Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

This page includes a lyric video, a brief history, sheet music, and other resources for the Christmas carol “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” Enjoy!

Enjoy this You Tube video with lyrics of “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing”:

History of “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing”:

When this hymn by Charles Wesley was first published in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739), it began “Hark how all the welkin rings, Glory to the King of Kings.” Welkin is an old English term for “the vault of heaven.” It was Wesley’s friend, evangelist George Whitefield, who changed the words of the now familiar first line when he published the song in his 1753 collection, Hymns for Social Worship.

Charles was passionate about spreading the message of God’s love and power to transform lives. He wrote hymns in order that men and women “might sing their way not only into experience but also into knowledge; that the cultured might have their culture baptized and the ignorant might be led into truth by the gentle hand of melody and rhyme” (Harry Eskew and Hugh McElrath, Sing with Understanding). Some claim that the success of the remarkable spiritual awakening of Wesley’s time could be attributed to the singing of his hymns!

Interestingly, the familiar tune with which we are familiar for “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” was not paired with Wesley’s words for over 100 years. The famous composer Felix Mendelssohn actually wrote the music in 1840 for a German celebration called the Gutenberg Festival (to celebrate the invention of printing). Ironically, in a letter to his London publishers, Mendelssohn mentioned the possibility of adapting his music to a useful text, but added that “it will never do to sacred words.” Nevertheless, after his death, Mendelssohn’s tune was indeed tied to sacred words – Wesley’s “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

For more intriguing history on “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” (and 19 other classic Christmas songs), you can purchase our Christmas Songs eBook (only $2.99; use code “celebrate20” for 20% off).

You can also download our free, complimentary Sheet Music for “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.”

For additional resources (like original sheet music), visit Hymns and Carols of Christmas or Net Hymnal.

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