The Three Kings | |
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![]() The Adoration of the Magi by Matthias Stom | |
Native name | Die Könige |
Year | 1856 |
Genre | Christmas/Lied |
Form | Solo voice and piano Arrangement for SATB choir |
Language | German |
Melody | Peter Cornelius |
Song from Weihnachtslieder, Op. 8 |
"The Three Kings",[1] or "Three Kings From Persian Lands Afar", is a Christmas carol by the German composer Peter Cornelius. He set "Die Könige" for a vocal soloist, accompanied by Philip Nicolai's hymn "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" ("How Brightly Shines the Morning Star"), which he erroneously thought was an Epiphany hymn. In fact, it is an Advent hymn in which the morning star is an allegory for the arrival of Jesus, not the Star of Bethlehem. In Cornelius' original second setting, the accompaniment was played on a piano but the English organist Ivor Atkins later arranged the accompaniment for choir, with the choir singing the words of the original hymn. The German words have been translated into English by H.N. Bate.[2] The carol describes the visit of the Biblical Magi to the Infant Jesus during the Nativity and is also used as an Epiphany anthem.[3]
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