purchase includes:
- Accompaniment (3 standard verses)
- Accompaniment (last verse descant)
- Accompaniment + Melody (3 standard verses)
- Accompaniment + Melody (last verse descant)
- Accompaniment + Full Score (both melody and descant on last verse)
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