"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" was originally
written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church
in Wayland, Massachusetts, as a poem in 1849. The poem
is written in Common-Metre Double and was first
published in 1849, in the Christian Register in Boston.
These lyrics are most commonly set to one of two
melodies:
In the United States the most popular music used is the
tune "Carol" which was composed by Richard Storrs
Willis. This melody was composed in 1850 by Willis ...(+)
"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" was originally
written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church
in Wayland, Massachusetts, as a poem in 1849. The poem
is written in Common-Metre Double and was first
published in 1849, in the Christian Register in Boston.
These lyrics are most commonly set to one of two
melodies:
In the United States the most popular music used is the
tune "Carol" which was composed by Richard Storrs
Willis. This melody was composed in 1850 by Willis who
had previously been a student of Felix Mendelssohn.
In the United Kingdom a tune called "Noel" by Arthur
Sullivan is favoured as the accompaniment. Sullivan had
created the music by adapting an English melody in
1874.
Lewis, Alastair (1974 - )
SHEET MUSIC