Wednesday 8 December 2010
Tune of the Day: Angels from the Realms of Glory
English Christmas carol
The poem “Angels from the Realms of Glory” was written in 1916 by English poet James Montgomery. Before 1928, the hymn was sung to a variety of tunes, including “Lewes” by John Randall, and “Wildersmouth” or “Feniton Court” by Edward Hopkins. In the United States, the hymn is today most commonly sung to the tune of “Regent Square”, published in 1867 by Henry Smart. In the United Kingdom, however, the hymn came to be sung to the French carol tune “Iris” (the tune used for “Angels We Have Heard on High”) after this setting was published in the Oxford Book of Carols, except that the “Gloria in excelsis Deo” refrain is sung in place of Montgomery's original lyrics.