Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Words: Charles Wesley, 1739 · Tune "Mendelssohn," 1840, adapt. W. H. Cummings, 1855 · Public domain
Verse 1
GHark! the Dherald Gangels sing,
Bm'Glory Amto the Gnewborn GKing;
GPeace on earth, Dand mercy C#dimmild,
BmGod and Dsinners Greconciled!'
A7Joyful, Gall ye D7nations rise,
GJoin the triumph D7of the skies;
GWith th'angelic Amhost E7proclaim,
D7'Christ Gis born in DBethlehem!'
Refrain (sung after every verse)
Verse 2
GChrist, by highest Dheaven adored,
GChrist, Bmthe Ameverlasting GLord;
GLate in time Dbehold Him C#dimcome,
BmOffspring Dof the GVirgin's womb.
A7Veiled Gin flesh D7the GGodhead see;
GHail D7th'incarnate GDeity,
GPleased as man with Amman E7to dwell,
D7Jesus, Gour DEmmanuel.
Chords in the key of G
- G
- D
- D7
- Bm
- Am
- C#dim
- E7
- A7
About this hymn
- Words
- Charles Wesley, 1739, with the opening line rewritten by George Whitefield in 1753
- Music
- MENDELSSOHN, from Felix Mendelssohn's music of 1840, adapted to this text by William H. Cummings in the mid-1850s
- Meter
- 7.7.7.7 D with refrain
- In
- 1,465 hymnals
- Scripture
- Luke 2:14, John 1:14, Isaiah 9:6
The story
Charles Wesley wrote this in 1739 as a hymn for Christmas Day. It ran ten short verses, and it did not open the way we sing it. His first line used the word welkin, an old word for the sky. The line we all know is George Whitefield's rewrite from 1753, not Wesley's. Other editors kept shaping the rest through 1861. The tune came from somewhere you would not guess. Mendelssohn wrote it in 1840 for a cantata marking the anniversary of Gutenberg's printing press, a secular occasion. An organist named William Cummings put that melody to Wesley's words in the mid-1850s, and within a few decades the pairing was standard.
Where it fits in a service
Often used as an opening or closing hymn through Advent and on Christmas Sunday. Choirs like it for a processional, and the refrain gives a congregation something to land on.
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