Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Charles Wesley's masterpiece set to Mendelssohn's melody
♫ Lyrics
"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 th' angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
"Glory to the newborn King!"
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with man to dwell;
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
"Glory to the newborn King!"
❄ The Story
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is one of the great collaborations in music history — though its two creators never met and lived a century apart. Charles Wesley, co-founder of Methodism, wrote the original hymn in 1739. His opening line was actually "Hark how all the welkin rings" ("welkin" meaning heavens), which was later changed by George Whitefield to the now-famous "Hark! the herald angels sing."
The melody came from Felix Mendelssohn, who composed it in 1840 as part of a cantata celebrating the 400th anniversary of the printing press. Mendelssohn himself said the tune "will never do to sacred words" — yet English musician William Hayman Cummings fitted Wesley's lyrics to Mendelssohn's melody in 1855, creating the version we know today.
The result is a carol of extraordinary theological depth wrapped in one of the most singable melodies in the repertoire. Its themes of incarnation, peace, and reconciliation have made it a centrepiece of Christmas worship services across denominations for nearly two centuries.
🎶 Notable Recordings
The definitive choral performance
A soaring operatic interpretation
Fun Facts
The original first line was "Hark how all the welkin rings" — "welkin" is an archaic word for heavens.
Mendelssohn explicitly said his melody "will never do to sacred words." It was matched to Wesley's lyrics anyway.
Charles Wesley wrote over 6,000 hymns in his lifetime — this is his most famous.