SKU: A0.548513

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 (1604–1656) wrote it. Another theory says John F. Wade or John Reading wrote it. Nowadays, we usually attribute it to John Wade. Seems like the oldest manuscript from 1751, is owned by Stonyhurst College in Lancashire.

Lyrics

The English translation O Come, All Ye Faithful was certainly written by Frederick Oakeley, a Catholic priest in 1841. 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

King John IV of Portugal was called The Musician King. He became king in 1640. In addition to performing the duties of a king, he was also a composer and music journalist. King John built a very large music library. Unfortunately, the library was ruined in 1755 because of the massive earthquake of Lisbon. 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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SKU: A0.879783

From Handel's 'The Messiah', this popular solo is arranged for oboe and piano.