Angels We Have Heard on High
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Angels We Have Heard on High, performed by Clarinet and French Horn
Angels We Have Heard on High, Piano solo
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"Angels We Have Heard on High" is a Christmas carol. 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.
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[edit] Translations
The words of the song are based on a traditional French carol known as Les Anges dans nos campagnes (literally, "Angels in our countryside") composed by an unknown author in Languedoc, France. That song has received many adjustments or alignments including its most common English version that was translated 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]
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.
[edit] 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.
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 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].
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.
[edit] Lyrics
[edit] English
- Angels we have heard on high
- Sweetly singing o’er the plains
- And the mountains in reply
- Echoing their joyous strains
CHORUS:
- 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 song? Chorus
- Come to Bethlehem and see
- Him Whose birth the angels sing;
- Come, adore on bended knee,
- Christ the Lord, the newborn King. Chorus
- See Him in a manger laid
- Jesus Lord of heaven and earth;
- Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
- With us sing our Savior's birth. Chorus
[edit] 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 (Bis)
- 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 (Bis)
- Ils annoncent la naissance
- Du libérateur d'Israël
- Et pleins de reconnaissance
- Chantent en ce jour solennel
Gloria in excelsis Deo (Bis)
- 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 (Bis)
- Bergers, quittez vos retraites,
- Unissez-vous à leurs concerts,
- Et que vos tendres musettes
- Fassent retentir les airs
[edit] Scottish Gaelic
- Ainglean chuala sinn gu h-ard,
- Seinn cho milis feadh an àit',
- Na beanntannan co - sheirm an ciùil,
- 'S Mac talla freagairt bòidheach ciùin.
SEISD (CHORUS):
- Seinn moladh agus glòir, Moladh agus glòir
- Moladh agus glòir do Dhia, An Dàrna Pearsa naomh den Trian.
- Seinn moladh agus glòir, Moladh agus glòir
- Moladh agus glòir do Dhia, An Dàrna Pearsa naomh den Trian.
- Chìobairean, carson ur duan?
- Carson a tha e àlainn buan?
- Innsibh dhuinn ur naidheachd-ghaoil
- Dhùisg sibh suas gu ceòl cho naomh. Seisd (Chorus)
- Thig gu Bethlehem, thig is chì,
- Chì thu'n Tighearna Dia do Righ;
- Lùb do ghlùin 's thoir adhradh dhà,
- Crìosda rugadh dhuinn na phàisd'. Seisd (Chorus)
[edit] Portuguese
- Vinde cristãos, vinde à porfia,
- Hinos cantemos de louvor,
- Hinos de paz e de alegria,
- Que os anjos cantam ao Senhor.
CHORUS:
- Glória, a Deus nas alturas! (bis)
- Foi nesta noite venturosa,
- Em que nasceu o Salvador,
- Que anjos com voz harmoniosa
- Deram a Deus o seu louvor.
- Vinde juntar-vos aos pastores,
- Vinde com eles a Belém,
- Vinde correndo pressurosos,
- Pois o Senhor enfima nos vem.
[edit] Cover Recordings
- Christian Bautista (A Wonderful Christmas, 2009)
- Brian McKnight (I'll Be Home For Christmas, also duet with Josh Groban, 2008)
- Josh Groban (Noël, 2007)
- Andrea Bocelli (My Christmas, 2009)
- Micheal Castaldo (Extravergine, 2012)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Angels We Have Heard on High. Christmas-Carols.org.uk. Accessed 7th December 2009
- ^ Angels from the Realms of Glory
[edit] External links
- Free sheet music of Angels We Have Heard on High for SATB from Cantorion.org
- Christian Classics Ethereal Hymnary: Gloria -- Tune: 000095
- Cyber Hymnal
- Les chansons en français" [1]
