It was not until 1872 that the poem is known to have been set to music. The English organist, John Baptiste Calkin, used the poem in a processional accompanied with a melody "Waltham" that he previously used as early as 1848.[3] The Calkin version of the carol was long the standard. Less commonly, the poem has also been set to Joseph Mainzer's 1845 composition "Mainzer".[9] Harriet P. Sawyer (1862–1934) also composed a setting for the poem.[10] Other melodies have been composed more recently, most notably in 1956 by Johnny Marks (arranged by Lee Kjelson and Margaret Shelley Vance).[11]
Bing Crosby recorded the song on October 3, 1956, using Marks's melody and verses 1, 2, 6, 7. It was released as a single[12] and reached No. 55 in the Music Vendor survey. The record was praised by both Billboard and Variety. Variety wrote "Bing Crosby's workover of 'I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day' looks like a big one for the '56 Yule and a hit potential of enduring value."[13] Billboard wrote "At deadline time, not many of this year's Christmas issues had shown much action. This new Crosby record, however, was off to a promising start. As fast as it is catching on early in the month, it is easy to project the impressive volume it will rack up the last half of December."[14] Crosby is said to have quipped to Marks: "I see you finally got yourself a decent lyricist" [15]
Marks's tune has since received more than 60 commercial recordings, with total sales exceeding 5 million copies.[16] Covers of the song include versions by Harry Belafonte (1958), Johnny Cash (1963), Andy Williams (1974), and Echosmith (2019), among many others.
In 2008, a contemporary Christian music group, Casting Crowns, scored their eighth No. 1 Christian hit with "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", from their album Peace on Earth.[17] The song is not an exact replica of the original poem or carol, but an interpolation of verses 1, 6, 7 and 3 (in that order), interposed with a new chorus. Richard Marx also used this version for his Christmas Spirit in 2012.
