Angels We Have Heard on High

	Angels We Have Heard on High (Ainglean chuala sinn gu h-àrd) Angels We Have Heard on High, performed by Clarinet and French Horn Angels We Have Heard on High (Ainglean chuala sinn gu h-àrd) Angels We Have Heard on High, Piano solo
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"Angels We Have Heard on High" is a Christmas carol with the lyrics written by James Chadwick (bishop), to the music from a French song called 'Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes'. The music is the same as the original song, though Chadwick's lyrics albeit unique and original are clearly derived and inspired, and in parts loosely translated from the original song. The song commemorates the story of the birth of Jesus Christ found in the Gospel of Luke, in which shepherds outside Bethlehem encounter a multitude of angels singing and praising the newborn child.

Lyrics written for Les Anges dans nos campagnes

The lyrics of 'Angels We Have Heard on High' are inspired by but not a direct translation of the French carol known as Les Anges dans nos campagnes (literally, "The Angels in our countryside") composed by an unknown author in Languedoc, France, though they are clearly inspired by that song, and broadly follow the same storyline. The French song has received many adjustments or alignments including 'Angels we have heard on high' its most common English version that was written in 1862 by James Chadwick, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, northeast England. 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.^[1] Chadwick's lyrics differ from the original French version, including a new song title, and are deemed an original work attributable solely to him. Chadwick did not directly translate the lyrics but wrote a new set of lyrics that closely followed the story theme of the original French song,

The lyrics of Angels We Have Heard on High were written to fit with the music of Les Anges dans nos campagnes . Chadwick's lyrics are clearly inspired but are not a direct translation of the song though there are similarities. It is considered a derivative work. Chadwick's lyrics are considered original under copyright laws and entirely his, even though they are recognized as a 'derivative work'. They are completely unique in sections and also loosely translated in sections from the original french song. Both sets of lyrics are unique and original. Chadwick's version is the much more popular and commonplace

There is also a Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) translation of the carol which is known as Ainglean chuala sinn gu h-ard (literally, "Angels We Have Heard on High"). This was translated into Gaelic by Iain MacMilan from James Chadwick's English translation. It has since been re-translated by world-renowned bassist Joseph Schlegel and his cohorts the Rowdy Bunch. It has been said that this translation spurred a Christian revivalist movement in the north metro area of Denver, Colorado.

Tunes

"Angels We Have Heard on High" is most commonly sung to the hymn tune "Gloria", as arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes. Its most memorable feature is its chorus:

Gloria in Excelsis Deo! (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest")

Where the sung vowel sound "o" of "Gloria" is fluidly sustained through a lengthy rising and falling melismatic melodic sequence:

Glo-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-O-ri-a in Ex-cel-sis De-o!

"Gloria in Excelsis Deo" is the first line of the song of the angels in the Gospel according to Luke in Latin.

The phrase also appears melismatically in the Latin version of the carol "O Come All Ye Faithful", though somewhat less extended:

Glo-o-o-O-ri-a in Ex-cel-sis De-o.

In the English version of "O Come All Ye Faithful", that phrase is poetically translated as Glo-ry to Go-od, Glo-ry in the High-est, (or, "Glo-ry to Go-od, In-- the-- High-est"), reducing the melisma to no more than two notes per word.

In England, the words of James Montgomery's "Angels from the Realms of Glory" are sung to this tune, except with the "Gloria in excelsis Deo" refrain. It is from this usage that the tune sometimes is known as Iris, the name of Montgomery's newspaper.^[2]

Lyrics

English

Angels we have heard on high

Sweetly singing o’er the plain

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

Come to Bethlehem and see

Christ Whose birth the angels sing;

Come, adore on bended knee,

Christ, the Lord, the newborn King.

Gloria

See Him in a manger laid,

Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth;

Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,

With us sing our Savior's birth.

Gloria

French

Les anges dans nos campagnes

Ont entonné l'hymne des cieux,

Et l'écho de nos montagnes

Redit ce chant mélodieux