Silent Night

For the 1985 Bon Jovi song of the same name, see Silent Night (Bon Jovi song). For the 2002 film, see Silent Night (2002 film).

"Silent Night" (German: Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht) is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song Stille Nacht were written in Oberndorf, Austria by the priest Father Joseph Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber. In 1859, John Freeman Young (second Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Florida) published the English translation that is most frequently sung today. The version of the melody that is generally sung today differs slightly (particularly in the final strain) from Gruber's original, which was a sprightly, dance-like tune in 6/8, as opposed to the slow, meditative lullaby version generally sung today. Today, the lyrics and melody are in the public domain.

A version recorded by Bing Crosby is one of the fewer than thirty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) copies worldwide.

History

Autograph of the carol by Franz Xaver Gruber

Franz Xaver Gruber, painted by Sebastian Stief (1846)

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 two years 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.

In his written account regarding the composition of the carols, 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 Berenguer says that the first mention of a broken organ was in a book published in the United States, The Story of Silent Night By John Travers Moore.

Some 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.

Silent Night Museum and Memorial Chapel in Oberndorf

The Nikolaus-Kirche was demolished in the early 1900s as a result of flood damage and because the town's center was moved up the river to a safer location, with a new church being built in the new town, 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. It is sometimes sung without musical accompaniment.

The song was sung simultaneously in French, English and German by troops during the Christmas truce 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 (sung in Irish), Andrea Bocelli (sung in Italian), Stevie Nicks, Bing Crosby, Mahalia Jackson, an acoustic version by American R 'n' B group Boyz II Men, and an instrumental version by Mannheim Steamroller. The Mannheim Steamroller backs narratives known as "The God Song" or "God's Silent Night" which have been distributed to radio stations across the USA. Simon and Garfunkel recorded an ironic version of the song in which a depressing radio news report is overheard in the background. There have also been choral recordings by the King's College Choir and the Vienna Boys Choir. Other recordings include Linda Ronstadt from A Merry Little Christmas (2000); Christina Aguilera from My Kind of Christmas (2000), Elvis Presley from Elvis' Christmas Album (1957); and Tori Amos from Midwinter Graces (2009)., and *Rolf Frey (2010 Christmas Classics)

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.

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.

Westlife performed the song live in 2001. In 2006, Brad Paisley recorded the song for Brad Paisley Christmas. In 2007, Damien Leith included a recording on a limited special Christmas edition of Where We Land. In 2009 a version by Susan Boyle reached #5 on the US Adult Contemporary billboard chart. Shelby Lynne recorded her version of Silent Night on her 2010 album Merry Christmas.

In 2010 Annie Lennox included this track on her new album "A Christmas Cornucopia"

Arrangements

• Fredrik Sixten "Mary's Cradlesong" for soprano solo and mixed choir combines the tune sung by the choir and a poem by a Swedish author (also with an English translation).
• Bertold Hummel: SILENT NIGHT, 3 Variations for Speaker and mixed Choir a cappella. Bobby Sherman's 1970 chart hit "Goin' Home (Sing A Song Of Christmas Cheer)" includes an interpolation of "Silent Night".
• The Russian composer Alfred Schnittke arranged a sinister-sounding version in 1978 for violin and piano.
• Deliverance performed a heavy metal version on their 1992 album, What a Joke.
• Chuck Billy with various other metal stars such as Scott Ian performed their arrangement of Silent Night in a death/thrash metal manner.
• Professor RJ Ross combined soul, jazz and original melodies to spice up "Silent Night" in his song "On This Silent Night".

The above mentioned version by Alfred Schnittke was transcribed for violin and string orchestra by Eckart Schloifer, edited by SIKORSKI-Editioner, 2002.

External links

• Lyrics to Silent Night
• Sheet music on Wikifonia
• 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