The credibility comes from the story itself and that it has been repeated since the early to mid 1800's. into English by either Jane Campbell or John Young. Captivated by "Silent Night," Gruber, in a later account, only noted that the song received approval. In 1834, they performed "Silent Night" for King Frederick William IV of Prussia. The one problem was that he didn't have any music to All is calm, all is bright, Young, for instance, made “Silent Night” accessible as a symbolic salve for addressing some of the tensions that the young nation torn by Civil War was soon to endure. Twenty years after "Silent Night" was written, the Rainers brought the song to the United Consider the well-known Christmas Truce of 1914. Silent Night was written in 1818 by Joseph Mohr and Franz X. Gruber. He was one of four children, all born out of wed lock. Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright. "Silent Night" are sung around the world in in more than 300 different languages. Discover the lyrics and story of "Silent Night" along with music videos below! While the lyrics were written in 1816 by a Catholic priest named Joseph Franz Mohr, it was not until two years later that Franz Xaver Gruber composed music to go with the words. Perhaps Mohr wanted to play his guitar or even just desired to hear something new. Many have speculated that the church’s organ was broken, but there are no records to support this. Why Silent Night Was Written "Silent Night, Holy Night" is the full name of the carol. From that hilltop, Mohr looked down on the peaceful snow-covered village. On more than one occasion in both World Wars, fighting at Christmas was brought to a temporary close by troops singing their native versions of “Silent Night” to … How to say say "Merry Christmas" in 80 More Questions: What was the motto of the 1972 Munich Olympic games? Listen to the Wissahickon Camerata led by John Conahan, recorded live in the WRTI Performance Studio on December 12, 2018 with Host Gregg Whiteside. States, singing it in German at New York City's Trinity Church. Here's the story of how It's a song about a calm and bright silent night, and the wonder of a tender and mild newborn child, words written in 1816 by a young priest in Austria, Joseph Mohr, not long after the Napoleonic wars had taken their toll. It was a dark December evening in Philadelphia, just a few days shy of the winter solstice. the song as originally written by Mohr and Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth, Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth. One of the most ubiquitous is the carol “Silent Night” (originally “ Stille Nacht ”) by Joseph Mohr (1792–1848) and Franz Gruber (1787–1863). Sleep in heavenly peace, Classical Video from WRTI's Performance Studio, When 1,200 Music Lovers in Philadelphia Came Together To Sing a Beloved Carol, This Is What Happened, Watch and Listen: The Wissahickon H.S. It’s estimated that its lyrics alone have been translated into at least 140 languages. Camerata Sings Christmas Carols Live on WRTI. Jesus10/40 Window explanation and singers — the Rainers and the Strassers — heard it. Image sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent-Night-Chapel and Mohr decided those words might make a good carol for his congregation the following the song as originally written by Mohr and now had a Christmas carol that could be sung without that organ. Sleep in heavenly peace. In the intervening years Joseph Mohr is known to have written a “Stille Nacht” arrangement around 1820, and new hand-written arrangements by Franz Gruber appeared before his death — one for a full orchestra in 1845, and another for organ in 1855. Weeks later, well-known organ builder Karl Mauracher arrived in Oberndorf to fix the organ Eight years later, that English version made \"Silent night, holy night.\"Tonight is Christmas Eve and St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, north of Salzburg, will be chock-full of people. both groups put the new song into their Christmas season repertoire. "Silent Night" is a well-known Christmas hymn with lyrics written by Joseph Mohr in 1816. A young priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before. Check out WRTI's Classical and Jazz holdiay playlist here! The story of how the song Silent Night gained popularity is more story than fact because there are no facts to back it up. Radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace. Silent night, holy night! Howard Culbertson, 5901 NW 81st, Oklahoma City, OK 73132 Unfortunately, the St. Nicholas' church organ wasn't working and would not be repaired The Stille Nacht Gesellschaft—or Silent Night Society—hosts a virtual Silent Night museum, tracks events, and promotes the use of all six verses, which in the words of Silent Night Society president "[encourage] peace and [demand] responsibility for the globe.". The longer It wasn’t until 1818 that a tune was written to make the Silent Night poem into a song. Silent Night was written as a poem by an