If angels sung a Savior's birth, we well may imitate their mirth.
| Tune name | Denson | Cooper | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthem on the Beginning | 553 | - | "In the beginning was the Word." |
| Anthem on the Savior | 355 | - | "He ... was born of the Virgin Mary, and was cradled in a manger." |
| Bridgewater | 276 | 276 | More angelic praise, perhaps |
| Chester | 479 | - | "Sun, moon, and stars convey Thy praise" |
| Christmas Anthem | 225 | 225 | "Angelic armies tune their harps..." |
| Cleburne | 314 | - | Perhaps sung by angel choirs. |
| Cookham | 81 | - | "'Hark!' the herald angels sing..." |
| Coronation | 63 | - | Perhaps sung by angel choirs. |
| Glory Shone Around | - | 98 | "While shepherds watched their flocks by night..." |
| Golden Harp, The | 274 | 274 | The Golden Harp Someday we'll join with the angel chorus |
| Green Street | 198 | - | Definitely sung by angel choirs. [5] |
| Hallelujah | 146 | 146 | Perhaps sung by angel choirs |
| Joyful News | - | 244 | "Joy to the world! The Lord is come!" |
| Jubilee | 144 | 144 | "Glory, honor and salvation: Christ, the Lord is come to reign" |
| Messiah | 131t | 131t | "He comes, He comes!" |
| Milford | 273 | - | "If angels sung a Savior's birth...we well may imitate their mirth," [2] |
| Nativity | 350 | - | A Christmas title |
| New Agatite | 485 | - | Perhaps sung by angel choirs. |
| New Hosanna | 412 | 412 | "Hail the morn for unto us a Savior's born." |
| New Lebanon | 202 | 202 | God's intelligent design of "a thousand starry beauties" |
| Newburgh | 182 | 182 | The lights of heaven "shine to [their] maker's praise" |
| Northfield | 155 | 155 | "How long must this bright hour delay?" |
| Old Hundred | 49 | 49 | Perhaps sung by angel choirs |
| Oxford | 306 | 306 | "Shepherds, rejoice! lift up your eyes..." |
| Peace and Joy | 532 | - | A Christmas title with Easter words |
| Plenary | 162 | 162 | "Auld Lang Syne" is often sung to this tune |
| Portuguese Hymn | 223 | 223 | "Haste with songs of triumph, to Bethlehem haste... " |
| Present Joys | 318 | [3] | Grateful for "present joys, for blessings past, and for the hope of heaven at last" |
| Raymond | 441 | [4] | "Hark, the glad sound! the Savior comes..." |
| Rejoice | - | 433 | "Shepherds, rejoice! lift up your eyes..." |
| Royal Band, The | 360 | 360 | "The angels in glory repeat the glad story..." |
| Shepherds Rejoice | 152 | 291 | "Shepherds, rejoice! lift up your eyes..." |
| Sherburne | 186 | 186 | "While shepherds watched their flocks by night..." |
| Shining Star | 461 | 461 | "While shepherds watched their flocks by night..." |
| Silver Street | 311 | 311 | Come, sound his praise abroad"--another angelic song, perhaps |
| Sky, The | - | 389 | "Join the full chorus of the sky." |
| Star in the East | - | 175 | "Go worship the Babe in the manger" |
| Winter | 38 | - | A Winter/Spring text |
| Wonder, The | - | 292 | A meditation on "The love of God unspeakable--'tis a wonder" |
| Wondrous Love | 159 | 159 | "When I was sinking down, Christ laid aside his crown for my soul." |
Many contributors, witting or not, including Chris Brown, Paul Figura, Tammy Heinsohn, Berkley Moore, Peter Ross, Terre Schill, Samuel Sommers, Jenna Faith Strizak and Matthew Wojcik. Any and all errors are mine, of course. And Samuel Sommers notes:
Nearly all the songs in your Advent and Christmas list are Christmas songs. The three Advent songs I notice are 131, 144, and 441. Other Advent songs would include 49b, 117, 130, 149, 151, 232, 250, 291, 421, 438, 495, 502, 567, and 572. Other advent hymns might include 102, 121, and 299. But when you consider that traditional sermon topics for Sundays in Advent are the Four Last Things (death, judgment, heaven and hell) one must grope to find a Sacred Harp tune which isn't an Advent song.
--Will Fitzgerald, Christmas, 2005 (revised, Nov. 2006)
1: These have either explicitly Christmas/Advent/New Year's tunes or poetry, are about winter or stars, poetry about the life and work of Jesus, or songs of praise the angel choirs might have appropriately sung at the Messiah's birth.
2: Written an Easter hymn. Chris Brown and Matthew Wojcik noted that Milford's poetry was "An Hymn for Easter Day," which explains why "If Angels sung a Savior's birth/on that auspicious morn/We well may imitate their birth/Now he again is born."
3: Tune is similar to Cooper Book 532, but a different text.
4: Tune is similar to Cooper Book 198, but a different text.
5: Inclusion of Green Street is taken by some as proof that it was the Denson book used by the Angel choirs :)