How “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” Got Ruined -
Luke 2:13-14 (NKJV) And suddenly there was with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Today we have the rare opportunity
to lift up a song that we sing every Christmas season against the wishes of
both the lyricist and musical composer.
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing was written by Charles Wesley, the brother
of John Wesley (founder of Methodism).
Charles wrote over 4,500 hymns during his lifetime and we sing many of
them in our churches. Some examples are “Love
Divine, All Loves Excelling,” “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” and “O For a
Thousand Tongues to Sing.” His most famous Christmas Carol that we now know as
“Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”
I emphasized “Sing” because that was not part of Wesley’s original
text.
You see, if you read the scripture that provides the setting for this carol, you will notice that the angels don’t sing their message; they speak it. Wesley’s original first line was, “Hark how all the welkin rings, Glory to the King of Kings.” I honestly didn’t know what “welkin” means, but evidently it is an English idiom for “sky.” George Whitfield, a famous revivalist preacher in early America, decided to “improve” the lyrics twenty years later to what is now our current version. Whitfield’s take was much more popular and so that is what we sing to this day. Wesley was not amused, saying he did not want to be “accountable either for the nonsense or for the doggerel of other men.” I had to look up “doggerel” too. Feel free to look it up too, but it’s not a compliment.
The tune to this popular carol was by the acclaimed composer Mendelssohn. His original song was a tribute to Gutenberg on the 400th anniversary of the Gutenberg press. After the anniversary, he realized that the song would not have staying power without new lyrics (we don’t sing songs in praise of Gutenberg anymore even though we probably should). He said he didn’t care what new lyrics were put with his catchy tune “as long as they were not religious.” Shortly after saying that, he died. A couple of years later, someone married his beautiful tune to Wesley’s lyrics and the rest is history.
I’d like to say that I feel bad for poor
Charles and Mendelssohn when I sing this song, but I don’t. The same thing happens all the time. We do something with specific intentions and
what actually happens is decidedly different from what we wanted – sometimes
for the better and sometimes not. The
lesson here is that we don’t get to control what we do after we do it. To be sure, it doesn’t stop us from trying
(hence thousands of publishing laws).
However, most experienced artists will tell you that they can create
with their own intentions, but they have no control on how it will be received
or what people will do with it. That
shouldn’t stop them from creating.
I’m glad Wesley kept writing hymns after
Whitfield “ruined” his Christmas Carol and I’m thankful for that ruined carol
coming to us as it did, even if it is a “doggerel.”
Question: What are you
creating right now?
Prayer: God, we praise
you for your providential care and sovereignty over all we do. We pray you will find us faithful in our
efforts while we leave the results to you. Amen
Prayer Focus: Pray for
the homeless as we move into colder temperatures this month
Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Covered by Diamond Rio)
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