It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" is one of the best-known American carols, and like many other songs of the season, it has an interesting story to go with it.

The lyrics are based on a poem written in 1849 by Dr Edmund Hamilton Sears (1810-1876), a Unitarian minister who lived in Massachusetts. Sears, a champion of the disadvantaged and downtrodden, wrote the poem while preparing for a Christmas sermon. The poem was published shortly thereafter in the "Christian Register" in December of 1849.

Several melodies have been associated with this carol, including the tune "Noel" by Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842-1900), who is perhaps better known as one half of the popular musical writing team of Gilbert and Sullivan. However, the melody now associated with "Midnight Clear" is "Carol," which was written by Richard Storrs Willis (1819-1900). Willis, also from Massachusetts, studied composition in Germany and was a friend of composer Felix Mendelssohn. Willis returned to American in 1848 and later served as a music critic for the New York Tribune and The Musical Times (where he also worked as an editor). Willis somehow came across the Sears' poem (probably in the "Christian Register") and discovered that one of his melodies fit the poem perfectly.

"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" was sung during the holidays in World War I by American soldiers in the trenches of France. "Midnight Clear" was also a holiday favorite at the U.S.O shows of World War II, Bing Crosby being one notable entertainer who sang it for the troops. The song's message of "Peace on Earth" was one of great poignancy.