Sheet Music: Joy to the World

TitleJoy to the World
Alternate titlesAntioch
ComposerLowell Mason (1792–1872)
Also attributed toGeorge Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
InstrumentationFlute trio
KeyG major
RangeC4–B5
Time signature4/4
Tempo96 BPM
Performance time1:00
Difficulty levelintermediate
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (59 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (477 kB)
Play-along accompanimentMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (557 kB)
Date added2021-12-25
Last updated2021-12-25
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 22.2 (extremely popular)
Categories
Christmas carols, Hymn tunes

Performances

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Saturday 25 December 2021

Tune of the Day: Joy to the World

arranged for three flutes

“Joy to the World” is a carol that hardly needs any presentation. The hymn was originally written in 1719, but it was initially sung to tunes entirely unrelated to the one commonly used today. This first appeared in Lowell Mason's 1836 book Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, where it was given the name “Antioch” and attributed as being “From Handel”. Any resemblances between Handel's works (particularly the Messiah) and “Joy to the World”, however, have been dismissed as “chance resemblance” by modern scholars, who rather tend to explain this attribution by Mason's well-known admiration of Handel's work.

Many thanks to Mark for contributing this arrangement for three flutes, and a very merry Christmas to all!