Song facts
- Original key
- F major
- Type
- Christmas carol
- Music
- Felix Mendelssohn (died 1847)
- Original lyrics
- Charles Wesley (died 1788)
- First published
- 1840
Public-domain songs · Christmas carol instrumental
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Play the Hark! The Herald Angels Sing instrumental in the original key of F major, or from 3 semitones lower to 2 higher. Made by MR Maker from a public-domain score.
Last reviewed:
Backing track by key
The original key is F major. If it sits too high or too low for your voice, try the shifted versions and pick the one you can sing comfortably.
3 semitones lower (D major)
2 semitones lower (E♭ major)
Original key (F major)
2 semitones higher (G major)
About this song
Charles Wesley printed his Hymn for Christmas-Day in the 1739 Hymns and Sacred Poems, and George Whitefield rewrote its opening couplet for his 1753 collection. The music was never meant for church: it comes from a chorus in Felix Mendelssohn's secular Festgesang for the 1840 Leipzig Gutenberg festival. William H. Cummings fitted Wesley's words to it in the mid-1850s, and Hymns Ancient and Modern made the pairing standard from 1861. The tune MENDELSSOHN is mostly printed in F major, 4/4, sometimes in G.
Rights
The melody is in the public domain (first published 1840). MR Maker made this accompaniment from a public-domain score. It contains no lyrics, translations or third-party recordings.
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