Austrian priest by the name of Joseph Mohr in 1816. An organ builder and repair man working at the church took a copy of the six-verse song to his home village. resources, Modern Missionary Movement (History of destroyed by floods in the 1890s was actual birthplace of "Silent Night." “Holy Night, Blessed Night” (“Sheng ye jing”) is so similar in spirit to the Austrian version, that it has been nicknamed the “Chinese Silent Night,” written by the Rev. On December 23 they arrived at Oberndorf, a village near 'Round yon virgin mother and Child! He asked that Gruber write a melody to accompany the poem on guitar. Sleep in heavenly peace,  Sleep in heavenly peace. No one knows why Mohr wanted this music to be written, or even why he wrote his six-stanza poem in 1816. path took him up over a hill overlooking the village. will? Are you ready for Christmas? It was there, while trudging through the snowmaking parish visits, that he wrote a poem, a year after his ordination, which he titled “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” (which, as you have already guessed, means “Silent Night, Holy Night). From an early age on, he was educated in music, especially by the organist of the parish Burghausen. It was 202 years ago when "Silent Night" was first heard by Austrian villagers attending Christmas Eve mass in St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf. Silent Night was born. Mohr was born in Salzburg in 1792 — out of wedlock. The Memorial Chapel ultimately became the visible symbol of the song "Silent Night". Looking for the perfect Spotify playlist for the holidays? The Austrian priest Joseph Mohr was in desperate need of music for the midnight … His  |  Phone: 405-740-4149 be appreciated. Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love's pure light. Xaver Gruber. Inspired by the Christmas story of Jesus' birth, Mohr wrote this hymn as a celebration of the anticipation of the arrival of the newborn savior. (Note: some versions of the story point to mice as the problem; others its way into print in Charles Hutchins' Sunday School Hymnal. the first chapters of Matthew and Luke put assistant pastor Josef Mohr in a meditative mood. Gruber.  Missions), Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Holy Infant, so tender and mild, trip   Nazarene Missions International Check out these recordings of "Silent Night" from around the world. International License, Are we more interested in His presents than we are His a guitar. That poem was about the night when angels announced the birth of the Joseph Mohr, who wrote the text, was the young parish priest at St. Nicholas Church, and Franz Xaver Gruber, who composed the music, was a local school teacher and the church organist. The key to singing Silent Night is knowing the lyrics to the song. instrument. holy night! But in that fall of 1816, a young Catholic priest, Joseph Mohr, had written a six-verse Christmas poem that began “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” — Silent Night, Holy Night — … commitment   Ten ways to ruin your mission The chapel was eventually completed on August 15, 1937, the Feast of the Assumption. evening at their Christmas eve service. The Strasser sisters spread the carol across northern Europe. Gruber only had a few hours to come up with a melody which could be sung with By the 1920s, "Silent Night" was so well known that a chapel was built on the spot where St Nicholas church stood. languages, Nazarene Missions International It's the first line from a poem this young Austrian priest had written two years before. Salzburg where they were to re-enact the story of Christ's birth in the small Church of St. [. Listen to this delightful performance by the Wissahickon High School Camerata Choir, led by John Conahan, when they were live on the radio and on the WRTI Facebook page on December 12th. in St. Nicholas church. Korean   Devotional: Sweet little baby "Silent Night" in more than 100 languages, including Italian and Spanish click here. He pulled out a poem he had written several years before called “Stille Nacht”. Joseph Mohr, the young priest who wrote the lyrics, played the guitar and sang along with Franz Xaver Gruber, the choir director who had written the melody. The story behind "Silent Night" Why was "Silent Night" written? An older church building not far away which was Night" for King Frederick William IV of Prussia. How did this simple melody, with its words of comfort, become a beloved hymn of peace throughout the world? There’s a wonderful story about the carol “Silent Night.” Supposedly, the song was first performed on Christmas Eve in 1818, just a few hours after it had been written. for Mohr's Christmas poem. Gruber and Mohr sing their new composition to the accompaniment of Gruber's guitar. "The backstory is that the priest went for a walk before he wrote it, and he looked out over a very quiet, winter-laden town," says composer/conductor John Conahan, who co-organized the Silent Night Sing-In with WRTI in 2018 and 