Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (King's College Choir)
Disclaimer: I do not own this!
Note: I've received many messages and notifications about this one, specifically saying that it cuts off in the end. My apologies! The full recording can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkWhfTK037w
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is a Christmas hymn or carol written by Charles Wesley, brother of the Methodist movement founder John Wesley. It first appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739, [1] under the topic of "Hymn for Christmas-Day". The original opening couplet was "Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings". The version known today is the result of alterations by various hands, most notably George Whitefield, Wesley's co-worker, who changed the opening couplet to the familiar one we know today.
The tune that is normally used for this carol is based on a chorus composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840, part of his cantata Festgesang zur Eröffnung der am ersten Tage der vierten Säkularfeier der Erfindung der Buchdruckerkunst ("Festival Song .. to commemorate the invention of book printing.") [2].
This hymn was regarded as one of the Great Four Anglican Hymns and published as number 403 in "The Church Hymn Book" (In New York and Chicago, USA, 1872). [3] in the 19th century.
In the UK Hark! The Herald Angels Sing has popularly been performed in an arrangement that maintains the basic original William Hayman Cummings harmonisation of the Mendelssohn tune for the first two verses but adds a soprano descant and a last verse harmonisation for the organ in verse 3 by Sir David Willcocks. This arrangement was first published in 1961 by Oxford University Press in the first book of the Carols for Choirs series. For many years it has served as the recessional hymn of the annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carols in King's College Chapel, Cambridge.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With thangelic host proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem!
Refrain
Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King!
Christ, by highest Heavn adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgins womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail thincarnate Deity,
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.
Refrain
Hail the heavnly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Risn with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Refrain
