Silent Night

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Silent Night" (German: Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht) is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song Stille Nacht were written in German by the Austrian priest Father Josef Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber. In 1859, John Freeman Young published the English translation that is most frequently sung today.^[1] The version of the melody that is generally sung today differs slightly (particularly in the final strain) from Gruber's original. Today, the lyrics and melody are in the public domain.

Contents 1 History 2 Samples 3 Arrangements 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

The carol was first performed in the Nikolaus-Kirche (Church of St. Nicholas) in Oberndorf, Austria on December 24, 1818. Mohr had composed the words much earlier, in 1816, but on Christmas Eve brought them to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the church service.^[2]

In his written account regarding the composition of the carol, Gruber gives no mention of the specific inspiration for creating the song. According to the song's history provided by Austria's Silent Night Society, one supposition is that the church organ was no longer working so that Mohr and Gruber therefore created a song for accompaniment by guitar. Silent Night historian, Renate Ebeling-Winkler says that the first mention of a broken organ was in a book published in the U.S. in 1909.

Some historians believe that Mohr simply wanted a new Christmas carol that he could play on his guitar. The Silent Night Society says that there are "many romantic stories and legends" that add their own anecdotal details to the known facts.

The Nikolaus-Kirche was demolished in the early 1900s due to flood damage and because the town's center was moved up the river to a safer location, with a new church being built there close to the new bridge. A tiny chapel, called the "Stille-Nacht-Gedächtniskapelle" (Silent Night Memorial Chapel), was built in the place of the demolished church and a nearby house was converted into a museum, attracting tourists from all over the world, not only but primarily in December.

The original manuscript has been lost. However a manuscript was discovered in 1995 in Mohr's handwriting and dated by researchers at ca. 1820. It shows that Mohr wrote the words in 1816 when he was assigned to a pilgrim church in Mariapfarr, Austria, and shows that the music was composed by Gruber in 1818. This is the earliest manuscript that exists and the only one in Mohr's handwriting. Gruber's composition was influenced by the musical tradition of his rural domicile. The melody of "Silent Night" bears resemblance to aspects of Austrian folk music and yodelling.

Another popular story claims that the carol, once performed, was promptly forgotten until an organ repairman found the manuscript in 1825 and revived it. However, Gruber published various arrangements of it throughout his lifetime and we now have the Mohr arrangement (ca. 1820) that is kept at the Museum Carolino Augusteum in Salzburg.

The carol has been translated into over 44 languages.^[3] It is sometimes sung without musical accompaniment. Although written by Catholics, it is given special significance in Lutheranism.^{[citation needed]}

The song was sung simultaneously in English and German by troops during the Christmas truce^[4] of 1914, as it was one of the few carols that soldiers on both sides of the front line knew.

The song has been recorded by over 300 artists, particularly successful in hit versions by Enya, Stevie Nicks, Bing Crosby and Mahalia Jackson, and an instrumental version by Mannheim Steamroller. Simon and Garfunkel recorded an ironic version of the song in which a depressing radio news report is overheard in the background. Barbra Streisand recorded her version in 1967. She sang it live (in July!) for her Central Park concert, proving the lyrics are timeless ^[5]. There have also been choral recordings by the King's College Choir and the Vienna Boys Choir.

In 1943 the Austrian exile Hertha Pauli wrote the book "Silent Night. A Story of a Song", in which she explained to American children the origin of the song. The book was illustrated by Fritz Kredel and published by Alfred A. Knopf. ^[6]

A 1988 dramatised television documentary called Silent Mouse tells the story of the creation of the carol from a mouse's point of view. It featured Lynn Redgrave as narrator, and Gregor Fisher in one of the leading roles.

[edit] Samples

	Silent Night with piano Silent Night with guitar Silent Night Full version with intro for Guitar and Flute
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

[edit] Arrangements

• Bertold Hummel: SILENT NIGHT, 3 Variations for Speaker and mixed Choir a cappella. ^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stille Nacht

• Free arrangements for piano and voice from Cantorion.org (cc-by-sa)
• Stille-Nacht-Association, Salzburg, text and music, verse1 (de), verse4 (de)
• Silent Night Chapel, Origin of song
• History of song
• Silent Night Web: translations (193 versions in 130 languages), notation, and history.
• Joseph Mohr Memorial Organ, Wagrain, Austria