10107 Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847)

arranged by Roger Harvey

Difficulty: Medium

Price: £25.00

Programme notes:
The well-know words to this Christmas hymn were written by Charles Wesley and published in his Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739. Slight alteration were madeto the words in later 18th Century collections.
The original tune was solemn. The melody associated with the verses today is an adaption, made by William H Cummings in 1855, of a chorus in Mendelsson's 1840 Festgesang, a cantata for male voices and brass written for the quadracentenury celebrations of the birth of the inventor of the printing press, Johannes Gutenberg.
It has become one of the essential hymns of the traditional Christmas Carol service, often accompanying the recession on these occasions.

Performance notes:
The first verse can be repeated if being used for an accompaniment to singing. Otherwise, as an instrumental item, this verse should only be played once.
The fanfare and the accented notes can be played with firm articulation. Other than this play majestically but with more sense of cantabile line and gentler articulation.

The percussion parts may be tastefully enhanced if thought desirable.