"Joyful, Joyful" is a song by

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christianity, Chri ...

band

Casting Crowns Casting Crowns is a contemporary Christian and Christian rock band which began in Daytona Beach, Florida. The band was formed in 1999 by lead vocalist Mark Hall. They moved to Stockbridge, Georgia, and more members joined. Some members of the ...

from their fourth studio album '' Until the Whole World Hears'' (2009). Written by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms and produced by Mark A. Miller, the song is a re-interpretation of the hymn " Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" and

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's ''

Symphony No. 9 Symphony No. 9 most commonly refers to: * Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) in D minor (Op. 125, ''Choral'') by Ludwig van Beethoven, 1822–24 * Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák) in E minor (Op. 95, B. 178, ''From the New World'') by Antonín Dvořák, 1893 ...

''. "Joyful, Joyful", a CCM and

alternative CCM Christian alternative rock is a form of alternative rock music that is lyrically grounded in a Christian worldview. Some critics have suggested that unlike CCM and older Christian rock, Christian alternative rock generally emphasizes musical s ...

song, is driven by a

string section The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

that has been compared to

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

's song "

Viva la Vida (, ; ) is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'' (2008). The lyrics contain historical and Christian references (King Louis XVI of ...

". It received positive reviews from music critics and received airplay over the 2010 Christmas season, peaking at number three on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs c ...

chart.

Background and recording

"Joyful, Joyful", is a rearrangement of the hymn " Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" (itself a re-arrangement of a theme from

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

). Hall felt that there are many Christian songs that have been around and sung so long that the meaning behind them is lost; he commented that "you hear them so many times you don't really hear what they're saying anymore", listing the original version of "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" as an example. Although the song is a re-interpretation of "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee", Mark Hall and Bernie Herms are credited with writing the song. It was produced by Mark A. Miller and recorded by Sam Hewitt, Michael Hewitt, and Dale Oliver at Zoo Studio in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

; the string instrument tracks were recorded by John Painter and Leslie Richter at

Ocean Way Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates recording facilities, but Oc ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. Digital editing was handled by Michael Hewitt, while mixing was handled by Sam Hewitt. The song was

mastered Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source from which all copies will be ...

by Andrew Mendelson, Shelly Anderson, Natthaphol Abhigantaphand and Daniel Bacigalupi at Georgetown Masters in Nashville.

Composition

"Joyful, Joyful" is a song with a length of four minutes and twenty-eight seconds. According to the sheet music published by Musicnotes.com, "Joyful, Joyful" is a CCM and

set in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

in the

key Key, Keys, The Key or The Keys may refer to: Common uses * Key (cryptography), a piece of information needed to encode or decode a message * Key (instrument), a component of a musical instrument * Key (lock), a device used to operate a lock * K ...

F major F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat.Music Theory'. (1950). United States: Standards and Curriculum Division, Training, Bureau of Naval Personnel. 28. Its relati ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 120

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

. Mark Hall's

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

in the song spans from the low note of B₃ to the high note of F₅. The song has regarded as a re-invention of "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" and Beethoven's ''

'', the song alters the format of the former, rearranging the song's overall structure while adding a chorus. "Joyful, Joyful" is led by a "driving" and "pulsing"

that has been compared to

's "

". Mark Hall felt that the band's arrangement brought out the message of one of the song's final verses ("God our Father/Christ our brother/all who live in love are thine/teach us how to love each other/and fill us to the joy divine"); Hall described the message by saying "God's our father and Christ's our brother, we have this connection with God. But if we can't love each other, the joy isn't completed. Its not real joy yet until we know how to love the people that are around us".

Critical reception

"Joyful, Joyful" received positive reviews from music critics. Andrew Greer of ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is an online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music and media, published by Logan and Amanda Sekulow. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has been owned by Salem since 1999. O ...

'' praised the song as a "fitting ode" to Beethoven's ''Symphony No. 9''. Roger Ham of ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "eva ...

'' praised it as one of the best songs off of '' Until the Whole World Hears''. Tony Cummings of ''

Cross Rhythms Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It operates an FM and online radio station, produces radio shows sent internationally, and its website has resources about contemporary Christian music. His ...

'' praised the song as having "the same kind of string arrangement which made Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida' so enjoyable". Debra Akins of

Gospel Music Channel UP TV (stylized as UPtv; formerly GMC TV and originally Gospel Music Channel) is an American basic cable television network that was founded to have a focus on gospel music. It has expanded into family-friendly original movies, series, and special ...

regarded the song as a highlight of the album. Roger Gelwicks of Jesus Freak Hideout, while describing the song as "interesting", felt that it wasn't much of an improvement over the rest of the album.

Chart performance

"Joyful, Joyful" received airplay over the 2010 Christmas season, debuting at number forty-two on the ''

chart for the chart week of December 11, 2010. In its fifth week on the chart, the chart week of January 8, 2011, it reached its peak position of number three.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the album liner notes for '' Until the Whole World Hears''. Recording *Recorded Zoo Studio in

. *Strings recorded at Ocean Way in

. Casting Crowns * Hector Cervantes – Electric guitar * Juan DeVevo – Acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Melodee DeVevo – Violin,

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

* Megan Garrett – Piano, keyboard, background vocals * Mark Hall – Vocals * Chris Huffman – Bass guitar * Brian Scoggin – Drums Production *Natthaphol Abhigantaphand – Mastering assistant *Shelley Anderson – Mastering assistant *Daniel Bacigalupi – Mastering assistant *Terry Hemmings – Executive producer *Michael Hewitt –

Recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

, digital editing *Sam Hewitt – Recording, mixing *Andrew Mendelson – Mastering *Mark A. Miller – Producer *Dale Oliver – Additional recording *John Painter – Recording *Leslie Richter – Recording assistant

Charts

References

{{authority control Casting Crowns songs 2009 songs Songs written by Mark Hall (musician) Songs written by Bernie Herms