#19 most-searched carol in the US · 1849
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear: the story behind the carol
⛪ Church & choir🏡 Great for caroling
- Words
- Edmund Sears (1849)
- Music
- US: Richard Storrs Willis, "Carol" (1850) · UK: arranged by Arthur Sullivan
- From
- Wayland, Massachusetts, USA
- Type
- Sacred carol
The story behind “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”
Edmund Sears, a Unitarian pastor in Wayland, Massachusetts, wrote it in 1849, just after the Mexican–American War. Instead of the manger, it's about the angels' promise of peace and a world still too busy fighting to hear it.
Richard Storrs Willis, a composer who had studied with Mendelssohn, set it to music the next year.
More carols like this
- Silent Night1818 · Oberndorf, Austria
- Jingle Bells1857 · Boston, Massachusetts
- Joy to the World1719 · England; tune from Boston
- O Holy Night1847 · Roquemaure, France
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing1739 · England
- Deck the Halls1862 · Wales; English words from Scotland
History retold from the carol's Wikipedia article and its sources; checked 2026-09-30.