Angels We Have Heard on High

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Angels we have heard on high

Tune: GLORIA (French)
Opening Hymns
Published in 242 hymnals

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	Les anges dans nos campagnes (Angels We Have Heard On High)

Piano/Organ
	And This Shall Be a Sign (A cantata proc…

Choral
	Angels We Have Heard on High

Representative Text

1. Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing o'er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.

Refrain:
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.

2. Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavn'ly song? [Refrain]

3. Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing.
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the newborn King. [Refrain]

4. See him in a manger laid,
Whom the choirs of angels praise.
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid
While our hearts in love we raise. [Refrain]

Source: Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #30

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Text Information

Related Texts

First Line:	Angels we have heard on high
Title:	Angels We Have Heard on High
French Title:	Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes
Meter:	7.7.7.7 with refrain
Language:	English
Refrain First Line:	Gloria in excelsis Deo
Notes:	Spanish translation: See "Angeles cantando están" by George Paul Simmonds
Copyright:	Public Domain
Liturgical Use:	Opening Hymns

Year A, Christmas season, Christmas Eve
This is recommended for Year A, Christmas season, Christmas Eve by 3 hymnal lectionary indexes including Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal #113 and Lift Up Your Hearts: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs #82.
Year A, Christmas season, Christmas Day
This is recommended for Year A, Christmas season, Christmas Day by 2 hymnal lectionary indexes including Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal #113 and Lift Up Your Hearts: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs #82.
Year B, Christmas season, Christmas Eve
This is recommended for Year B, Christmas season, Christmas Eve by 3 hymnal lectionary indexes including Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal #113 and Lift Up Your Hearts: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs #82.
Year B, Christmas season, Christmas Day
This is recommended for Year B, Christmas season, Christmas Day by 2 hymnal lectionary indexes including Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal #113 and Lift Up Your Hearts: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs #82.
Year C, Christmas season, Christmas Eve
This is recommended for Year C, Christmas season, Christmas Eve by 2 hymnal lectionary indexes including Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal #113 and Lift Up Your Hearts: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs #82.
Year C, Christmas season, Christmas Day
This is recommended for Year C, Christmas season, Christmas Day by 3 hymnal lectionary indexes including Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal #113 and Lift Up Your Hearts: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs #82.

Notes

Scripture References:
all st. = Luke 2:8-15

"Les anges" is a French noel (from the Languedoc region) believed to date from the eighteenth century. Its text and tune were first published in the Nouveau Recueil de Cantiques in 1855. The English translation originated as a free imitation from the French by James Chadwick, which was adapted by Henri Hemy in his Roman Catholic collection, Crown of Jesus Music (1862). Of the original eight-stanza French text, stanzas 1, 2, and 4 are included.

The… Read More

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Tune

Frequency of use

GLORIA (French)

GLORIA is the French noel tune traditionally associated with this text. The popularity of this carol stems from its refrain–all those cascading phrases in which human beings imitate the angels' chorus. Try using the refrain by itself as a short choral introit during the Christmas season, perhaps w…

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For Leaders

It’s a simply beautiful image: the shepherds in a great field, staring up in wonder at a sky full of the heavenly hosts, singing out their praise and joy, the echoes of their song of reverberating off the mountains to add to the cacophony. It isn’t hard to imagine the shepherds’ response. This group of young boys must have looked at each other wide-eyed, then whooped and cheered and run as fast as they could into the village, a stampede of sheep following them. Giddy with excitement and out of breath, did they burst into the stable and crowd around the manger? Or did they stop at the stable door, suddenly shy and overwhelmed, and peek in at the couple holding a tiny baby? Did they fully understand what they were witnessing? Do we even fully understand what they were witnessing? This hymn invites us to “Come to Bethlehem and see.” Today, we go to Bethlehem. We peak through the stable doors, and we kneel in amazement before the Christ child, our ears still ringing from the angels’ song. More so than the shepherds, we are able to see who this child is, because we know the Gospel story. We know that the angels would come again, this time to announce that Christ was not where the women looked for Him, but that He had risen. It isn’t hard to imagine that a “Gloria” would have been on those angels’ lips as well.

