Hark The Herald Angels Sing

Narrated Retelling of a Beloved Carol

This script presents a narrated retelling of the message and inspiration behind one of history’s most famous and cherished carols.

• The performance features two narrators, who may be on stage or unseen, along with any number of singers.
• No special sets, lighting, sound, costuming, or props are required.
• Optionally, this script can be performed as a suspended human video, with actors miming and moving in response to the words of the carol.
• While some miming guidelines are provided, actors will primarily react naturally to the carol’s deeply worshipful lyrics.

Scene Description

The scene depicts the nativity, featuring:

• Joseph
• Mary
• Baby Jesus
• Any number of angels, shepherds, and wise men

Additional Directives

• Ensure basic characterization for all actors.
• Incorporate fundamental choreography to enhance the performance.

Sample of script:

Script

N1: Charles Wesley was a famous preacher and songwriter who was born almost 300 years ago. During his lifetime, he wrote over 6,500 hymns, many of which remain beloved to this day.

N2: Of all those hymns, Wesley’s best-known song is probably "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." Though editors have made slight changes over the years, most of the lyrics remain just as Wesley originally wrote them.

N1: But while the words we sing today are mostly Wesley’s, the tune is not. Over 100 years later, composer Felix Mendelssohn wrote a cantata to celebrate the invention of the printing press. The second chorus of that cantata became the melody we now recognize as “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

N2: Wesley, the poet. Mendelssohn, the composer. Wesley insisted that any music set to his poem must be slow and solemn.

N1: Yes, and Mendelssohn made it very clear that his music was meant for secular use only.

N2: But in 1855, long after both Wesley and Mendelssohn had passed, Dr. William Cummings united Wesley’s words with Mendelssohn’s melody.

N1: Amazing, isn’t it? How man’s plans and God’s will so often move in different directions—yet when people are open to being used by God, they can become part of something far greater than they imagined.

N2: Now, let’s sing together as we revisit this old, old song—a song that, in so many ways, remains new and relevant nearly 300 years after it was first written.

(Lights up on the nativity scene. Angels gather around the manger, followed by shepherds and wise men.)

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The Meaning Behind the Song

N1: The song begins with a triumphant proclamation of Jesus' birth, declaring that He is both God and man.

N2: But more than that—it praises Him for the salvation He came to bring.

(All sing the first two lines as angels extend their hands in worship.)

🎶 Hark! The herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled." 🎶

N1: "Peace on earth" is a popular phrase during Christmas, and rightly so—Jesus came to bring peace. But more importantly, He came to bring us peace with God. When Wesley wrote "God and sinners reconciled," that was the peace he meant.

N2: We have all sinned against God. We have broken His commandments, and sin separates us from Him. A holy God cannot tolerate sin, and that makes mankind His enemy. Just like in any conflict, reconciliation can’t happen until the offense is resolved.

N1: Often, reconciliation requires a price to be paid for wrongdoing. That’s exactly what Jesus did—when He died on the cross, He paid the price to restore us to God.

N2: The debt was ours to pay, not God’s. Yet Jesus, who was both fully God and fully man, stepped in to pay it. That’s why His birth—His choice to become one of us—is so profound.

N1: Charles Wesley captured this in the second verse of his song:

(All sing the next four lines. Shepherds and wise men bow before the baby Jesus.)

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