Product Description
One of the most popular English hymns, Joy to the World began not as a Christmas carol but as a lyrical paraphrase of Psalm 98 written in 1719 by the English Congregational minister, theologian, and hymn writer Isaac Watts (1674-1748).
Watts published the poem in his collection, The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of The New Testament. The free paraphrase is Watts Christological interpretation of the psalm, celebrating Jesus role as King of both his church and the world.
More than a century later, the second half of Watts' poem was adapted and set to music by the American music educator and hymn-tune composer Lowell Mason (1792-1872) in his Occasional Psalms and Hymn Tunes (1836). Mason based the music, in part, on excerpts from George Frideric Handel's (1685-1759) oratorio Messiah, with the descending major scale accompanying the opening words, Joy to the world! The Lord is come echoing Handels chorus, Lift up your heads.
This accompaniment to unison voices proceeds as follows:
Introduction: organ, brass, timpani
Verse 1: organ
Verse 2: brass, timpani
Verse 3: organ with alternate harmonization
Interlude: all
Verse 4: organ, brass, timpani, with alternate harmonization
Coda: all
Includes full score, parts for organ, Bb tpt. 1, Bb tpt. 2, F horn, tbn, tuba, timpani, and reproducible bulletin insert for voices.
©Copyright 2023 Todd Marchand / Con Spirito Music (ASCAP). All rights reserved. For more sacred, patriotic, folk, and holiday music for instruments and voices, visit www.conspiritomusic.com
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.