It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Versions of
It Came upon the Midnight Clear (1849)
by Edmund Sears

"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" was written by Edmund Sears (1810-1876), pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Massachusetts. It appeared on December 29, 1849 in the (Boston, Massachusetts) Christian Register. Sears is said to have written these words at the request of his friend, W. P. Lunt, a minister in Quincy, Massachusetts. In 1850 Richard Storrs Willis, a composer who trained under Felix Mendelssohn, as well as editor and critic for the New York Tribune, wrote the melody called "Carol". The tune used in England, called "Noel", was adapted from an English melody by the composer Arthur Sullivan.

This carol is also known by the title "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear".

1787232It Came upon the Midnight Clear1849Edmund Sears

Versions of It Came upon the Midnight Clear include:

"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" in The Army and Navy Hymnal, 1920
"It Came upon a Midnight Clear" (unsourced)