Joy To The World: Vintage Christmas Carol Karaoke with Choir Boys Joy to the World is a popular Christmas carol. The words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. 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. Watts wrote the words of Joy to the World as a hymn glorifying Christs triumphant return at the end of the age, rather than a Christmas song celebrating his first coming as a babe born in a stable. Only the second half of Watts lyrics are still used today. The music was adapted and arranged to Watts lyrics by Lowell Mason in 1839 from an older melody which was then believed to have originated from Handel, not least because the theme of the refrain (And heaven and nature sing...) appears in the orchestra opening and accompaniment of the recitative Comfort ye from Handels Messiah, and the first four notes match the beginning of the choruses Lift up your heads and Glory to God from the same oratorio. However, Handel did not compose the entire tune. The name Antioch is generally used for the tune. As of the late 20th century, Joy to the World was the most-published Christmas hymn in North America. LYRICS Verse 1 Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare him room, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing. Verse 2 Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns; Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat the sounding joy. Verse 3 (optional) No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found. Verse 4 He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love. Note: In the first line of the first verse, The Lord has come might seem more natural, but The Lord is come is correct. In old English, verbs of movement such as to go and to come were used with the auxiliary verb to be and not the present day auxiliary verb to have. Students of German will notice that the older forms of English are similar to modern-day German forms, where I have come (Ich bin gekommen) is directly translated as I am come. Among the recordings well known in their day is an instrumental version of Joy to the World by conductor Percy Faith. First recorded in 1954 on his Music of Christmas LP (Columbia CL 588), it was re-recorded in stereo in 1959 as Columbia 8176. The popular European group Boney M. covered the song in 1984 which was internationally released in 1986 on their record The 20 Greatest Christmas Songs. John Rutter arranged the carol in the style of Handel and recorded this arrangement twice with the Cambridge Singers, for their Christmas albums Christmas Star (1983) and Christmas with the Cambridge Singers (1989). His pseudo-Handelian arrangement has also been recorded by other choirs including those of St. Pauls Cathedral and Kings College, Cambridge. In 1965, The Supremes recorded the song for their album Merry Christmas. Andy Williams recorded the tune in a medium-slow ballad style in his 1974 Christmas Present LP. Mariah Carey re-recorded this song for her 1994 album Merry Christmas. Careys version, done in a dance-pop style, combined the chorus (with slightly altered lyrics) of the Hoyt Axton song Joy to the World (made popular by Three Dog Night) with the traditional Christmas song. The Jonas Brothers recorded a version of this song called Joyful Kings for the 2008 Disney Channel Holiday album All Wrapped Up. Whitney Houston recorded the song for The Preachers Wife: Original Soundtrack Album (1996), and also included it on One Wish: The Holiday Album (2003). Clay Aiken recorded it on his 2004 album Merry Christmas with Love.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 13:00:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015