Product Description
O Come All Ye Faithful arranged with new harmony for the final verse. Score: 3 pages, part: 1 page
O Come, All Ye Faithful
O Come, All Ye Faithful is an English translation of the Latin
Christmas carol Adeste Fideles. No one knows exactly who wrote
it. One theory holds that King John IV of Portugal (16041656)
wrote it. Another theory says John F. Wade or John Reading wrote it. Nowadays,
we usually attribute it to John Wade. Seems like Stonyhurst
College in Lancashire owns the oldest manuscript. It is from the year
1751.
Lyrics
Frederick Oakeley, a Catholic priest in 1841 wrote the English translation.
This translation is probably the most common in the English-speaking states. To
begin with, the hymn had only four verses. Later, the verses grew to eight.
Music directors often cut various verses because otherwise, the song goes too
long. Some believe that St. Bonaventure wrote the first Latin lyrics. Others
hold that King John IV of Portugal is responsible. Yet even
others think the Cistercian monks wrote them.
King John IV
His subjects called King John IV of Portugal "The Musician
King." He became king in 1640. In addition to performing the duties of a
king, he composed and wrote as a music journalist. King John built a very large
music library. Unfortunately, the massive earthquake of Lisbon ruined the
library in 1755. In addition to building his library, the king started a Music
School that produced many accomplished musicians. The king also worked
diligently to get instrumental music approved by the Vatican for use in his churches.
Aside from his authorship of Adeste Fideles, he is famous for another
popular choral setting of the Crux Fidelis, a prevalent Lenten hymn.
Performance in Context
Verses are sometimes left out because all eight verses would take too long
to perform. More to the point though, some of the verses may be unsuitable for
whatever of the church calendar they are intended. The eighth verse deals with
the Epiphany, so it makes sense to sing this on Epiphany Sunday, but not other
Sundays. Similarly, other verses are used according to whether the event is
Midnight Mass or regular daytime Mass.
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