Underhill Lounge

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.

Please turn to number 30 and join with the clarinets in, “Angels We Have Heard on High”.

Name: GLORIA (IRIS).
Meter: 7 7, 7 7. With Refrain.
Tempo: Brightly
Music: French Carol
Arr. by Edward Shippen Barnes, 1887-
Text: Traditional French Carol
Alt., Earl Marlatt, 1892-

Whew, another of the warhorses, “Angels We Have Heard on High”.

From the wikipedia article:

The words of the song are based on a traditional French carol known as Les Anges dans nos campagnes (literally, “Angels in our countryside”) composed by an unknown author in Languedoc, France. That song has received many adjustments or alignments including its most common English version that was translated in 1862 by James Chadwick, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, northeast England. The carol quickly became popular in the West Country, where it was described as ‘Cornish’ by R.R. Chope, and featured in Pickard-Cambridge‘s Collection of Dorset Carols.^[1]

Took me a while to work up the courage to even try this one. And then another little while to get over the way that I had sung it as a child.

PDF of the Clarinet Arrangement: 030.ServiceBookAndHymnal

I think it turned out pretty well, mostly trying to modulate the clarinet and attempt to be more musical on some of the passages which would be hit pretty hard while caroling.

Please turn to number 28 and join with the clarinets in, “The Happy Christmas”.

Name: EMANNUEL
Meter: L.M.
Tempo: Joyfully
Music: Carl C.N. Balle, 1806-55
Text: Nikolai F.S. Grudtvig, 1783-1872
Tr. Charles Porterfield Krauth, 1823-83

Not much to say about this one, it’s not one I remember. It’s kind of pretty and a bit folky, but no Sea Chanty. Transposed for clarinet, it did end up having 6 sharps, which is kind of annoying. Tough to remember e sharp is actually just f natural.

Here’s the clarinet arrangement: 028.ServiceBookAndHymnal

4 Soprano Clarinets on the “soprano” part, 1 Soprano Clarinet playing “alto”, 1 Soprano Clarinet playing “tenor”, and 1 bass playing, duh, “bass”. Slightly tweaked audacity “Church Hall” Reverb Effect.