O Come, O Come Emmanuel

This is my one of my favorite Advent/Christmas hymns–the words (veres 1 & 3) come from 9th Century Latin (unkown author) and the 2nd verse was composed by Rev. Henry Sloane Coffin in 1916 (president of Union Theological Seminary 1926-1945 and uncle of famous Riverside Church pastor Rev. William Sloane Coffin). The 4th verse was composed by Laurence Hull Stookey (Pastor & Liturgical guru of the 20th Century) in 1986.

The hymn was traditionally sung by monks in the 9th Century during the time of Advent (4 weeks of preparation before Christmas). It was also sung with antiphons–that is they read/sang short phrases between the verses. (Anitphons–literally “anti” in return, “phone” sound).  The music comes from 15th Century France. This is an excellent hymn to play on guitar with its darker tones and easy chords.

Chords:
Em C D Em
G C D Em
C Em
G C D Em

G Em C D
Em G C D Em