Which composer wrote the melody for the Christmas carol 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing'?

Felix Mendelssohn wrote the melody most commonly used for “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

The tune comes from Mendelssohn’s 1840 Festgesang, a secular festival work composed for the 400th anniversary of Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press. The melody was not originally written as a Christmas hymn.

In 1855, English musician William Hayman Cummings adapted part of Mendelssohn’s Festgesang to fit Charles Wesley’s Christmas text. Wesley wrote the hymn in 1739, originally beginning “Hark how all the welkin rings,” while later editors helped produce the familiar wording.

A common mix-up is crediting Mendelssohn with the words as well as the tune. He supplied the melody used today; Charles Wesley wrote the original hymn text, and Cummings created the familiar vocal adaptation. The carol has occasionally been paired with other melodies, but Mendelssohn’s tune is the canonical modern setting.