"Joy to the World" is an English

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

. The carol was written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnwriter

Isaac Watts Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748) was an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. His works include "When I Survey the ...

, and its lyrics are an interpretation of

Psalm 98 Psalm 98 is the 98th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things". The Book of Psalms starts the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and, as such, ...

celebrating the birth of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. Today, the carol is usually sung to an 1848

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

by the American composer

Lowell Mason Lowell Mason (January 8, 1792 – August 11, 1872) was an American music director and banker who was a leading figure in 19th-century American church music. Lowell composed over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His best-known ...

. Since the 20th century, "Joy to the World" has been the most-published Christmas hymn in North America.It was published in 678 hymnals in North America before 1979, as recorded in the ''Dictionary of North American Hymnology''
Top 20 Christmas hymns
cited at Hymnary.org.

History

Origin

"Joy to the World" was written by English minister and hymnist

, based a Christian interpretation of

. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection ''The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and worship''. The paraphrase is Watts'

Christological In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Di ...

interpretation. Consequently, he does not emphasize with equal weight the various themes of Psalm 98. In first and second stanzas, Watts writes of heaven and earth rejoicing at the coming of the King. Watts also didn't write this to originally be a

, as the lyrics do not reflect the

Virgin birth of Jesus The virgin birth of Jesus is the Christian doctrine that Jesus was conceived by his mother, Mary, through the power of the Holy Spirit and without sexual intercourse. It is mentioned only in and , and the modern scholarly consensus is that the ...

, but rather Christ's

Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messi ...

. An interlude that depends more on Watts' interpretation than the psalm text, stanza three speaks of Christ's blessings extending victoriously over the realm of sin. The cheerful repetition of the non-psalm phrase "far as the curse is found" has caused this stanza to be omitted from some hymnals. But the line makes joyful sense when understood from the New Testament eyes through which Watts interprets the psalm. Stanza four celebrates Christ's rule over the nations."Joy to the world! the Lord is come!
at Hymnary.org The nations are called to celebrate because God's faithfulness to the house of Israel has brought salvation to the world.

Music

Watts's 1719 preface says the verses "are fitted to the Tunes of the Old PSALM-BOOK" and includes the instruction "sing all entitled COMMON METER". In the late 18th century, "Joy to the World" was printed with music several times, but the tunes were unrelated to the one commonly used today. The tune usually used today is from an 1848 edition by

for ''The National Psalmist'' (Boston, 1848). Mason was by that time an accomplished and well-known composer and arranger, having composed tunes such as "Bethany", which was used for the hymn "

Nearer, My God, to Thee "Nearer, My God, to Thee" is a 19th-century Christian hymn by Sarah Flower Adams, which retells the story of Jacob's dream. Genesis 28:11–12 can be translated as follows: "So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because t ...

." Mason's 1848 publication of the current tune was the fourth version to have been published. The first, published in his 1836 book ''Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes'', featured the present day tune (in a different arrangement) with the present-day lyrics; the first such publication to do so. The name of this tune was given as "Antioch", and was attributed as being "From

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

". A very similar arrangement of the tune to today's arrangement, and also with the present-day lyrics, was published in Mason's 1839 book ''The Modern Psalmist''. It was also titled "Antioch" and attributed to Handel. Musically, the first four notes of "Joy to the World" are the same as the first four in the chorus " Lift up your heads" from Handel's ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

'' (premiered 1742), and, in the third line, the same as found in another ''Messiah'' piece: the

arioso In classical music, arioso (also aria parlante ) is a category of solo vocal piece, usually occurring in an opera or oratorio, falling somewhere between recitative and aria in style. Literally, arioso means ''airy''. The term arose in the 16th ...

, " Comfort ye". Consequently, and with Mason's attribution to Handel, there has long been speculation over how much a part Handel's ''Messiah'' had in "Joy to the World". It is known Mason was a great admirer and scholar of Handel's music, and had in fact became president of the Boston

Handel and Haydn Society The Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Known colloquially as 'H+H', the organization has been in continual performance since its founding in 1815, the longest-serving suc ...

in 1827 and was also an editor for them. However, resemblances between ''Messiah'' and "Joy to the World", have been dismissed as 'chance resemblance' by Handel scholars today. Moreover, several tunes have been found from the early 1830s closely resembling that of "Antioch", the earliest of which was published in 1832 under the title "Comfort" (possibly as a nod to Handel's "Comfort ye"). This would make it at least four years older than Mason's first publication of "Antioch". Other publications from the early 1830s further suggest the tune may have been around for some time before Mason published his arrangement. Thomas Hawkes published the "Comfort" tune in 1833 in his ''Collection of Tunes''. In it, the attribution was given simply as "Author Unknown", suggesting it may have been older. A 1986 article by John Wilson also showed "Antioch"'s close resemblance to an 1833 publication of "Comfort" and its associated Wesley hymn "O Joyful Sound". A version by the Trinity Choir was very popular in 1911. As of the late 20th century, "Joy to the World" was the most-published Christmas hymn in North America.

Lyrics

"Joy to the World" has four verses, although the third verse is occasionally omitted.

References

External links