"We Three Kings", also known as "We Three Kings of Orient Are" or "The Quest of the Magi", is a Christmas carol that was written by John Henry Hopkins, Jr., in 1857. At the time of composing the carol, Hopkins served as the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and he wrote the carol for a Christmas pageant in New York City. It remains one of the most popular and most frequently sung Christmas carols today.

Lyrics

We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.

Refrain
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.

Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.

Refrain

Frankincense to offer have I;
Incense owns a Deity nigh;
Prayer and praising, voices raising,
Worshipping God on high.

Refrain

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb.

Refrain

Glorious now behold Him arise;
King and God and sacrifice;
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Peals through the earth and skies.

Refrain

Composition

John Henry Hopkins, Jr., organized the carol in such a way that three male voices would each sing a single verse by himself, in order to correspond with the three kings. The first and last verses of the carol are sung together by all three as "verses of praise", while the intermediate verses are sung individually, with each king describing the gift he was bringing. The refrain proceeds to praise the beauty of the Star of Bethlehem. Nowadays, however, the Magi's solos are typically not observed when singing the carol.

The carol's melody has been described as "sad" and "shifting" in nature. Because of this, it highly resembles a song from the Middle Ages and Middle Eastern music, both of which it has been frequently compared to.

Context

The context of the carol centres around the Biblical Magi, who visited Jesus during his Nativity and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh while paying homage to him. Though the event is recounted in the Gospel of Matthew, there are no further details given with regards to their names, the number of Magi that were present or whether they were even royal. Hence, the names of the Magi—Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar—and their status as kings from the Orient are legendary and based on tradition. The notion of three kings stems from the fact that there were three separate gifts that were given.

Background and influence

At the time he was writing "We Three Kings" in 1857, John Henry Hopkins, Jr., was serving as the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Although he originally worked as a journalist for a New York newspaper and studied to become a lawyer, he chose to join the clergy upon graduating from the University of Vermont. Hopkins studied at the General Theological Seminary in New York City and—after graduating and being ordained a deacon in 1850—he became its first music teacher five years later, holding the post until 1857 alongside his ministry in the Episcopal Church.

During his final year of teaching at the seminary, Hopkins wrote "We Three Kings" for a Christmas pageant held at the college. By authoring the lyrics and composing the music, he did something extremely uncommon among carol composers, who would usually write either the lyrics or music but not both. Originally titled "Three Kings of Orient", it was sung within his circle of family and friends. Because of the popularity it achieved among them, Hopkins decided to publish the carol in 1862.

History

Although written in 1857, "We Three Kings" was only first published five years later in 1862, when it appeared in Hopkins' compilation titled Carols, Hymns and Songs. It was the first Christmas carol originating from the United States to achieve widespread popularity, as well as the first to be featured in Christmas Carols Old and New, a "prestigious" and "influential" collection of carols that was published in the United Kingdom. In 1916, the carol was printed in the hymnal for the Episcopal Church; that year's edition was the first to have a separate section for Christmas songs. "We Three Kings" was also included in the Oxford Book of Carols published in 1928, which praised the song and labelled it "one of the most successful of modern composed carols."

See also

• Three Wise Men

References

1. ^ Storer, Doug (December 17, 1982). "America's first Christmas carol written in Huron". The Evening Independent (St. Petersburg, Florida). p. 12B. Retrieved December 26, 2013. 
2. ^ Crump, William D. (August 30, 2013). The Christmas Encyclopedia, 3d ed. McFarland. 
3. ^ Lowe, Cody (December 24, 1993). "The Stories Behind The Songs". The Roanoke Times. p. NRV5. Retrieved December 27, 2013.  (subscription required)
4. ^ Willson, Ruth (December 24, 1966). "Carol singing popular tradition". The Leader-Post (Regina). p. 6. Retrieved December 26, 2013. 
5. ^ Dunham, Mike (December 19, 1993). "Caroling Into Christmas Insurance Salesmen, Teachers Had A Hand In Writing Songs". Anchorage Daily News. p. G1. Retrieved December 27, 2013.  (subscription required)
6. ^ Bogle, Joanna (1992). A Book of Feasts and Seasons. Gracewing Publishing. p. 65. 
7. ^ The Christmas Carolers' Book in Song and Story. Alfred Music Publishing. March 1, 1985. p. 36. 
8. ^ Osbeck, Kenneth W. (1999). Joy to the World!: The Stories Behind Your Favorite Christmas Carols. Kregel Publications. p. 97. 
9. ^ Mulligan, Hugh A. (December 22, 1959). "Bethlehem Inspired American To Write Famous Carol". The Telegraph (Nashua). p. 13. Retrieved December 26, 2013. 
10. ^ Pond, Neil (December 19, 2005). "Christmas Classics". McCook Daily Gazette. p. 6. Retrieved December 28, 2013. 
11. ^ Shiver, Warren (November 30, 2007). "Stories Behind The Hymns – We Three Kings". Gaffney Ledger. Retrieved December 28, 2013. 
12. ^ Higgins, Cathy (December 25, 2006). "Creation of classics". The Albany Herald. p. 6B. Retrieved December 26, 2013. 
13. ^ Flanagan, Mike (December 19, 1986). "The origins of Christmas Songs". Ottawa Citizen. p. H1. Retrieved December 26, 2013. 
14. ^ Oldfield, Molly; Mitchinson, John (December 24, 2013). "QI: some quite interesting facts about Christmas carols". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved December 26, 2013. 

Further reading

• Fuld, James (1966). The Book of World Famous Music Classical, Popular and Folk.