John A. Behnke’s concertato setting of the beloved Christmas carol “Angels We Have Heard on High” is written for SATB choir, congregation, and organ, and the setting also includes optional parts for handbells and orchestra. If handbells and/or an orchestra are unavailable, the concertato remains a fine setting for the congregation and choir this Christmas. Perform it with everything or incorporate just the subset of instruments you have available.
The setting begins with a fanfare introduction to the hymn. The fanfare is contained in the organ’s accompaniment, but the optional handbell and orchestra parts would also assist the fanfare. If you aren’t able to employ an orchestra, check out CPH’s recording of the setting, and you’ll hear the brass and timpani especially enhance the introduction, joyously announcing the entrance of the angels into the nativity story.
The congregation sings stanza one of the hymn in this concertato, the organ accompanies, and the handbell and orchestra parts add another layer to the accompaniment. The carol “Angels We Have Heard on High” comes directly from the Christmas narrative in Luke 2, and the first stanza features the heavenly hosts singing over Bethlehem, “Gloria in excelsis Deo” (“Glory to God in the highest.” Luke 2:14).
The carol is French in its origin, although its exact authorship and inception is unknown. It began appearing in English hymnals in 1860. Its tune, also French, is beloved, probably because of its natural fit with the text. The melismatic and soaring musical phrase on the Gloria in excelsis Deo refrain illustrates the majesty and activity of the angels as they proclaim the news of the Savior’s birth to Bethlehem.
The second stanza of the hymn is written for SATB choir in Behnke’s concertato. The stanza starts in C minor, the relative minor key of E-flat major, which is where the concertato begins. The stanza returns to E-flat major at the refrain, and the choir intersperses the words “Christ is born in Bethlehem” with the Gloria in excelsis Deo text.
The transition to minor illuminates the intimacy of the text. The carol as a whole is a conversation between certain parties involved in the Christmas narrative, but stanza two brings the dialogue directly to the shepherds: “Shepherds, why this jubilee?”
Perhaps the shepherds are the easiest characters with whom to identify in the Luke 2 narrative. They are fulfilling their quiet vocation when they hear the angelic news, and they react with great rejoicing and go to see the Christ-child where He is promised to be.
The third stanza of the concertato is for the congregation to sing, and it includes a treble descant for the choir. An interlude in between the second and third stanzas modulates the music a whole step up to F major, heightening the final stanza of the hymn.
The handbells and orchestra rejoin the organ to accompany the stanza as the text invites all parties involved in the Christmas story to “Come to Bethlehem and see Him whose birth the angels sing.” The concertato concludes with a coda that hearkens back to the introductory fanfare and a flurry of choral Glorias, bringing the hymn to a stirring finish.
Despite being a beloved Christmas hymn, “Angels We Have Heard on High” is only three stanzas, so you may not typically give it special choral and instrumental treatment at your church every Christmas. This setting now gives you an option to enhance this hallmark Christmas carol.
Consider using this hymn as an opening or closing hymn at your Christmas Eve service this year or whenever the Luke 2 text is read at a service in December. Hopefully your choir will appreciate the opportunity to learn a new arrangement of the carol, and your congregation will enjoy hearing and singing the carol in a new setting!
Sing “Gloria in excelsis Deo” with your congregation this Christmas by ordering the choral score below.