Angels We Have Heard on High The French carol "Les anges dans
nos campagnes," now known as "Angels We Have Heard on High," is
completely anonymous. It has always been printed with no known
lyricist or composer. The beautiful carol tells the story of
Christ's birth, when the angel choir told the good news to
nearby shepherds. The chorus, "Gloria in Excelsis Deo," reflects
the chorus of the angel choir that long-ago Christmas night.
Many years ago shepherds in the hills of southern France had a
Christmas Eve custom of calling to one another, singing "Gloria
in Excelsis Deo," each from his own hillside. The traditional
tune that the shepherds used may have been from a late Medieval
Latin chorale. It became the magnificent chorus of "Angels We
Have Heard on High." The carol seems to be of eighteenth-century
origin, since it was known in England by 1816. At that time
James Montgomery wrote his carol "Angels From the Realms of
Glory", originally basing it on the tune of "Les anges dans nos
campagnes." "Angels From