Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is a Christmas hymn or carol written by Charles Wesley, the brother of John Wesley. It first appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739. The original opening couplet was "Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings". One of the original tunes that "Hark! How all the welkin rings" was sung to was also used as a tune for "Amazing Grace". Wesley himself, however, envisaged his lyrics sung to the same tune as his Easter hymn, "Christ the Lord is Risen Today." The tune that is now almost always used for this carol (and which is heard in this tone) is based on a chorus composed by Felix Mendelssohn (who was Jewish) in 1840, part of his cantata Festgesang an die Künstler ("Festival Song") to commemorate the printer Johann Gutenberg and the invention of his printing press.
