An Angel from on High
13; 328

Text: Parley P. Pratt (1807–1857; LDS)
Music: John E. Tullidge (1806–1873; LDS)
Tune name: CUMORAH

“‘An Angel from on High’ belongs distinctively to Mormon hymnology. It is a song of the Restoration— a revelation of a divine truth of which Parley P. Pratt was an inspired torch- bearer.” So stated George D. Pyper in Stories of Latter- day Saint Hymns (73).

This hymn was not part of Emma Smith’s first hymnal in 1835, but it appeared in the 1840 hymnal for which Parley P. Pratt was one of the editors. Its five stanzas tell briefly but effectively the story of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the purposes that these sacred writings are destined to fulfill. Hidden in Cumorah, as announced to Joseph Smith by the angel Moroni, these scriptures will bring to the world the fulness of the gospel and will prepare the peoples of the earth for the coming of Christ.

The hymn has been sung to many tunes, but Latter- day Saints today know and love the tune CUMORAH by John Tullidge, first printed in 1857. It is an unusual and effective setting, with the first two lines contrasting in mood and rhythm with lines three and four. A look at Parley P. Pratt’s text will show why this musical contrast suits the words so well: in general, the first half of each stanza of the text is narrative and explanatory, whereas the last half is a declaration and a testimony. The matching of words and music is truly satisfying, since the 6/8 time signature of the first half is more tentative and tranquil, and the 4/4 time signature of the second half has a vigorous sense of arrival and declamation.

The 1985 hymnal included some new harmonization in lines one and two to make this former choir hymn more accessible to congregations.