Yeah yeah I missed a day. So sue me. These two are similar in many ways. For one they are both about angels. For two they commonly share the same tune.
Angels we have heard on high:
This is a traditional French carol that was translated into English by Bishop James Chadwick. Bishop Chadwicks’ translation was published in his Holy Family Hymns in 1860.
For once NOT wikipedia. No theirs was terribly written so I borrowed from about.com.
Now that’s pretty much it… no everybody else stole it from wikipedia. It’s original name was Les Anges dans nos campagnes meaning Angels in our countryside. It is sung to the tune Gloria.
{sry video later}
Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.Refrain
Glo-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-O-ri-a, in excelsis Deo!
Glo-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-O-ri-a, in excelsis Deo!Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavenly song?Refrain
Come to Bethlehem and see
Christ Whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.Refrain
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
Angels From the Realms Of Glory
Well it was written by James Montgomery pre-1816 but it was not popularized till 1825. It has two main tunes. If you go to to the U.S. You will find it with it’s own tune called Regent Square. But In the UK it’s sung to what is called Iris but I just mentioned it as Gloria in the Angels we have heard on high summary. Strange that the same tune has different names even though it’s the tune that is being specifically named not the song. I have no idea why. As I also am confounded why they use the same tune for different songs and yet (in the UK) when they sing it the chorus is exactly the same. But enough.
{Video coming soon maybe}
Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story,
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth:
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!Shepherds, in the fields abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with man is now residing,
Yonder shines the infant Light;
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great desire of nations,
Ye have seen His natal star;
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!Saints before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear:
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!
