Christmas Stories To Be Shared By The Fire: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing by Charles Wesley and George Whitefield, Music by Felix Mendelssohn and William H. Cummings

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” was originally written by Charles Wesley in 1739, making it one of the oldest carols on record. The carol was originally written by Wesley as “Hymn for Christmas Day” but was adapted into its more familiar lyrical form by fellow theologian George Whitefield and given the title that we have come to know as well. Both Wesley and Whitefield are credited with being among the leadership group that formed the Protestant sect known as The Methodists. Being Wesleyan theologists meant that both men viewed piousness and purity as being essential components when it came to living a truly Holy life. Thus, when they came to creating hymns, they did so with much reverence and strict adherence to the source of their Biblical inspirations. In the case of “Hymn For Christmas Day/Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, that inspiration came from the Gospel according to Luke 2:14. 

***For those readers of mine who may not be familiar with the organizational structure of the Bible, here is a very short primer. The Bible has two main sections called the Old and New Testaments. Within each Testament, there are chapters or “Books” of the Bible. These Books of the Bible tell the whole history of Christianity and include everything from the story of how God created the Earth and all of the creatures on it, to the incident in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, all the way through the birth of Jesus, His death and subsequent Resurrection. Many of the teachings that form the moral code for how we, in the Western world live our lives, can be found within the pages of the various Books of the Bible. For the purposes of this post, the reference to Luke 2:14 means that specific section of the BIble that speaks to the Nativity and, in particular, to the scene in which the angels appear in the sky before the frightened shepherds standing by their flocks at night. Luke 2:14 is a code, not unlike a Dewey Decimal library code, that helps us locate certain passages within the large scope of what is written in the Bible. Specifically, it indicates that if we wanted to read the actual words that describe the angels appearing with the news of the birth of the Baby Jesus, we would turn to the chapter entitled The Gospel according to Luke, chapter 2, verse 14. Each Book of the Bible is organized by chapter and verse, as it were and are numbered accordingly. Just for the record, Luke 2, 1-18 reads, as follows:

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

In the history of Christianity, Luke 2, 1-18 is the original origin story when it comes to Jesus, the Son of God. It is where the history of the Nativity scene was first recorded. Because the birth of the Baby Jesus holds such a hugely important place in the teachings of Christianity, it only stands to reason that two men seeking religious purity such as Charles Wesley and George Whitefield would turn to these verses as inspiration for their own songs of praise and worship. But words without musical accompaniment become just prose or poetry. It wasn’t almost a full century later that composer Felix Mendelssohn composed the music that would end up forming the familiar tune to which “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” is known. Originally, Mendelssohn wrote a cantata known as The Gutenburg Canata in 1840 to mark the 400th anniversary of one of history’s greatest inventions, the printing press by Johannes Gutenburg. Fifteen years later, English composer William H. Cummings took Mendelssohn’s cantata and paired it with “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, giving us the classic carol in its completed form that we know today. ***In a twist of irony that will probably only interest my own family, the tune that Charles Wesley had in his mind as he wrote the original words for “Hymn For Christmas Day” way back in the 1700s was the tune to another hymn known as “Christ the Lord Has Risen Today”. As you may know if you are faithful readers of my blog, I have written many times about how we are not an overly religious family, as well as how my wife likes to sing aloud snippets from a variety of songs as she goes about her day. Well, mixed in with songs like “Smoking In The Boys Room”, “It’s Raining Men” and “Pump Up The Jam”, my wife also occasionally tosses in portions of hymns that she learned as a child when she would go to church with her parents. One of those hymns that she will suddenly regale us with is “Christ the Lord Has Risen Today”. Well, the music to that hymn was intended to be the original music for “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” way back in the day. In reality, the differences between the music of “Christ the Lord Has Risen Today” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” are slight but, at the same time, the Cummings version that was adapted from Mendelssohn’s cantata does fit the lyrics better so good on everyone involved through the years for tweaking the carol until it was as pure and perfect as it could possibly be.

I usually write about the stories behind the songs that make up the soundtracks of our lives. In order to do that for “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, it was important to explore the Biblical origins of the carol. I consider myself to be more of a spiritual person than a religious one. That having been said, the teachings of the Bible form the backbone of how we function as a society in this part of the world. It is handy for lay people like many of us to occasionally go to the source and look at the actual documents and the actual words used for ourselves. Far too often these days, we allow our view of the world and our opinions about it all to be formed by the interpretations of others. Preachers who pontificate from their pulpits, politicians who use the Bible as a basis for enacting all manner of laws and keyboard warriors who fill our timelines with their version of how everyone else should be living their lives are all just some of the influencers who colour our view of what the Word of God truly means. As for me, I readily admit to knowing more about music than I do about religion and, specifically, about the Bible. I am no expert at all. To me, I am not even willing to acknowledge the Bible as an accurate historical document. I have questions about it all. But I do not question the historical impact that the Bible and that Christianity have had on the world and that continue to do so. Therefore, it behooves us to, from time to time, do our own research and read the actual words of this book for ourselves. To do so allows us to understand the meaning of Wesley’s lyrics in “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” more accurately and completely, as well as those words of others who use the Bible as their instrument to speak to the world. 

Christmas was originally a holy day. Now it is a holiday. The journey from religious carols such as “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” all the way to the commercial origins of popular songs such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” *(which you can read more about here) says a lot about where our priorities as a society have shifted over time. It would take more space than I have in this blog to dissect the issues at play and determine whether trading the Bible and religion for money and consumerism is progress or not or simply us, as humans, spinning our collective wheels by substituting one form of religion for another. All that I do know for sure is that I try to live my life the best I can in the service of my family and those around me. If that brings me closer to the spirit of Wesleyan theology then so be it. A label is a label is a label. Love and peace and kindness and family and empathy and compassion are the words that form the foundational pillars of my life. Maybe the lesson here is for all of us to do our own thinking and simply be good people going forward. But what do I know? I’m just an old retired guy wearing sweatpants and white socks, sitting on his couch spinning yarns.

This post will be the last original post that I will compose prior to Christmas Day. I will return again with new music-themed posts in January. In the meantime, let me thank you all for taking time out of your busy days to spend a little time with me as you read my words. I hope that your time here has been informative and enjoyable. I value your presence in this space and invite you all back again in 2025. Have a wonderful holiday and/or holy day season. May the blessings of this time be yours to have and yours to share. Take care everyone. Bye for now. Thanks for everything.

The link to the video for the carol “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” can be found here. ***The lyrics version is here.

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