Christmas Music: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is a popular Christmas carol but the version you hear today is not the original version. In 1793 Charles Wesley, the brother of Methodist Church founder John Wesley, wanted the tune to be slow and solemn. So it was a very different song people heard back then. In 1840, Felix Mendelssohn composed a cantata to commemorate the invention of the printing press. English musician William H. Cummings adapted this cantata to fit the lyrics of  Hark! The Herald Angels Sing which is the carol known today. The YouTube video is a performance by Amy Grant with Art Garfunkel on her Christmas special in 1986. Amy Grant’s performance of this song is considered by many the strongest voices of this song in recent years. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8R3QlCbm7k