Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Uncommon card · No. 181871

"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is an English Christmas carol authored by Charles Wesley in 1739. The carol, based on Luke 2:8–14, describes an angelic chorus singing of Christ's nativity. Wesley's version, entitled "Hymn for Christmas-Day", consisted of ten four-line verses. The version most commonly sung today includes six of these, arranged into three eight-line verses, with a refrain. The modern text incorporates revisions made by a number of authors, among them George Whitefield, who altered the opening couplet from "Hark how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings" to the familiar "Hark! the herald angels sing / Glory to the newborn King". Various settings have been used for the carol. Since the mid-19th century, it has usually been sung to a melody from Felix Mendelssohn's Festgesang zum Gutenbergfest (1840), originally composed for the 400th anniversary of the invention of the printing press.

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