Sissel Kyrkjebø performing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas TV-concert in 2006. The song is a Christmas hymn or carol written by Charles Wesley, brother of the Methodist movement founder John Wesley. It first appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739, under the topic of "Hymn for Christmas-Day". The original opening couplet was "Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings".
The version known today is the result of alterations by various hands, most notably George Whitefield, Wesley's co-worker, who changed the opening couplet to the familiar one we know today.
The tune that is normally used for this carol is based on a chorus composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840, part of his cantata Festgesang zur Eröffnung der am ersten Tage der vierten Säkularfeier der Erfindung der Buchdruckerkunst ("Festival Song")
Sissel, the international singing sensation from Norway, is widely regarded as one of the finest and most talented sopranos in the world. Her crystalclear voice has made Sissel a national institution in Norway. Sissel has sung all over the world, selling over ten million solo albums. She contributed the haunting vocal tracks for the soundtrack to Titanic. She has been doing great duets with singers like Placido Domingo, Andrea Bocelli, Bryn Terfel, Jose Carreras, Russell Watson, Mario Frangoulis, Josh Groban, Neil Sedaka and Charles Aznavour. A very remarkable voice you will only hear once in your lifetime.