Tag Archive: 0Hark! the herald

Continuing our Christmas carol countdown, it’s ‘The first Noel’! The first appearance of ‘The first Noel’ (without music) was in the second edition of Davies Gilbert‘s Some ancient Christmas Carols, with the Tunes to which they were formerly sung in the West of England (London, John Nichols and Son, 1823): In this second, expanded edition, ‘there […]

Last night, BBC Four broadcast a programme with Lucy Worsley revealing the surprising stories behind some of the nation’s favourite Christmas carols. ‘Hark! the Herald Angels sing’ got a mention, so we thought we would feature it ourselves today. As we wrote yesterday on the blog, the carol was included, along with the first appearance […]

Today, we feature the carol ‘Lo! he comes, with clouds descending’, which first appeared in A Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes never published before (London, ‘To be had at the Lock Hospital near Hyde Park Corner, and of E. Dilly’, 1769).  Charles Wesley’s classic Advent hymn, which dates from the 1750s, received its tune […]