Make a Joyful Noise

"Christ the Redeemer" statue on the Corcovado Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Donatas Dabravolskas/Shutterstock

When minister and hymnist Isaac Watts reinterpreted an Old Testament psalm in 1719, he never intended for his words to become one of the most popular Christmas carols in North America. His hymn “The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom” was the sequel to a two-part arrangement of Psalm 98. The psalm encompasses the return of Jesus to Earth, and Watts’s lyrical reinterpretation would ultimately become the beloved song “Joy to the World.”

A portrait of Isaac Watts, 18th century, by Simon François Ravenet. Stipple and line engraving. Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Conn. Public Domain

The origin of “Joy to the World” can be traced back to Watts’s collection of reinterpretations, “The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament.” Psalm 98 contains the phrase, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the Earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.” Watts’s reinterpretation found in “The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom” draws from the psalm’s words. For his revision, he included the lyric “Joy to the world.”

This elegant yet simple phrase began a long line of collaborations and reworkings from fellow musicians, ultimately giving Christians the contemporary hymn so often recited today. The English clergyman’s words were the focus of his published work, which left the door wide open for the addition of a memorable melody that congregations would enjoy singing.

A Surprising Classical Influence

A portrait of George Frideric Handel, 1738, by Jacobus Houbraken and Hubert-François Gravelot. Engraving. National Library of Wales. Public Domain

Watts was alive during the prominent days of German composer and London resident George Frederic Handel, but the two never crossed paths. However, that didn’t keep one of Handel’s classical pieces from becoming a key melody for the chorus of “Joy to the World.”

Because quite a few musicians tried their hand at putting a definitive melody to Watts’s original lyrics, historians are unsure exactly who came up with the clever idea. But some time before the final arrangement in the mid-1800s, the melody of Handel’s “Messiah” was added to Watts’s words, marking a definitive chorus that begins with the celebratory words “Joy to the world.”

A page from the compositional draft of "Messiah" by Handel, Jan. 1, 1741. Public Domain

The addition of Handel’s melody gave the Christian hymn a triumphant classical theme in keeping with the song’s message celebrating Christ’s second coming.

This collaborative technique was common for the times, especially in regard to formidable classical pieces and popular composers such as Handel. Music historians and scholars note that these similarities can often be found in other popular works of the day. The creativity musicians used while drawing from already published classical pieces and adding them to new compositions gave rise to many of contemporary music’s most unique songs. Classical artists like Handel were viewed as the ultimate standard of the day, and fellow musicians pulled from their works in an effort to continue what they felt was the epitome of a musical ideal.

An American Twist

It took over a century for the final product of “Joy to the World” to reach the masses. Among the many musicians, lyricists, and composers who worked on Watts’s original version, highly regarded music teacher and Bostonian Lowell Mason put the finishing touches on the treasured carol.

A photograph of Dr. Lowell Mason, circa 1857–1900. Lowell Mason House Collection. Public Domain

Scholars suspect that Mason was the one who solidified Handel’s partial melody as a key part of the song’s chorus. Like many others, Mason was a huge fan of Handel’s work and even headed up the orchestral Handel and Haydn Society for a time. He also credited Handel on the sheet music for his earliest reworkings of the song.

While he made several edits to the song, Mason’s major contribution was the arrangement. One of the defining features of the tune is repeated throughout the stanzas. Boasting a lyrical “round,” the same phrases are sung by different choir vocalists in quick succession, right after the other. Now often referred to as “rounds,” songs that incorporated this technique in Mason’s time were called “fuging tunes.” The vocal ascension and dominance that this type of song produces gives compositions a mighty and divine feel.

The Final Revision

Mason constructed several versions over a period of years beginning in 1836, when he debuted the first version in his collection, “Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes.” Before titling the festive song “Joy to the World,” he named it “Antioch,” a historical reference to a Middle Eastern city known by believers as “the cradle of Christianity.” By the time his fourth version was released in 1848 for “The National Psalmist,” Mason had long been working on his craft and had confidence that he had finally done the composition justice.

Detail of a map of Antioch, 14th century, by Paolino Veneto. British Library/CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED

His final publishing of “Joy to the World” is the official version sung by so many today. His melody and phrasing won popularity amid many others released to the public over the decades.

Because the song’s subject matter focuses on the glorious future awaiting Christians as Christ return, Watts never thought his psalm reinterpretation would become a hymn associated with Christmas time. Its eventual popularity around the holidays was a surprise because most of those hymns have long focused on Christ’s birth, not his return. However, the unique, uplifting message of “Joy to the World” has always made the song magnetic, especially for listeners around the holiday season.

By the later part of the 20th century, the joyous song was recognized as the Christmas holiday’s most published hymn in America. To date, it has been translated for more than 50 languages. It remains a household holiday staple and a musical sing-along tradition at Christmas services across the world.

"Christ Talking About His Return to the Father, From Das Plenarium," 1517, by Hans Leonhard Schäufelein and Adam Petri. Hand-colored woodcut. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Public Domain

Would you like to see other kinds of arts and culture articles? Please email us your story ideas or feedback at [email protected]