JOY TO THE WORLD

Music: Lowell Mason
Text: Isaac Watts
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg

Isaac Watts’s 1719 paraphrase of Psalm 98 became a Christmas classic when it was set to music by Lowell Mason—the “father of American hymnody”—and it is now one of the most popular Christmas hymns in North America. Mason routinely gave credit to other composers for his own hymn tunes, and described the music of “Joy to the World” as being “after G. F. Handel.” While there are fleeting similarities to fragments from Handel’s Messiah, Mason almost certainly crafted the joyous fanfare-like setting himself. In this high-spirited arrangement by Mack Wilberg, continuous running passagework in the orchestra (another trait of Handel’s Baroque-era style) and the addition of bells and herald-trumpet fanfares illustrate the excitement of the Christmas season.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King!
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room;
And Saints and angels sing,
And Saints and angels sing,
And Saints, and Saints, and angels sing.

Rejoice! Rejoice when Jesus reigns
And Saints their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more will sin and sorrow grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He’ll come and make the blessings flow
Far as the curse was found,
Far as the curse was found,
Far as, far as the curse was found.

Rejoice! Rejoice in the Most High,
While Israel spreads abroad
Like stars that glitter in the sky,
And ever worship God,
And ever worship God,
And ever, ever worship God!