John Francis Wade

John Francis Wade (1 January 1711 – 16 August 1786) was an English hymnist who is usually credited with writing and composing the hymn "Adeste Fideles" (which was translated as "O Come All Ye Faithful" in 1841 by Frederick Oakeley). The authorship is disputed, with 13th-century cardinal St. Bonaventure and King John IV of Portugal being proposed as alternative composers, although the earliest known manuscripts of the hymn discovered from 1946 all bear Wade's signature. Others argue for John Reading (c. 1645 – c. 1692) or anonymous Cistercian monks. Wade fled to France after the Jacobite rising of 1745 was crushed. As a Catholic layman, he lived with exiled English Catholics in France, where he taught music and worked on church music for private use.

Classical Christmas Around the World - 2025-12-25T00:00:00.000000Z

A Symphonic Christmas - 2025-11-04T00:00:00.000000Z

A Choral Christmas - 2023-11-03T00:00:00.000000Z

Christmas at St John's College Cambridge - 2006-10-01T00:00:00.000000Z

Nativity: Christmas Music from Georgian England (English Orpheus 49) - 2003-10-01T00:00:00.000000Z

Similar Artists

Father Michaels

Jan Łukaszewski

Marco Ruggeri

Tomás Luis de Victoria

Henry Walford Davies

Schola Antiqua

St. Michael's Singers

Purcell Choir

Thomas Gropper

Joseph Barnby