Angels We Have Heard on High | |
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![]() Madonna with Child and Angels by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato | |
Genre | Hymn |
Occasion | Christmas |
Written | 1862 |
Text | Unknown French original; English paraphrase by James Chadwick[citation needed] |
Based on | Luke 2:8–20 |
Meter | 7.7.7.7 with refrain |
Melody | "Gloria", arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes |
"Angels We Have Heard on High" is a Christmas carol to the hymn tune "Gloria" from a traditional French song of unknown origin called "Les Anges dans nos campagnes", with paraphrased English lyrics by James Chadwick[citation needed]. The song's subject is the birth of Jesus Christ as narrated in the Gospel of Luke, specifically the scene outside Bethlehem in which shepherds encounter a multitude of angels singing and praising the newborn child.