123 Hark, Ten Thousand Harps and Voices
Thomas Kelly, 1769-1854
Based on Heb. 1:6: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.”
The original poem has 7 stanzas. Lowell Mason added the “Hallelujahs” and the “Amen” when he set the hymn to music. Some hymn books have softened the “Hallelujah” to “Allelujah.” The last stanza is a prayer for the hastening of the day when heaven and earth shall pass away, which some may not be able to sing heartily and sincerely.
For comments on Thomas Kelly see Hymn 119.
MUSIC. HARWELL was written for this hymn in 1840. The original version had the men’s voices introduce lines 5 and 6 with a dotted eighth and a sixteenth note, in unison, while the soprano and altos observed a quarter rest. Later editing changed the tune so all the parts observed the quarter rest.
For comments on the composer, Lowell Mason, see Hymn 12.