If there was a formula to write a popular song, I highly doubt that Latin words or singing a word for over 12 beats (and moving up and down through various notes) would be on the list. In fact, I suspect they would be on the list of things not to include if your goal was to write such a song. However, we find both of these elements in one of the most popular Christmas songs: “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Let’s explore how this song with these unusual components came to be and what it means.
The Story
This song is a loose translation of a French song called “Les Anges dans nos campagnes.” My brief research into the song showed me that it has been attributed to a few different people, so it is unclear who wrote it and when; we do know, however, that it was written before 1842 as there is a published version of it from that year. There is much more certainty around the English Christmas carol, as it comes from a Roman Catholic priest living in England James Chadwick and the year 1862.
If you know French (or plugged that phrase into Google translate!), you might see why I labeled the song as a loose translation of this French song, as that song’s title would be translated “the angels in our countryside” rather than “angels we have heard on high.” Chadwick’s work was not a literal translation of the song but rather was inspired by the French song, utilizing some of the same images and ideas and put to the same tune. The music we know comes from a 1937 arrangement of the traditional French carol by an American organist named Edward Shippen Barnes (1887-1958).
The Song
The French song that inspired Chadwick had at least eight verses and forms something of a dialogue between shepherds and women who sing to each other and then sing with each other. Chadwick’s English song does feature this motif and only includes four verses, and many modern versions only include the first three verses. One element found in both the French and English is a refrain in Latin: “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” This phrase means “glory to God in the highest” – the message announced by the angels to the shepherds in Luke 2:14. Both versions share this phrase and also focus on the announcement of Jesus’s birth to the shepherds.
The opening verse notes that the angels are singing, but also points out that the celebration happens in all parts of creation at the birth of Jesus as “the mountains in reply echo back their joyous strains.” This is a great reminder that it is not just people who benefit from Jesus’s birth, but all of creation which has been placed under the curse of sin and groaning in anticipation of its redemption as well. The second verse then focuses on the shepherds\’ joy (“jubilee”); it appears that Chadwick’s original describes their “strains” as “rapturous strains,” but most contemporary versions use the more familiar “joyous” that then parallels the praise of the mountains in the first verse. The cause of their joy is the “tidings” (“news”) then sung in the refrain. The third verse journeys from the shepherds singing to the invitation to go to Bethlehem to see “him whose birth the angels sing.” But it is more than an invitation to see, it is also an invitation to worship as one is to “adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord, the newborn king.” The journey to Bethlehem continues in the less commonly sung fourth verse; it notes that “in a manger laid, Jesus, Lord of heav’n and earth.” There is then an invitation to Mary and Joseph to join in the singing, as they are asked to “lend your aid” in the singing.
When I compared these verses with the French original (thanks again Google translate! You can also see the French with translation here), I could see both the similarities as well as the differences. A common theme is in the opening verse, as both the English and French highlight the echoing of the mountains. However, they do so in different ways as the English version speaks of their “joyous strains” while a literal translation of the French would be that they repeat “this melodious song.” The second English verse also reflects its French parallel in asking the shepherds the reason for their singing, but the French may focus less on “why” and more on “who” as my translation of the French renders it “for whom is this celebration?” and it talks about the “winner” who deserves the cries. I find less direct parallels in the French song for the third and fourth verses; for example, there is no explicit mention to Bethlehem (v. 3) or to Mary and Joseph (v. 4). That said, the French song does issue an invitation to go and see the one born and sing to him.
One element of the French song I appreciated but not found in the English is the note that these angels “announce the birth of Israel\’s Liberator.” I like this line because it is a reminder of why the angels and all creation sing; the English version highlights the joy of the day and praise that Jesus deserves, but doesn’t look as much as why he deserves this praise and what he should do. This is not necessarily a knock on the English song as it is a joyful celebration inspired by what we read in Luke 2 – a passage that does not go into great detail about Jesus’s work in its proclamation of Jesus as Christ the Lord and the Savior.
Above all, this song is an excellent reminder that we should join with the angels and all creation is singing and rejoicing in the birth of Jesus, so let’s sing that Latin phrase that we hold for so long in this song knowing that it means: Glory to God in the Highest!
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