Angels We Have Heard on High

About this arrangement

A French carol tune of the 19th century with English words from 1860. The verse sits in C position with the thumb on middle C, and its four bars are played twice, with both sets of words under the notes. Then the refrain everyone waits for: “Glo” is held over sixteen notes, mostly quavers (eighth notes), tumbling down in three steps, and for “ri-a” the thumb drops to the G below middle C for two notes before coming home. The refrain ends on a long C. The left hand plays a bass note and a chord, changing in the middle of the bar.

Practice tip: Learn the refrain in groups: “G, A G F E”, then “F, G F E D”, then “E, F E D C”. Each group is the one before, one key lower. Sing “Glo-o-o-ria” while you play and the shape sticks.

The words

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!

A short history

The French carol “Les anges dans nos campagnes” (“The angels in our countryside”) was printed with this tune in 1842, credited only to “W. M.”, possibly Wulfran Moreau of Poitiers, who would have been about fifteen at the time and later wrote church and school music. Its words had appeared without the tune in a collection of 1805. Nobody is sure who wrote either.

The English words are not a straight translation. They were written by James Chadwick, a Catholic priest who later became Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle in the north of England, and were first printed in The Holy Family Hymns in London in 1860. He kept the French carol’s picture of shepherds hearing the angels, and its Latin refrain. The carol soon became a favourite in the West Country.

“Gloria in excelsis Deo” means “Glory to God in the highest”, the words the angels sing to the shepherds in the Gospel of Luke. The tune is known as “Gloria”.

Quick facts

Tune

Tune: Gloria, traditional French, printed 1842

Words

James Chadwick, 1860

Key

C major

Time signature

4/4

Length

11 bars (the first four played twice)

Tempo

Brightly, crotchet = 112

Difficulty

Level 3: Notes below middle C (piece 66 of 201)

Type

Carol

Hands

Both: melody in the right hand, chords in the left

Copyright

Public domain tune; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal and classroom use

Questions and answers