O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL

Music and Text: Traditional
Translation: John Mason Neale
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg

The lyrics of the old Christmas hymn “Veni, veni, Emmanuel” have their origins in early medieval monastic devotions, as one of several antiphons sung during Advent. In its original Latin, the text in its poetic, metrical form was developed around the 12th century. The melody is from a French 15th-century manuscript. English choirmaster and hymn editor Thomas Helmore combined this haunting melody with an English translation of the lyrics by John Mason Neale in his 1851 volume The Hymnal Noted. Some scholars believe that the close fit of words and melody is evidence that they were perhaps originally paired together in medieval times as well. This arrangement of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” was written by Mack Wilberg especially for The Tabernacle Choir’s 2024 Christmas concert.