"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear", sometimes rendered as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", is an 1849 poem and Christmas carol written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Massachusetts. In 1850, Sears' lyrics were set to "Carol", a tune written for the poem the same year at his request, by Richard Storrs Willis. This pairing remains the most popular in the United States, while in Commonwealth countries, the lyrics are set to "Noel", a later adaptation by Arthur Sullivan from an English melody.
History
thumb|upright|[[Edmund Sears]]
Edmund Sears composed the five-stanza poem in common metre doubled during 1849. It first appeared on December 29, 1849, in The Christian Register in Boston, Massachusetts. Writing during a period of personal melancholy, and with news of revolution in Europe and the United States' war with Mexico fresh in his mind, Sears portrayed the world as dark, full of "sin and strife", and not hearing the Christmas message.
Sears is said to have written these words at the request of his friend, William Parsons Lunt, pastor of United First Parish Church, Quincy, Massachusetts, for Lunt's Sunday school. One account says the carol was first performed by parishioners gathered in Sears' home on Christmas Eve, but to what tune the carol was sung is unknown as Willis' familiar melody was not written until the following year. This tune eventually came to be known as "Carol". Pairings of Sears' lyrics with Willis' tune had already begun to appear by 1880, and it is still the most widely associated tune with Sears' lyrics in the United States.
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\clef treble \key bes \major {
\time 6/8 \partial 8
\relative f' {
f8 | d'4 a8 c bes g | f4 g8 f4 f8 | g a bes bes c d | c4.~ c4 \bar"" \break
f,8 | d'4 a8 c bes g | f4 g8 f4 f8 | g4 g8 a g f | bes4.~ bes4 \bar"" \break
d8 | d4 d,8 d e fis | g4 a8 bes4 d8 | c bes a g a g | f4.~ f4 \bar"" \break
f8 | d'4 a8 c bes g | f4 g8 f4 f8 | g4 g8 a g f | bes4.~ bes4 \bar"|." %repeat of the second line - if these two aren't the same, then it means somebody has vandalized ...
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thumb|upright|[[Arthur Sullivan|Sir Arthur Sullivan, composer of the tune common to Commonwealth countries]]
In Commonwealth countries, the tune called "Noel", which was adapted from an English melody in 1874 by Arthur Sullivan, is the usual accompaniment. This tune also appears as an alternative in The Hymnal 1982, the hymnal of the United States Episcopal Church.
<div style="zoom: 95%;">
<score sound="1">
\new Staff <<
\clef treble \key f \major {
\time 4/4 \partial 4
\relative f' {
f8 g | a4 g f g8 a | bes4 a g c | c a bes8 c d4 | c2. \bar"" \break
a8 bes | c4 c a f | bes a g f8 g | a bes c4 a g | f2. \bar"" \break
f4 | e d e g | f4. e8 d4 a' | g f e d | c2. \bar"" \break
c4 | c' bes a g8 a | bes4 a g f8 g | a bes c4 a g | f2. \bar"|."
}
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%\new Lyrics \lyricmode {
%}
>>
\layout { indent = #0 }
\midi { \tempo 4 = 86 }
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Lyrics
The full song comprises five stanzas. Some versions, including the United Methodist Hymnal The 1985 hymnal of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints omits verses three and four. Several variations also exist to Sears' original lyrics.
See also
- List of Christmas carols
References
External links
- Setting by Arthur Sullivan at IMSLP