Peter Robb Music

We Have Heard Angels

COMPOSER’S NOTE:

Try to imagine being an extra in a movie about some fantastical event one winter night over two thousand years ago outside a little town in Palestine. The unlikely characters are a cast of country folk, a couple travelers, and a mind-blowing special effects finale of extraterrestrial creatures sparkling like stars and making the most astonishing sound.

That’s what animated my attempt to visualize the first four words of Angels We Have Heard On High, the source material for this composition. The familiar English carol, a paraphrase attributed to Bishop James Chadwick, is based on the anonymous words and music of a French song – Les Anges dans nos campagnes. I love Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn’s recording of the original version. It has a folksong quality to it, something closer to the rustic setting it captures.

However, I didn’t go there.

We Have Heard Angels is a choral fantasia, well-suited for a concert opener or finale. As a singer and choral conductor myself, I love to give every part moments to sparkle and whisper as the themes are passed around, spiraling up and cascading down, scattering apart and dancing back together.

There are also several Easter eggs in the melodic material, counterpoint, and text painting, as well as a couple riddles in the interplay of word, sound, and celestial imagination. Let me know what you find…

Enjoy!

 

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Voicing: SSATBB

Duration: 4:20

Level: A

Instrumentation: A cappella

A non-stop joyride! This SATB/divisi holiday concert centerpiece is overflowing with well-crafted melodies, counterpoint moments, rhythmic interest, and harmonic shifts – all seamlessly integrated and skillfully prepared.

Having tunes that pop out in various sections – including some “Easter egg” melodies that are quite a fun surprise – allows the more densely-composed sections to shine. We sang the piece two seasons in a row, at the request of the singers, who were intent on perfecting the piece.

The perfect addition to any Advent/Holiday/Christmas program and substantial enough to give singers and audience an engaging 4+ minute sonic adventure!

Adam Reinwald, conductor, Kantorei (Minneapolis)

Text

Gloria! Gloria in excelsis Deo.

Angels we have heard on high sweetly singing o’er the plains.
And the mountains in reply echoing their joyous strains.
Gloria! Gloria Deo.

Gloria! Gloria in excelsis Deo.

Angels we have heard on high sweetly singing o’er the plains.
And the mountains in reply echoing their joyous strains.
Gloria! Gloria Deo.

Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why these songs of happy cheer?
What great brightness did you see?
What glad tidings did you hear?

Gloria! Gloria in excelsis Deo.

See him in a manger laid whom the angels praise above;
O Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
While we raise our hearts in love.

We have heard angels singing Glory!
Singing Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria!

Come to Bethlehem and see him whose birth the angels sing;
Come adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn king.

Singing Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria!

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