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“Hark the herald angels sing” Christmas Carol was written by Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley founder
of the Methodist church, in 1739. A sombre man, he
requested slow and solemn music for his lyrics and thus “Hark the herald angels sing” was sung to a different tune initially. Over a hundred years
later Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) composed a cantata in 1840
to commemorate Johann Gutenberg's invention of the printing press.
English musician William H. Cummings adapted Mendelssohn’s
music to fit the lyrics of “Hark the herald angels sing” already written by Wesley.
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