It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
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"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear", sometimes rendered as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", is an 1849 poem and Christmas carol written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Massachusetts. In 1850, Sears' lyrics were set to "Carol", a tune written for the poem the same year at his request, by Richard Storrs Willis. This pairing remains the most popular in the United States, while in Commonwealth countries, the lyrics are set to "Noel", a later adaptation by Arthur Sullivan from an English melody.
History
Edmund Sears composed the five-stanza poem in common metre doubled during 1849. It first appeared on December 29, 1849, in The Christian Register in Boston, Massachusetts.[1][2]
Sears served the Unitarian congregation in Wayland, Massachusetts, before moving on to a larger congregation at First Church of Christ, Unitarian, in Lancaster, also known as The Bulfinch Church, for its design by Charles Bulfinch. 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.[3] 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.[4]
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Sears is said to have written these words at the request of his friend, William Parsons Lunt, pastor of United First Parish Church, Quincy, Massachusetts, for Lunt's Sunday school.[2] 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.[3]
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.[3] The song has been included in many of the Christmas albums recorded by numerous singers in the modern era.
Melody
In 1850, Richard Storrs Willis, a composer who trained under Felix Mendelssohn, published a "choir study" that was originally paired with other lyrics.[5] This tune eventually came to be known as "Carol". Pairings of Sears' lyrics with Willis' tune had already begun to appear by 1880,[6] and it is still the most widely associated tune with Sears' lyrics in the United States.[2][7][8][9]
<score sound="1"> \new Staff << \clef treble \key bes \major {
\time 6/8 \partial 8
\relative f' {
f8 | d'4 a8 c bes g | f4 g8 f4 f8 | g a bes bes c d | c4.~ c4 \bar"" \break
f,8 | d'4 a8 c bes g | f4 g8 f4 f8 | g4 g8 a g f | bes4.~ bes4 \bar"" \break
d8 | d4 d,8 d e fis | g4 a8 bes4 d8 | c bes a g a g | f4.~ f4 \bar"" \break
f8 | d'4 a8 c bes g | f4 g8 f4 f8 | g4 g8 a g f | bes4.~ bes4 \bar"|." %repeat of the second line - if these two aren't the same, then it means somebody has vandalized ...
}
}
%\new Lyrics \lyricmode { %} >> \layout { indent = #0 } \midi { \tempo 4. = 54 } </score>
In Commonwealth countries, the tune called "Noel", which was adapted from an English melody in 1874 by Arthur Sullivan, is the usual accompaniment. This tune also appears as an alternative in The Hymnal 1982, the hymnal of the United States Episcopal Church.[10]
<score sound="1"> \new Staff << \clef treble \key f \major {
\time 4/4 \partial 4
\relative f' {
f8 g | a4 g f g8 a | bes4 a g c | c a bes8 c d4 | c2. \bar"" \break
a8 bes | c4 c a f | bes a g f8 g | a bes c4 a g | f2. \bar"" \break
f4 | e d e g | f4. e8 d4 a' | g f e d | c2. \bar"" \break
c4 | c' bes a g8 a | bes4 a g f8 g | a bes c4 a g | f2. \bar"|."
}
}
%\new Lyrics \lyricmode { %} >> \layout { indent = #0 } \midi { \tempo 4 = 86 } </score>
Lyrics
The full song comprises five stanzas. Some versions, including the United Methodist Hymnal[7] and Lutheran Book of Worship,[8] omit verse three, while others (including The Hymnal 1982) omit verse four.[11] Several variations also exist to Sears' original lyrics.
See also
References
External links
- Various settings of the words by Edmund Sears at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Setting by Arthur Sullivan at IMSLP
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c Sawyer, Ken. "It came upon a Unitarian midnight clear", UUWorld, November 1, 2002 Template:Webarchive
- ↑ Hughes, Peter. "Edmund Hamilton Sears", Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography, April 24, 2002 Template:Webarchive
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b The United Methodist Hymnal, © 1989
- ↑ a b Lutheran Book of Worship, © 1978
- ↑ The official Unitarian-Universalist hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition, © 1993
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".