'The Angel Gabriel': captures the mood of joyful expectation

"The Mystery of the Annunciation" has inspired painters and musicians for centuries", says Monsignor Philip Whitmore, "adding how one of his favourite Advent carols tell the story using the music of an old folk melody from the Basque region. The words are by a rather eccentric Anglican priest called Sabine Baring -Gould, who was Rector of Lewtrenchard in Devon at the turn of the twentieth century.

A composer, Monsignor Whitmore adds, who wrote a famous hymn by the title of 'The Angel Gabriel', which is still popular with English-speaking congregations the world over. It captures perfectly the mood of joyful expectation that marks these last days of Advent.

A programme produced by Veronica Scarisbrick .

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