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<v Steve>Hi, this is Steve Webb, your OG Godcaster.

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<v Steve>You're about to hear the Lifespring Advent Calendar, which was recorded in 2006.

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<v Steve>It's a daily show which will run right up to Christmas Day,

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<v Steve>so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.

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<v Steve>Now, the story of Advent and Christmas is a timeless story, so it doesn't age.

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<v Steve>However, the links and the phone numbers mentioned on the podcast have all changed but one.

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<v Steve>WhyChristmas.com is still current and active,

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<v Steve>and it's the best Christmas information website on the Internet.

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<v Steve>LifeSpringPodcast.com now forwards you to LifeSpringMedia.com.

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<v Steve>And the phone number you'll hear on the show is changed to plus 1-951-732-8511.

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<v Steve>Hello and welcome to Day 15 of the LifeSpring Advent Calendar.

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<v Steve>I'm Steve Webb.

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<v Steve>Today's show is another double entry.

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<v Steve>Day 15 of the LifeSpring Advent Calendar and episode number 23 of LifeSpring Hymn Stories,

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<v Steve>or Carol Stories as we're calling them for now.

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<v Steve>Let's see what's behind the door.

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<v Steve>To be continued...

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<v Steve>Today the carol is Hark the Herald Angels Sing, written by the great English hymn writer Charles Wesley.

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<v Steve>Wesley was the youngest of 18 children and wrote over 3,000 hymns during his lifetime.

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<v Steve>He was rather different than most English clergymen at the time,

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<v Steve>often holding services out of doors and believing that Christian music and hymns

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<v Steve>should have some energy and life to them.

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<v Steve>That was very unusual at the time.

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<v James>He wrote the words to this favourite carol in 1737,

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<v James>although it originally had the different opening line,

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<v James>which was, hark, how all the welkin rings.

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<v James>Now what's a welkin, I hear you ask?

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<v James>Well, it's an old term for the religious upper air, or in other words, heaven.

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<v James>Also, his original version didn't have the first two lines of each verse repeated at the end of their verse,

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<v James>and they certainly weren't sung to the tune that we know today.

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<v James>Back in Wesley's day, hymns and carols were often published as just words,

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<v James>and it was left to the individual choir masters to fit them to their tunes that the choir knew.

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<v James>In fact, one tune it was commonly sung to when he first wrote it was the same tune as we use for Amazing Grace.

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<v James>And if you think about it, you can just about do it, but I had a job not to sing Amazing Grace while I was trying to do it.

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<v Steve>No one is really certain how the first line was changed to Hark the Herald Angels Sing,

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<v Steve>although it may have been changed by the original publisher, George Whitefield,

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<v Steve>who published it in the hymn book entitled Hymns in Sacred Poems in 1739.

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<v Steve>Wesley was very upset at the change and is said to have never sung the new version.

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<v Steve>The now commonly used tune was composed by Felix Mendelssohn over a century later in 1840,

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<v Steve>but certainly not to go with this carol.

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<v Steve>It was written as a part of a cantata called Festgesang, or Festival Song,

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<v Steve>and it was about the first printing press invented by Johann Gutenberg.

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<v Steve>The tune comes from the second chorus in the work and was entitled God is Light.

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<v James>The words and music were first put together in 1855 by William Heyman Cummings,

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<v James>who had been a teenage chorister and actually sung under the direction of Mendelssohn.

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<v James>Cummings also altered the words so the first two lines of each verse were repeated

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<v James>and published his work in a hymnal in 1857

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<v James>as the carol we know and love.

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<v James>And perhaps it's just as well that Mendelssohn never knew this

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<v James>because he said that his tune should never be used for sacred music.

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<v Steve>The third verse Descant only appeared in 1961

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<v Steve>in a new and popular arrangement by David Wilcox.

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<v James>So as you're singing this carol this Christmas,

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<v James>remember Wesleyan Mendelssohn.

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<v James>It might not have turned out how either of them imagined it,

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<v James>but it's a great carol to sing.

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<v Music>guitar solo

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<v Music>See him

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<v Music>Glory to

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<v Music>Thy newborn

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<v Music>King

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<v Music>Peace on earth

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<v Music>And mercy

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<v Music>My

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<v Music>God

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<v Music>And sinners

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<v Music>Reconcile

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<v Music>For all ye nations rise

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<v Music>Join the triumph of the sky

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<v Music>With angelic hosts proclaiming

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<v Music>Christ is born in Bethlehem

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<v Music>High the hallowed angels sing

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<v Music>Glory to thy new-born King

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<v Music>I

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<v Music>Hark the hero

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<v Music>Angels sing

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<v Music>Glory to

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<v Music>The newborn king

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<v Music>Peace on him

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<v Music>Mercy

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<v Music>God and sinners reconciled

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<v Music>Joyful all ye nations rise

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<v Music>Joyful triumph of the skies

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<v Music>When angelic hosts proclaim

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<v Music>Christ is born in Bethlehem

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<v Music>While the herald angels sing

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<v Music>Glory to the new morn king

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<v Steve>This has been Day 15 of the LifeSpring Advent Calendar

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<v Steve>and number 23 of LifeSpring Hymn or Carol Stories.

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<v Steve>If this is your first time listening to one of the shows,

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<v Steve>please visit LifeSpringPodcast.com to find out more.

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<v Steve>To find out more about Christmas,

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<v Steve>please visit James Cooper over at WhyChristmas.com.

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<v Steve>Today's background music was the Pittsburgh Symphony Brass with Hark the Herald Angels Sing,

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<v Steve>and Dean Crippane sang the song for us.

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<v Steve>Of course, the background music, as always, is Brian Duncan and the Neil Soul Band with This Christmas.

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<v Steve>Links to all of today's music and all the music we've used thus far

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<v Steve>can be found on the show notes page at lifespringpodcast.com.

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<v Steve>Thank you so much for listening to the Lifespring Advent Calendar and Lifespring Carol Stories.

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<v Steve>We're really glad you're here.

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<v Steve>For James Cooper, I'm Steve Webb, and we'll talk to you tomorrow.

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<v Music>It never gets old

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<v Music>It's the love I need

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<v Music>And it's what I want

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<v Music>It's Christmas

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<v Music>And it's what I love