Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Words: Charles Wesley, 1739 · Tune "Mendelssohn," 1840, adapt. W. H. Cummings, 1855 · Public domain
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Verse 1
GHark! the her-Dald Gangels sing,
G"Glo-Bmry Cto Amthe Gnew-Dborn GKing;
Gpeace on earth, Dand Emmer-Gcy A7mild,
BmGod Aand Dsinners Gmaj7re-A7con-Dciled!"
DJoyful, all Gye D7na-Gtions, rise,
Djoin the tri-Gumph D7of Gthe skies;
Cwith th'angelic Amhosts E7pro-Amclaim,
D7"Christ Cis Gborn in Beth-Dle-Ghem!"
Refrain (after every verse)
CHark! the herald an-Egels Amsing,
D"Glo-Cry Gto the new-D7born GKing!"
Verse 2
GChrist, by high-Dest Gheav'n adored,
GChrist, Bmthe Cev-Amer-Glast-Ding GLord;
Glate in time Dbe-Emhold Ghim A7come,
Bmoff-Aspring Dof the Gmaj7Vir-A7gin's Dwomb.
DVeiled in flesh Gthe D7God-Ghead see;
Dhail th'incar-Gnate D7De-Gity,
Cpleased as man with Amman E7to Amdwell,
D7Je-Csus, Gour Emman-Du-Gel.
Chords in the key of G
- G
- D
- Bm
- C
- Am
- Em
- A7
- A
- Gmaj7
- D7
- E7
- E
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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