"Angels We Have Heard on High" is a Christmas carol to the hymn tune "Gloria" from a traditional French song of unknown origin called "Les Anges dans nos campagnes", with paraphrased English lyrics by James Chadwick[citation needed].

The song's subject is the birth of Jesus Christ as narrated in the Gospel of Luke, specifically the scene outside Bethlehem in which shepherds encounter a multitude of angels singing and praising the newborn child.

"Angels We Have Heard on High" is generally sung to the hymn tune "Gloria", a traditional French carol as arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes.

This tune takes its name from the newspaper associated with James Montgomery, who wrote "Angels from the Realms of Glory", the version of this carol normally sung in the United Kingdom.

"Angels We Have Heard on High" was an 1862 paraphrase by James Chadwick[citation needed], the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, in the north-east of England.

[7] Angels we have heard on high Sweetly singing o'er the plains And the mountains in reply Echoing their joyous strains |: Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Ils annoncent la naissance Du libérateur d'Israël Et pleins de reconnaissance Chantent en ce jour solennel |: Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Another German text version comes from Otto Abel (1905–1977); „Hört der Engel helle Lieder“ (Hear the angels' bright songs).

[8] A translation by the evangelist Manfred Paul (1938–2020) appeared in 1972 under the title „Friede, Freude hier auf Erden“ (Peace, Joy here on Earth).