Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: the words, the tune, and the descant
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing closes the service at King’s College, Cambridge, and at most British carol services. Its words are by Charles Wesley, rewritten by George Whitefield, and its tune is by Felix Mendelssohn, who said it would never suit sacred words. This guide prints the words as churches sing them, says where they came from, and explains how a choir handles the last verse.
Who wrote Hark! The Herald Angels Sing? Charles Wesley wrote the words in 1739, beginning “Hark, how all the welkin rings”. George Whitefield changed the opening to “Hark! the herald angels sing” in 1753. The tune comes from a cantata Mendelssohn wrote in 1840, and William Hayman Cummings fitted it to Wesley’s words in 1855.
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The words of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
These are the three verses printed in British hymn books, with the two-line refrain after each. They combine Wesley’s text with Whitefield’s and later editors’ changes. Every writer involved died before 1900, so the words are free to print.
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King;
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled:
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King.
Christ, by highest heaven adored,
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.
Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen 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.
Text: Charles Wesley (1739), altered by George Whitefield (1753) and others, as in the comparison of texts in “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, Wikipedia, checked against Wikisource. The refrain is sung after each verse.
Wesley wrote it, and Whitefield changed the first line
Charles Wesley, the hymn writer of early Methodism and brother of John, published “Hymn for Christmas-Day” in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739. It had ten short verses and opened “Hark how all the welkin rings”. Welkin is the sky, so in Wesley’s version the whole of heaven rings with the angels’ song.
George Whitefield, the evangelist who had worked with the Wesleys at Oxford, rewrote the opening for his 1753 collection, and other editors kept trimming and joining verses over the next century. The words we sing are a patchwork: Whitefield’s first couplet, Wesley’s middle, and verses paired into eight-line stanzas to fit a longer tune. Wesley wrote no refrain; the repeated “Hark! the herald angels sing” came later.
“Hail, the Sun of Righteousness” quotes Malachi 4:2, “the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings”. Carol sheets often print “Son”, which spoils the image of the rising sun in the next line. Check yours before it goes to print.
Sources: “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, Wikipedia; Wesley’s 1739 text, Wikisource.
Mendelssohn wrote the tune for a printing festival
In 1840 Leipzig celebrated four hundred years of Gutenberg’s printing press, and Mendelssohn wrote a cantata, the Festgesang, for male choir and two brass bands to be sung in the town square. The second chorus is the tune we know. Mendelssohn wrote to his English publisher that the music would suit words that were national and merry, and would never do for sacred words.
Fifteen years later, eight years after Mendelssohn’s death, William Hayman Cummings, organist at Waltham Abbey, fitted the chorus to Wesley’s words. Before that the hymn had been sung to other tunes, including the one now used for “Christ the Lord is risen today”. Cummings’s pairing spread through Victorian hymn books, and British churches sing the words to no other tune.
The tune climbs in each half-verse and peaks in the refrain, so a congregation finishes each verse louder than it started.
How a choir sings it, and what the descant does
The first two verses are sung in unison or in plain four-part harmony with the organ. The choir does most on the last verse. In most British churches the choir sings a descant: a soprano line above the tune, written to soar over the congregation. The descant most choirs use is David Willcocks’s, from Carols for Choirs 1 (1961), with a reharmonised organ part under the congregation.
A descant needs weight. Over a large congregation one soprano will be lost, so for Hark! with the Willcocks descant we suggest a choir of eight, with two or three sopranos on the top line. With four singers we sing the last verse in full harmony instead, and it still sounds finished.
The carol needs an organ, or at least a piano. It is a hymn tune built for a congregation and an instrument, and unaccompanied it loses its drive. We can book an organist with the choir if your church does not have one.
Four singers cost £1,150 for up to two hours, eight cost £2,000 and an organist is £250, so a choir of eight with an organist is £2,250. Each figure includes fees and travel within Greater London; the Christmas prices page lists every size.
Where to put it in a carol service
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is the usual closing carol. King’s College, Cambridge, ends its Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols with it before the organ voluntary, and most churches copy that order. If you want O Come, All Ye Faithful as well, put it after the last reading and Hark! after the blessing.
It also works as a processional for a shorter service, though Once in Royal David’s City is the usual choice. For the full order, see our guide to Nine Lessons and Carols and our list of the best carols for a carol service.
Between the readings, the choir sings carols the congregation does not: after the Isaiah reading about the stem of Jesse, for example, Otto Goldschmidt’s A Tender Shoot. Those choir-only carols are what turn a hymn-singing into a carol service, and they need singers who have rehearsed them. Tell us about your service and we will suggest a set.
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Hark! The Herald Angels Sing?
Charles Wesley wrote the words in 1739, and George Whitefield rewrote the opening line in 1753. The tune comes from Mendelssohn’s Festgesang of 1840, fitted to the words by William Hayman Cummings in 1855.
What is a welkin?
The sky. Wesley’s original first line was “Hark how all the welkin rings”, so the whole of heaven rings with the angels’ song. Whitefield replaced it with the line we sing now.
Is it “Sun of Righteousness” or “Son of Righteousness”?
Sun. The line quotes Malachi 4:2, where “the Sun of righteousness” rises “with healing in his wings”, and the next line of the carol carries on the image. “Son” is a common misprint.
Which descant do choirs sing on the last verse?
Most British choirs sing David Willcocks’s descant from Carols for Choirs 1, published in 1961. It needs two or three sopranos to carry over a full church, so we suggest a choir of eight for it.
What does a choir to lead Hark! The Herald at our service cost?
Four singers cost £1,150 for up to two hours in Greater London, and a choir of eight with an organist costs £2,250. Every figure includes fees and travel within Greater London.
Book a choir for your carol service
Send us your order of service, or tell us the date and the church, and we will suggest a choir size and which carols to give a descant.
Talk to us about your carol service
Text us on WhatsApp for the fastest reply, or email office@londonchoralservice.com.