"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear", sometimes rendered as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", is an 1849 poem and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

carol written by

Edmund Sears Edmund Hamilton Sears (April 6, 1810 – January 14, 1876) was an American Unitarian parish minister and author who wrote a number of theological works influencing 19th-century liberal Protestants. Today, Sears is primarily known as the man w ...

, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. In 1850, Sears' lyrics were set to "Carol", a tune written for the poem the same year at his request, by

Richard Storrs Willis Richard Storrs Willis (February 10, 1819 – May 10, 1900) was an American composer, mainly of hymn music. His best known melody is probably the one called, simply, '' Carol''. This is the standard tune, in the United States, though not in Great B ...

. This pairing remains the most popular in the United States, while in

Commonwealth countries The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states. Most of them were British colonies or dependencies of those colonies. No one government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others, as is the case in a po ...

, the lyrics are set to "Noel", a later adaptation by

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

from an English melody.

History

composed the five-

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

poem in

common metre Common metre or common measure—abbreviated as C. M. or CM—is a poetic metre consisting of four lines that alternate between iambic tetrameter (four metrical feet per line) and iambic trimeter (three metrical feet per line), with each foot cons ...

doubled during 1849. It first appeared on December 29, 1849, in ''

The Christian Register ''UU World'' is a quarterly magazine published by the Unitarian Universalist Association. From 1821 to 1957, it was known as ''The Christian Register'', the leading American Unitarian weekly, published by the American Unitarian Association, Bosto ...

'' in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Sears served the Unitarian congregation in Wayland, Massachusetts, before moving on to a larger congregation at

First Church of Christ, Unitarian The First Church of Christ, Unitarian, also known as First Church of Christ, Lancaster and colloquially as "the Bulfinch Church", is a historic congregation with its meeting house located at 725 Main Street facing the Common in Lancaster, Massac ...

, in Lancaster, also known as The Bulfinch Church, for its design by

Charles Bulfinch Charles Bulfinch (August 8, 1763 – April 15, 1844) was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first American-born professional architect to practice.Baltzell, Edward Digby. ''Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia''. Tra ...

. After seven years, he suffered a breakdown and returned to Wayland. He wrote ''It Came Upon the Midnight Clear'' while serving as a part-time preacher in Wayland.Sawyer, Ken. "It came upon a Unitarian midnight clear", ''UUWorld'', November 1, 2002
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 United First Parish Church is a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Quincy, Massachusetts, established as the parish church of Quincy in 1639. The current building was constructed in 1828 by noted Boston stonecutter Abner Joy to designs by ...

, 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. According to Ken Sawyer, Sears' song is remarkable for its focus not on Bethlehem, but on his own time, and on the contemporary issue of war and peace. Written in 1849, it has long been assumed to be Sears' response to the just ended

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

. The song has been included in many of the Christmas albums recorded by numerous singers in the modern era.

Melody

In 1850,

, a composer who trained under

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

, wrote the melody called "Carol". This melody is most often set in the key of

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: : Many transposing instr ...

in a 6/8

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

. "Carol" is still the most widely known tune to the song in the United States.The United Methodist Hymnal, © 1989Lutheran Book of Worship, © 1978The official Unitarian-Universalist hymnal, '' Singing the Living Tradition'', © 1993 \new Staff << \clef treble \key bes \major %\new Lyrics \lyricmode >> \layout \midi

In Commonwealth countries, the tune called "Noel", which was adapted from an English melody in 1874 by

, is the usual accompaniment. This tune also appears as an alternative in ''

The Hymnal 1982 ''The Hymnal 1982'' is the primary hymnal of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It is one in a series of seven official hymnals of the Episcopal Church, including ''The Hymnal 1940''. Unlike many Anglican churches (including the ...

'', the

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chri ...

of the United States Episcopal Church. \new Staff << \clef treble \key f \major %\new Lyrics \lyricmode >> \layout \midi

Lyrics

The full song comprises five stanzas. Some versions, including the ''

United Methodist Hymnal ''The United Methodist Hymnal'' is the hymnal used by The United Methodist Church. It was first published in 1989 as the first hymnal for The United Methodist Church after the 1968 merger of The Methodist Church with The Evangelical United Brethre ...

'' and ''

Lutheran Book of Worship The ''Lutheran Book of Worship'' (''LBW'') is a worship book and hymnal used by several Lutheran denominations in North America. Additional hymns and service music are contained in the companions, ''Hymnal Supplement 1991'' and ''With One Vo ...

'', omit verse three, while others (including ''The Hymnal 1982'') omit verse four. Several variations also exist to Sears' original lyrics.

References

External links

*
Setting by Arthur Sullivan
at IMSLP {{authority control American Christian hymns American Christmas songs 19th-century hymns Christmas carols

History

Melody

Lyrics

See also

References

External links