Angels We Have Heard on High

"Angels We Have Heard on High" is a Christmas carol to the hymn tune "Gloria" from a traditional French song of unknown origin called Les Anges dans nos campagnes, with English lyrics that were translated by James Chadwick. Chadwick's lyrics are derived and inspired and in parts a loose translation, from the French original. The song's subject is the birth of Jesus Christ as narrated in the Gospel of Luke, specifically the scene in which shepherds outside Bethlehem encounter a multitude of angels singing and praising the newborn child.

Angels We Have Heard on High
by unknown composer
"Madonna with child and angels" by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato
GenreHymn
OccasionChristmas
Written1862
TextUnknown, loose English translation James Chadwick
Based onLuke 2:8-15
Meter7.7.7.7 with refrain
Melody"Gloria", arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes

Tune

"Angels We Have Heard on High" is generally sung to the hymn tune "Gloria", a traditional French carol as arranged by Christian Edward Shippen Barnes. Its most memorable feature is its chorus, Gloria in excelsis Deo, where the "o" of "Gloria" is fluidly sustained through 18 notes of a rising and falling melismatic melodic sequence.

In England, the words of James Montgomery's "Angels from the Realms of Glory" are usually sung to this tune, with the "Gloria in excelsis Deo" refrain text replacing Montgomery's. It is from this usage that the tune sometimes is known as "Iris", the name of Montgomery's newspaper.[1]

Lyrics

The lyrics of "Angels We Have Heard on High" are inspired by, but not an exact translation of, the traditional French carol known as Les Anges dans nos campagnes (literally "the angels in our countryside"),[2] whose first known publication was in 1843.[3] "Angels We Have Heard On High" is the most-common English version, loosely translated in 1862 by James Chadwick, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, northeast England. Chadwick's lyrics are original in some sections, including the title, and loosely translated from the French in other sections. The carol quickly became popular in the West Country, where it was described as "Cornish" by R.R. Chope, and featured in Pickard-Cambridge's Collection of Dorset Carols.[4] It has since been translated into other languages,[5] and is widely sung and published.[6]

"Gloria in excelsis Deo", Latin for "Glory to God in the Highest", is the first line of the song of the angels in the Gospel of Luke.

English

Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o'er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be?
Which inspire your heavenly songs?
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

See Him in a manger laid,
Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
With us sing our Saviour's birth.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

French

Les anges dans nos campagnes
Ont entonné l'hymne des cieux,
Et l'écho de nos montagnes
Redit ce chant mélodieux
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Bergers, pour qui cette fête?
Quel est l'objet de tous ces chants?
Quel vainqueur, quelle conquête
Mérite ces cris triomphants?
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Ils annoncent la naissance
Du libérateur d'Israël
Et pleins de reconnaissance
Chantent en ce jour solennel
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Cherchons tous l'heureux village
Qui l'a vu naître sous ses toits
Offrons-lui le tendre hommage
Et de nos cœurs et de nos voix
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

gollark: Strictly speaking, it's a *strict* state burrito.
gollark: This is equivalent to an isomorphism between burritos.
gollark: Does not exist.
gollark: I mean, it just calls it `RealWorld`.
gollark: Possibly.

See also

References
  1. "Angels from the Realms of Glory". Christmas-Carols.org.uk. Archived from the original on 27 December 2009.
  2. "Les anges dans nos campagnes". Petrucci Music Library. Accessed 31 July 2018.
  3. "L'écho des montagnes de Béthléem". Choix de cantiques pour toutes les fêtes de l'année. 1843. p. 3. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  4. "Angels We Have Heard on High". Christmas-Carols.org.uk. Archived from the original on 28 December 2009.
  5. "Angels We Have Heard on High". The Cyber Hymnal. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  6. "Angels We Have Heard on High". Hymnary.org. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  • Free sheet music of Angels We Have Heard on High for SATB from Cantorion.org
  • "Hört, der Engel helle Lieder" (German), in "Liederkunde zum Evangelischen Gesangbuch. Heft 12: Bd. 3/12, pp. 39–42. (ISBN 978-3525503355)
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