O Come, All Ye Faithful

The start of Adeste Fideles.

"Adeste Fideles" is a hymn tune attributed to John Francis Wade. The text itself has unclear beginnings, and may have been written in the 13th century, though it has been concluded that Wade was probably the author.

The original four verses of the hymn were extended to a total of eight, and these have been translated into many languages many times, though the English "O Come All Ye Faithful" translation by Frederick Oakeley is particularly widespread.

Tune

Before the emergence of John Francis Wade as the probable composer, the tune had been purported to be written by several musicians, from John Reading and his son to Handel, including a Portuguese musician, Marcos Antonio da Fonseca, who wasn't born until after the tune was first published. There are several similar musical themes written around that time, though it can be hard to determine whether these were written in imitation of the hymn, the hymn was based on them, or they are totally unconnected.

The earliest existing manuscript shows both words and tune. John Francis Wade included it in his own publication of Cantus Diversi (1751). It was published again in the 1760 edition of Evening Offices of the Church. It also appeared in Samuel Webbe's An Essay on the Church Plain Chant (1782).

Text

The original text has been from time to time attributed to various groups and individuals, including St. Bonaventure in the 13th century or King John IV of Portugal in the 17th, though it was more commonly believed that the text was written by an order of monks, the Cistercian, German, Portuguese and Spanish orders have, at various times been given credit.

The original text consisted of four Latin verses, and it was with these that the hymn was originally published. The Abbé Etienne Jean Francois Borderies wrote an additional three verses in the 18th century; these are normally printed as the third to fifth of seven verses, while another, anonymous, additional Latin verse is rarely printed. The text has been translated innumerable times, but the most used version today is the English "O Come, All Ye Faithful". This is a combination of one of Frederick Oakeley's translations of the original four verses and William Thomas Brooke's of the three additional ones, which was first published in Murray's Hymnal in 1852.

King John IV

The most commonly named Portuguese author is King John IV of Portugal (Portuguese: João IV de Portugal, pronounced [ʒuˈɐ̃ũ]). "The Musician King" (1603-1656, came to the throne in 1640) was a patron of music and the arts, and a considerably sophisticated writer on music; in addition, he was a composer, and during his reign he collected one of the largest libraries in the world (destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755). The first part of his musical work was published in 1649. He founded a Music School in Vila Viçosa that "exported" musicians to Spain and Italy and it was there at his Vila Viçosa palace that the two manuscripts of the "Portuguese Hymn" have been found. Those manuscripts (1640) predate Wade's eighteenth-century manuscript. Among the King's writings is a Defense of Modern Music (Lisbon, 1649). In the same year (1649) he had a huge struggle to get instrumental music approved by the Vatican for use in the Catholic Church. His other famous composition is a setting of the Crux fidelis, a work that remains highly popular during Lent amongst church choirs.

Jacobite connection

The hymn has been interpreted as a Jacobite birth ode to Bonnie Prince Charlie. Professor Bennett Zon, head of music at Durham University, claims the carol is actually a birth ode to Bonnie Prince Charlie, the secret political code being decipherable by the "faithful" — supposedly the Jacobites, with Bethlehem a common Jacobite cipher for England and Regem Angelorum a pun on Angelorum (Angels) and Anglorum (English). From the 1740s to 1770s the earliest forms of the carol commonly appeared in English Roman Catholic liturgical books close to prayers for the exiled Old Pretender. In the books by Wade it was often decorated with Jacobite floral imagery, as were other liturgical texts with coded Jacobite meanings.

Performance

In performance verses are often omitted, either because the hymn is too long in its entirety or because the words are unsuitable for the day on which they are sung. For example the eighth anonymous verse is only sung on Epiphany, if at all; while the last verse of the original is normally reserved for Christmas day or midnight Mass.

In the United Kingdom and United States it is often sung today in an arrangement by Sir David Willcocks, which was originally published in 1961 by Oxford University Press in the first book in the Carols for Choirs series. This arrangement makes use of the basic harmonisation from The English Hymnal but adds a soprano descant in verse 6 (verse 3 in the original) with its reharmonised organ accompaniment, and a last verse harmonisation in verse 7 (verse 4 in the original), which is sung in unison.

This carol has served as the second-last hymn sung at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in King's College, Cambridge, after the last lesson from Chapter 1 of the Gospel of John.

