Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

A fresh new Bluegrass version of the old Christmas Classic "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". All of the instruments and vocals were done by Anthony Howell.

“Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” is one of the most popular Christmas carols today.  It can even be heard in both of the classic films It’s a Wonderful Life and A Charlie Brown Christmas.  But did you know that the carol is completely different today than originally written?  Did you know that both Wesley’s words and tune have been changed?
The first line of the hymn originally read, “Hark! how all the welkin rings, Glory to the King of Kings.”  Welkin is an old English word that means “vault of heaven.” In 1753, George Whitefield, a famous English preacher, rewrote the first line of the carol into the modern version, “Hark! the herald angels sing — Glory to the newborn King!” And this, of course, is how we sing it today.
Despite Whitefield’s presumption that angels sing, the song has remarkable theological accuracy, depth, and richness not often found in carols.  (Bible students love to point out that nowhere in the Bibles does it ever record that angels actually sing.  It doesn’t say they don’t sing, it just never says they do sing.  Confused?  Maybe they do, maybe they don’t.  I still think that Whitefield’s version has a better ring to it.  Try singing and rhyming the phrase, “Hark the herald angels mentioned…”)