| SHEET MUSIC | |||
| Violin | Cello | Viola | Full Score |
Joy to the World
Text- Isaac Watts; Music- in the style of Handel, arr. by Lowell Mason*
- Joy to the world, the Lord is come, Let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare him room, And heav'n and nature sing, And heav'n and nature sing, And heav'n, and heav'n and nature sing.
- Joy to the world, the Savior reigns, Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
- He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders of His love.
*For years, it was assumed that Handel composed the music to Joy to the World. Music scholars now feel that is not the case. Although the exact origin of this tune is unknown, the American music educator and composer Lowell Mason combined Isaac Watt’s text with this tune for the first time in the 1830s in his arrangement of “Joy to the World.” Since Mason’s “Joy to the World” score included the notation “from Handel,” the assumption was perpetuated that Handel composed this tune. Some scholars suggest the tune’s origins stem from English psalm books in the early 1830s. Others consider Mason to have been the tune’s composer, influenced by themes from Handel’s Messiah. Regardless of the origins of this tune, “Joy to the World” remains one of the most beloved Christmas carols sung throughout the world.
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