Cover versions

• Andrea Bocelli recorded the song for three different albums, his first classical album Viaggio Italiano in 1995, his 1999 album Sacred Arias, and later for his first christmas album, My Christmas, in 2009.
• Bing Crosby performed it, singing the first verse in Latin.
• Victor Hely-Hutchinson included this carol in the first and last movements of his Carol Symphony.
• Franz Liszt wrote a transcription as the fourth movement of his Weihnachtsbaum cycle (S.186).
• John Williams included the piece in the Home Alone 2: Lost in New York movie as part of the concert taking place at Carnegie Hall. (Titled in the soundtrack, "Christmas at Carnegie Hall.")
• The French organist-composer Alexandre Guilmant included it in his Offertoire sur deux Noels for organ
• This song was reportedly the favorite Christmas hymn of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
  Further information: Christmas at the White House (album by Burl Ives)
• The David Willcocks arrangement of the carol has been recorded by many choirs, most notably the Choir of King's College, Cambridge for which it was composed. Several King's College carol recordings, including the 1984 collection O Come All Ye Faithful have included this arrangement. However, the choir has also recorded the descants of Philip Ledger and Stephen Cleobury for its other albums of Christmas carols.
• The operatic pop group Amici Forever recorded a version for their debut album, including the Willcocks descant.
• Since 2007 Garliava's Mafia consider it as its own anthem (the 1995 version of Andrea Bocelli).
• Frank Sinatra sings an English version on the album "Old Fashioned Christmas".
• Bob Dylan sings an Latin/English version on the album Christmas In The Heart.
• Luciano Pavarotti sings the Latin version on his 1990 album Oh Holy Night.
• The Chieftains recorded it for their 1991 album, The Bells of Dublin.
• Luther Vandross recorded it as the last track on his 1995 album This Is Christmas
• In Swedish, two lyrics versions exists "O kommen, I trogne" and "Dagen är kommen". Swedish pop singer Carola Häggkvist covered "Dagen är kommen" on her 1999 Christmas album "Jul i Betlehem".
• The Fray (2009)
• Angela Gheorghiu sings a Latin version on her album "Mysterium - Sacred Arias" from 2001.
• US rock group Twisted Sister covered the song as "O Come All Ye Faithful" on their 2006 Christmas album "A Twisted Christmas", arranged in the style of their 1984 hit song "We're Not Gonna Take It". "Adeste Fideles" is said to have inspired them to "We're Not Gonna Take It".
• Celine Dion performed this song on her 1998 Christmas album "These Are Special Times".
• Bruno Pelletier recorded the Latin version of the song for his 2003 album "Concert de Noël".
• American Symphonic rock band Trans-Siberian Orchestra, known as fond of Christmas themes, has covered it twice: in Christmas Eve and Other Stories and in The Lost Christmas Eve albums, both times in instrumental.
• English Folk rock band Blackmore's Night recorded the song for Winter Carols album in 2006.
• American country music singer Toby Keith covered the song as "O Come All Ye Faithful" on his 2007 album A Classic Christmas.
• Irish singer Enya recorded the song for her Sounds of the Season: The Enya Holiday Collection album project.
• Harry Connick, Jr. in his album from 2008, What a Night! A Christmas Album.
• Bradley Joseph in his 2008 album, Classic Christmas.
• Weezer in their 2008 digital album, "Christmas With Weezer".
• A Norwegian version is called "Å, kom nå med lovsang".
• In 2008 Faith Hill covered the song on her Joy To The World album.
• The Brady Bunch covered the song on their 1970 album Christmas with The Brady Bunch.
• Rob Halford covered the song on his solo album Halford III - Winter Songs
• Swedish singer Charlotte Perrelli covered the song in Swedish on her 2008 Christmas album Rimfrostjul
• The Three Tenors sang the first verse in Latin and the second verse in English on the Three Tenors Christmas CD, recorded in Vienna in 1999.

The Portuguese Hymn

The hymn was known for a while as the Portuguese Hymn after the Duke of Leeds in 1795 heard the hymn being sung at the Portuguese embassy in London and assumed that it had originated from Portugal. The translation that he heard differs greatly from the Oakeley-Brooke translation.

References

• Musica Sacra em Minas Gerais no século XVIII, ISSN nº 1676-7748 - n25 1998, Professor José Maria Neves

External links

• Text, translations and settings of Adeste Fideles in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Free sheet music of O Come, All ye Faithful for SATB from Cantorion.org
• Adeste, Fideles - two 19th century arrangements
• Original Latin and English translation