Text:

This text originates from a French carol, believed to date back to the eighteenth century, and first published in eight stanzas in Choix de cantiques sur des airs nouveaux in 1842. The English version we use today comes from a translation of the French by James Chadwick, and adapted for use by Henri Hemy in Crown of Jesus Music in 1862. Most modern hymnals include three verses: “Angels we have heard on high,” “Shepherds, why this jubilee,” “Come to Bethlehem, and see.” There are a number of differences in the text between hymnals, so make sure you've got the words you want when printing or projecting them for a congregation.

Tune:

The tune GLORIA, with its beautiful cascading “Glorias,” was first published with the French text mentioned above. The structure of the hymn seems to imply that a small choir or soloist is to sing the verses, with the congregation joining on the refrains. However, most congregations will want to sing the entire song. If this is the case, vary the accompaniment with lighter instrumentation on the verses and a fuller sound on the “Glorias.” While you probably won’t be singing the hymn in Latin or with full strings accompaniment, Andrea Bocelli’s rendition is a good example of how to build throughout the song with your accompaniment, beginning quietly and ending with a full, rich, triumphant sound.

When/Why/How:

This beautiful and glorious hymn is a favorite on Christmas morning. The references to the angels and the shepherds imply that this hymn is an announcement of the birth of Christ; as such, it would fit well at the beginning of the service, as a processional or opening hymn. The familiar refrain of this hymn, “Gloria in excelsis Deo,” can be sung as a choral introit on Christmas day, and throughout the Christmas season.

Alternative Harmonization for Organ:

Hobby, Robert A. Three Festive Christmas Introductions and Accompaniments.

Alternative Harmonization for Piano:

Hopson, Hal H. The Creative Use of the Piano in Worship.

Alternative Harmonization for Brass:

Five Carol Accompaniments for Brass Quartet and Organ

Gloria - Brass Accompaniments for Hymnsinging

Other suggested music:

Martin, Gilbert M. Angel Carols (for Brass quintet and Organ)

Sherman, Arnold B. Angels We Have Heard On High (for Handbells and optional Choir)

Hakes, Derek. Festival Gloria (for Choir)

Larson, Lloyd. Christmastime (with Angels We Have Heard on High) words by Michael W. Smith (for Choir, Optional Children's Choir, Piano, and optional Orchestra

Davis, Taylor. Angels We Have Heard on High (for Choir, Children's Choir, Piano or Harp, with opt. Orchestra)

Proulx, Richard. Angels We Have Heard on High (for SAB Choir and Trumpet)

Laura de Jong,
Hymnary.org

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Arrangements

Store

Piano/Organ And This Shall Be a Sign (A cantata proclaiming God's promise fulfilled) The Living Light (A Dramatic Musical Experience for Christmas) Starry Night, Noisy Night (A Christmas Musical for Children) More Piano/Organ...
Choral Angels We Have Heard on High And Heaven and Nature Sing CHRISTMASTIME More Choral...
Instrumental Angels We Have Heard on High Angels We Have Heard on High Angels We Have Heard on High - (Choral Score) More Instrumental...
Handbells Noels Ringing Angel Songs Christmas Carol Celebrations - Keyboard/Handbell Score (Creative Settings for Handbells and Keyboard with Optional Congregational Singing) More Handbells...
PowerPoint ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH (Worshiping Church 152) ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH (Evangelical Lutheran 2006 - 289) ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH (Hymnal for Worship & Celebration 132) More PowerPoint...

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Baptist Hymnal 1991 #100

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The Cyber Hymnal #186

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Psalms and Hymns to the Living God (2023), p.285

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Instances

Instances (1 - 100 of 102)

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Angels We Have Heard on High

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Angels we have heard on high

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Instrumental

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Baptist Hymnal 1991 #100

The Cyber Hymnal #186

Training hymnal for IWH215 #2

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #347

Worship and Rejoice #188

With Heart and Voice: songs for all God's children #79

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