The music for this famous hymn was adapted and arranged
by Lowell Mason from an older melody which was then
believed to have originated from Handel, not least
because the theme of the refrain (“And heaven and
nature sing...”) appears in the orchestra opening and
accompaniment of the recitative “Comfort Ye” from
Handel's Messiah, and the first four notes match the
beginning of the choruses “Lift up your heads and
Glory to God” from the same oratorio. However, it can
be stated with cer...(+)
The music for this famous hymn was adapted and arranged
by Lowell Mason from an older melody which was then
believed to have originated from Handel, not least
because the theme of the refrain (“And heaven and
nature sing...”) appears in the orchestra opening and
accompaniment of the recitative “Comfort Ye” from
Handel's Messiah, and the first four notes match the
beginning of the choruses “Lift up your heads and
Glory to God” from the same oratorio. However, it can
be stated with certainty that Handel did not compose
the entire tune. Even if today “Joy to the World”
is commonly thought of as a Christmas song, its lyrics
were originally written by Isaac Watts as a hymn
glorifying Christ's triumphant return at the end of the
age.
SHEET MUSIC