Angels We Have Heard on High
Here is a refreshingly new take on the standard, classic carol. Beginning slowly with singing bells, flowing eighth notes, and handchimes, the listener can imagine the shepherds' awe and amazement at the angels' beautiful song proclaiming the Christ child's birth. They hurry across the plain to find the child, depicted by malleted and thumb-damped bells in a spirited, rhythmic section in 7/8 time. With an LV eighth-note accompaniment under a chordal treble melody sprinkled with a few 16th notes, the final stanza is majestic and full as the shepherds find the holy family and worship their newborn king.