Joy to the World

"Joy to the World" is a popular Christmas carol with words by Isaac Watts. The words of the hymn are based on Psalm 98, Psalm 96 (verses 11 and 12) and Genesis Chapter 3 (verses 17 and 18). As of the late 20th century, "Joy to the World" was the most-published Christmas hymn in North America.It was published in 678 hymnals in North America before 1979, as recorded in the Dictionary of North American Hymnology. Top 20 Christmas hymns cited at Hymnary.org.
==History==
===Origin===
The words of the hymn are by English writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98, 96:11–12 and Genesis 3:17–18. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and worship. The paraphrase is Watts' Christological interpretation. Consequently, he does not emphasize with equal weight the various themes of Psalm 98. In first and second stanzas, Watts writes of heaven and earth rejoicing at the coming of the King. An interlude that depends more on Watts' interpretation than the psalm text, stanza three speaks of Christ's blessings extending victoriously over the realm of sin. The cheerful repetition of the non-psalm phrase "far as the curse is found" has caused this stanza to be omitted from some hymnals. But the line makes joyful sense when understood from the New Testament eyes through which Watts interprets the psalm. Stanza four celebrates Christ's rule over the nations."Joy to the world! the Lord is come! at Hymnary.org The nations are called to celebrate because God's faithfulness to the house of Israel has brought salvation to the world.Joy to the World!, Worship Leader magazine (archive.org, 18 July 2011)
===Music===
Watts's 1719 preface says the verses "are fitted to the Tunes of the Old PSALM-BOOK" and includes the instruction "sing all entitled COMMON METER".Watts 1719, p. xxxii. it is not clear whether "Old Psalm-book" means Playford's 1677 publication or some other. In the late 18th century, "Joy to the World" was printed with music several times, but the tunes were unrelated to the one commonly used today.For example to the tune WARSAW in Samuel Holyoke's Harmonia Americana, 1791 (page 87)
The tune usually used today is from an 1848 edition by Lowell Mason for The National Psalmist (Boston, 1848).Celebrate, Rejoice and Sing: Christmas Music in America, Roger L. Hall, PineTree Press, 2003, p 8; see also >https://hymnary.org/text/joy_to_the_world_the_lord_is_come for usage of ANTIOCH and other tunes. Mason was by that time an accomplished and well-known composer and arranger, having composed tunes such as "Bethany", which was used for the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee." Mason's 1848 publication of the current tune was the fourth version to have been published. The first, published in his 1836 book Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, featured the present day tune (in a different arrangement) with the present-day lyrics; the first such publication to do so. The name of this tune was given as "Antioch", and was attributed as being "From Handel".Mason, Lowell. Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, 1836, p. 70., https://web.archive.org/web/20191125213821/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b11858da2772cf01402ee6e/t/5b29109f2b6a2803f3ab3227/1529417903437/Mason-1836-OccasionalPsalm.pdf. A very similar arrangement of the tune to today's arrangement, and also with the present-day lyrics, was published in Mason's 1839 book The Modern Psalmist. It was also titled "Antioch" and attributed to Handel.Mason, Lowell. The Modern Psalmist, 1839, p. 144., https://archive.org/details/modernpsalmistco00maso/page/144.
Musically, the first four notes of "Joy to the World" are the same as the first four in the chorus "Lift up your heads" from Handel's Messiah (premiered 1742), and, in the third line, the same as found in another Messiah piece: the "Comfort ye". Consequently, and with Mason's attribution to Handel, there has long been speculation over how much a part Handel's Messiah had in "Joy to the World".Keyte and Parrott, eds., The Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993) It is known Mason was a great admirer and scholar of Handel's music, and had in fact became president of the Boston Handel and Haydn Society in 1827Pemberton, CA (1971), Lowell Mason: His life and work (doctoral dissertation), ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 7128272 and was also an editor for them.Mason, Lowell. The Modern Psalmist, 1839, p. 144., https://archive.org/details/modernpsalmistco00maso/page/n5. However, resemblances between Messiah and "Joy to the World", have been dismissed as 'chance resemblance' by Handel scholars today.The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia, Annette Landgraf, David Vickers, Cambridge University Press, 26 November 2009. "Joy to the World" entry by Nicholas Temperley
Moreover, several tunes have been found from the early 1830s closely resembling that of "Antioch", the earliest of which was published in 1832 under the title "Comfort" (possibly as a nod to Handel's "Comfort ye").Charles Rider, Psalmodia Britannica, vol. 4 (ca. 1831), no. 87, p. 949 This would make it at least four years older than Mason's first publication of "Antioch". Other publications from the early 1830s further suggest the tune may have been around for some time before Mason published his arrangement. Thomas Hawkes published the "Comfort" tune in 1833 in his Collection of Tunes. In it, the attribution was given simply as "Author Unknown", suggesting it may have been older.Thomas Hawkes, Collection of Tunes (Watchet: Thomas Whitehorn, 1833)Fenner, Chris. "Joy to the World with ANTIOCH (COMFORT)". HymnologyArchive.com, 2019, https://web.archive.org/web/20191125223213/https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/joy-to-the-world. A 1986 article by John Wilson also showed "Antioch"'s close resemblance to an 1833 publication of "Comfort" and its associated Wesley hymn "O Joyful Sound".The Origins of the Tune "Antioch", Bulletin No. 166 of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland; a summary is given in The Oxford Book of Carols 1994, p.273
A version by the Trinity Choir was very popular in 1911. As of the late 20th century, "Joy to the World" was the most-published Christmas hymn in North America.
==Lyrics==
The text appears thus in The Psalms of David: imitated in the Language of the New Testament, and apply'd to the Christian State and Worship (London 1719):The Psalms of David : imitated in the Language of the New Testament, and apply'd to the Christian State and Worship (London 1719)
Psalm XCVIII. Second Part.
The Messiah's Coming and Kingdom
Joy to the World; the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.
In the Latter-day Saint hymnal, the refrain in the first verse is "And Saints and Angels Sing".
== Recordings ==
* Joy To The World - Gabriel Trumpet Ensemble and the Choir at Tabernacle Square. (2017)
* Joy To The World - David Archuelta (American Idol) and the Choir at Tabernacle Square. (2013)
* Joy To The World - Joy to the World · Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Orchestra at Temple Square · (2006) The Wonder of Christmas
==References==
==External links==
* Free sheet music "Joy to the World" of "Joy to the World" for SATB from Cantorion.org
* "Joy to the World" - Early New England Christmas Carol
* "Joy to the World" played on a Hammond Organ
Category:Christmas carols