re: Joy to the World: from this Handel FAQ"Joy to the World was not composed by Handel. The tune first appeared in the early 1830's in English tune-books. William Holford revised the tune and published it (which he called Comfort) in the mid-1830's and attributed it to Handel because of the tunes' resemblence to the opening phrases of the choruses Lift Up Your Heads and Glory to God from Messiah. The American composer Lowell Mason (1792-1872) in 1839 retained the attribution to Handel, changed the tune-name to Antioch, and united it with Isaac Watt's hymn [i.e., text] for the first time. Thus, Joy to the World was born. "
and re: O little town...
"Phillips Brooks was born in 1835. He began serving Holy Trinity Church in the City of Brotherly Love, at the age of 24. He was an Episcopalian Priest. In 1865, he went on a trip to the Holy Lands - visiting Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, riding there on horseback. As he prepared his Christmas service for 1868, Phillips recalled his trip three years earlier and penned a 5 stanza poem which we know as O Little Town of Bethlehem. The poem was written especially with the children of the parish in mind.
The day after he wrote this poem, Phillips handed it to Mr. Lewis Redner, the Church Organist and Sunday School Superintendent and requested him to write the music for it. Rev. Brooks said, "If it is a good tune, I will name it "St. Lewis' after you." Thirty six children first sang this song on December 27, 1868."