031.AngelsFromtheRealmsofGlory

Open your hymnals to number 31 and join with the clarinets in “Angels, From the Realms of Glory”.

Name: REGENT SQUARE
Meter: 8 7, 8 7, 8 7.
Tempo: Moderately slow, with dignity
Music: Henry Smart, 1813-79
Text: James Montgomery, 1771-1854

This hymn does seem super familiar, even though, for me, it isn’t one of the REALLY well known Christmas Hymns.

From the wikipedia article:

“Angels from the Realms of Glory” is a Christmas carol written by Scottish poet James Montgomery.[1] It was first printed in the Sheffield Iris on Christmas Eve 1816, though it only began to be sung in churches after its 1825 reprinting in the Montgomery collection The Christian Psalmist and in the Religious Tract Society’s The Christmas Box or New Year’s Gift.[1]

Before 1928, the hymn was sung to a variety of tunes, including “Regent Square”, “Lewes” by John Randall, and “Wildersmouth” or “Feniton Court” by Edward Hopkins.[1] In the United States, the hymn is today most commonly sung to the tune of “Regent Square” by Henry Smart.[1] In the United Kingdom, however, the hymn came to be sung to the French carol tune “Iris”[2] (Les anges dans nos campagnes, the tune used for “Angels We Have Heard on High”) after this setting was published in the Oxford Book of Carols.[1] Sometimes the “Gloria in excelsis Deo” refrain is sung in place of Montgomery’s original lyric: “Come and worship Christ the new-born King”. On A Christmas Cornucopia, Annie Lennox sings this song but substitutes “Gloria in excelsis Deo” for the “Come and worship Christ the new-born King” refrain. Paul Poulton recorded a rock version of this song on his Grooves 4 Scrooge album.

Annie Lenox, who knew?

PDF of the clarinet arrangement: 031.ServiceBookAndHymnal

Doubled all the parts and applied the usual tweaked Audacity “church hall” Reverb effect.

Red Service Book and Hymnal
Red Service Book and Hymnal