Hark! The Herald Angels Sing was written by one Charles Wesley and was first published in 1739. It was originally called "Hark, How the Welkin (heaven) Rings".
Many hymns in the eighteenth century were just printed words with no music. It was left to individual choir directors to choose an appropriate tune, based on the metre of the verse and and so on.
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| The music used today for this carol, was actually composed some one hundred years later by Felix Mendelssohn, written in 1840. It was taken from a piece to commemorate Johann Gutenberg and the invention of printing. Various changes and additions were added to it over the last couple of centuries. Although started hundreds of years ago it's still popular with some of today's artists. Singer Mariah Carey recorded a version of it for her holiday album "Merry Christmas". |
David Ø |
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