"Angels We Have Heard on High" is a

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...

to the

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrai ...

"Gloria" from a traditional French song of unknown origin called "", with

paraphrase A paraphrase () is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin ', . The act of paraphrasing is also called ''paraphrasis''. History Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral tra ...

d English lyrics by

James Chadwick Sir James Chadwick, (20 October 1891 – 24 July 1974) was an English physicist who was awarded the 1935 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the neutron in 1932. In 1941, he wrote the final draft of the MAUD Report, which inspi ...

. The song's subject is the birth of Jesus Christ as narrated in the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascensi ...

, specifically the scene outside

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...

in which shepherds encounter a multitude of angels singing and praising the newborn child.

Tune

"Angels We Have Heard on High" is generally sung to the

"Gloria", a traditional French carol as arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes. Its most memorable feature is its chorus, " Gloria in excelsis Deo", where the "o" of "Gloria" is fluidly sustained through 16 notes of a rising and falling

melisma Melisma ( grc-gre, μέλισμα, , ; from grc, , melos, song, melody, label=none, plural: ''melismata'') is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is refer ...

tic melodic sequence. In England, the words of James Montgomery's "

Angels from the Realms of Glory "Angels from the Realms of Glory" is a Christmas carol written by Scottish poet James Montgomery.Bradley, Ian. ''The Penguin Book of Carols''. Penguin (1999), p27–29. . It was first printed in the '' Sheffield Iris'' on Christmas Eve 1816, ...

" 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. \header \layout global = verse = \lyricmode verseR = \lyricmode soprano = \relative c'' alto = \relative c' tenor = \relative c' bass = \relative c \score \score

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 "" ("the angels in our countryside"), whose first known publication was in 1842. The music was attributed to "W. M.". According to some websites, the hymn is by the nineteenth-century Wilfrid Moreau from Poitiers. "Angels We Have Heard on High" is the most-common English version, an 1862

, the Roman Catholic

Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle The Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle in the Province of Liverpool, known also on occasion as the Northern Province. History With the gradual abolition of the legal restricti ...

, 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 The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glouc ...

, where it was described as "Cornish" by R. R. Chope, and featured in William Adair Pickard-Cambridge's ''Collection of Dorset Carols''. It has since been translated into other languages, and is widely sung and published. Modern hymnals usually include three verses.

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! :, Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong? What the gladsome tidings be? Which inspire your heavenly songs? , : 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! :, See Him in a manger laid Whom the choirs of angels praise; Mary, Joseph, lend your aid, While our heart in love we raise. , : 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! :, 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! :, Ils annoncent la naissance Du libérateur d'Israël Et pleins de reconnaissance Chantent en ce jour solennel , : Gloria in excelsis Deo! :,

German

Maria Luise Thurmair wrote a German version, "Engel auf den Feldern singen" (Angels sing in the fields). The same melody was used by

Diethard Zils Diethard Zils O.P. (born 1935) is a German Dominican, priest and hymnwriter. Born in Bottrop, Zils is known as a hymnwriter for the genre Neues Geistliches Lied and a translator of such songs. They have been included in the Catholic hymnal ''Go ...

for a hymn for Epiphany, "Seht ihr unsern Stern dort stehen" (Do your see our star). Both hymns are part of the Catholic hymnal ''

Gotteslob ''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speaki ...

''.

References

External links

* *
"Hört, der Engel helle Lieder"
(in German), in ''Liederkunde zum Evangelischen Gesangbuch'', no. 12, pp. 39–42. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000 () * (

François-Auguste Gevaert François-Auguste Gevaert (31 July 1828 in Huysse, near Oudenaarde – 24 December 1908 in Brussels) was a Belgian musicologist and composer.N. Slonimsky, Ed., ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th ed., Schirmer Books, NY Li ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Angels We Have Heard On High Christmas carols French folk songs 1862 songs French-language Christmas carols