O Come, all ye faithful (Adeste Fideles) (arr Mather) - Cantate Domino

Before the emergence of John Francis Wade as the probable composer, the tune had been purported to be written by several musicians; from John Reading and his son, to Handel including a Portuguese musician, Marcos Antonio da Fonseca who wasn’t born until after the tune was first published. There are several similar musical themes written around that time, though it can be hard to determine whether these were written in imitation of the hymn, the hymn was based on them, or they are totally unconnected.

The earliest existing manuscript shows both words and tune. It was published in the 1760 edition of Evening Offices of the Church. John Francis Wade included it in his own publication of Cantus Diversi (1751). It also appeared in Samuel Webbe’s An Essay on the Church Plain Chant (1782).

The original text was at one time attributed to various groups and individuals, including claims that it was written by the 13th century saint St. Bonaventura or King John IV of Portugal. Though it was more commonly believed that the text was written by an order of monks, the Cistercian, German, Portuguese and Spanish orders have, at various times been given credit. It is also possible that the tune was written by one of Wade’s contemporary Roman Catholic Jacobites, though it does seem likely that Wade himself wrote the words and then the tune to fit.

The original text consisted of four Latin verses, and it was with these that the hymn was originally published, however The Abbé  Etienne Jean Francois Borderies wrote an additional three verses in the early 18th century. These are normally printed as the third to fifth of seven verses, while another anonymous additional Latin verse is rarely printed. The text has been translated innumerable times, but the most used version today is the English “O come all ye faithful”, this is a combination of one of Frederick Oakeley’s translations of the original four verses, and by William Thomas Brooke of the remainder, which was first published in Murray’s Hymnal in 1852.

In performance verses are often omitted, either because the hymn is too long in its entirety or because the words are unsuitable for the day on which they are sung. For example the eighth anonymous verse is only sung on Epiphany, if at all; while the last verse of the original is normally reserved for Christmas day or midnight Mass.

In the United Kingdom it is most often sung today in an arrangement by Sir David Willcocks, which was originally published in 1961 by Oxford University Press in the first book in the Carols for Choirs series. This arrangement makes use of the basic harmonisation from The English Hymnal but adds a soprano descant in verse 6 (verse 3 in the original) and a reharmonised organ accompaniment in verse 7 (verse 4 in the original), which is sung in unison.

This carol has served as the second-last hymn sung at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in King’s College, Cambridge, after the last lesson from Chapter 1 of the Gospel of John.

The tune has been adapted many times and the entire hymn is very popular, for example:

The hymn was known for a while as the Portuguese hymn after the Duke of Leeds in 1795 heard the hymn being sung at the Portuguese embassy in London and incorrectly assumed that it had originated from Portugal. The translation that he heard differs greatly from the Oakeley-Brooke translation and is printed below in part.

Hither, ye faithful, haste with songs of triumph,

To Bethlehem haste, the Lord of life to meet:

To you this day is born a Prince and Saviour;

O come and let us worship,

O come and let us worship,

O come and let us worship at his feet.

O Jesus, for such wondrous condescension,

Our praises and reverence are an offering meet,

Now is the Word made flesh and dwells among us.

Shout his almighty name, ye choirs of angels,

And let the celestial courts his praise repeat;

Unto our God be glory in the highest,