2019, and created a new arrangement of the famous carol. The German words for the original six stanzas of the carol we know as "Silent Night" were written by Joseph Mohr in 1816, when he was a young priest assigned to a pilgrimage church in Mariapfarr, Austria. An African martyr's Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863, Silent Night song) The composer of "Silent Night!" The English version of "Silent Night" is typically sung in three verses corresponding with the original 1, 6, and 2. Begun in 1924, construction of a memorial chapel proceeded slowly under the difficult political and economic conditions of the First Austrian Republic. Eventually, the carol’s theme of hope for ordinary people became accessible across time and space. It was written almost 200 years ago to be performed on Christmas Eve in St. Nicholas' Church in the village of Oberndorf, Austria. While Barbara and I were serving as missionaries in Europe, we visited the small of "Silent Night" back to his own Alpine village, Kapfing. The Reverend Kevin Ellis, vicar of Bro Eleth parish on Anglesey, said the song is … Instead of walking straight to his house that night, Mohr took a longer way home. Following its first performance in Oberndorf, Austria in 1818, it took decades before “Stille Nacht” became the worldwide Christmas classic it is today. That Christmas presentation of the events in When Mauracher finished, he stepped back to let Gruber test the poem. However, by that evening, Gruber had managed to compose a musical setting for the It no longer mattered to Mohr and Gruber that their church organ was inoperable. couple of years before. Here is how they got to Oberndorf. Anna, alone in this world, was of very modest means with little hope of raising her lifestyle or even marrying. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, he had written the poem "Stille Nacht" in 1816 at Mariapfarr, the hometown of his father in the Salzburg Lungau region, where Joseph had worked as an assistant priest. When Gruber sat down, his fingers began playing the simple melody he had written languages   Silent Night in Silent night! Christ, the Savior is born, Christ, the Savior is born. which that poem could be sung. It was Christmas Eve, 1818, when the now-famous carol was first performed as Stille Nacht Heilige Nacht. Decked in down against the cold, people streamed into the Kimmel Center's cavernous lobby from the front and side doors. presence? In 1839, the Rainer family of singers debuted the carol outside Trinity Church in New York City. John Freeman Young’s “Silent Night” (1863) The original words and music for “Stille Nacht” (“Silent Night”) were created in Austria by Joseph Mohr (words) and Franz Xaver Gruber (melody). Father Joseph Mohr has a homily in mind, a message for his flock on this sacred night, but he needs a carol, something special to cap off the service.The words won't go away. Question:When was SIlent Night written? Twenty years after "Silent Night" was written, the Rainers brought the song to the United States, singing it in German at New York City's Trinity Church. Of special note is a Chinese hymn written to a pentatonic (five-note) melody. See a copy of Words to Declared 'unfit for church services' in France and later embraced by U.S. abolitionists, the song continues to inspire. WRTI's Susan Lewis has the story. Glories stream from heaven afar, heavenly hosts sing Alleluia! In the splendor of that baroque city ruled by the Prince Archbishop, a simple weaver named Anna lived. Josef Mohr, author / Franz Gruber, composer "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night" -- Luke 2:8 The reason "Silent Night" was created: How the world's most famous Christmas carol came to be written and set… Reveling in Reverend Joseph Mohr A young priest in Mariapfarr. On Christmas Eve, the little Oberndorf congregation heard In 1834, the Strasser family performed it for the King of Prussia. He liked it so much that he ordered his cathedral choir to sing it every Christmas eve. By 1900 … Silent Night was originally created to be accompanied by a guitar. Its original title in German is Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht. This is the story behind its success. was born November 25th 1787 in Hochburg (Upper Austria). Silent Night One of the most iconic Christmas songs, Silent Night made its world premier on Christmas Eve 1818 in the small Austrian town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg. After the original manuscript was lost, for decades, some speculated that the music had been written by Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven. needed   Seeking God's How did this simple melody, with its words of comfort, become a beloved hymn of peace throughout the world? How do you sing Silent Night? Nicholas. The carol 'Silent Night' has been translated into 140 languages and renditions have been sung by everyone, from Bing Crosby to Chewbacca. Mohr took his poem to the schoolmaster and organist of a nearby town, Franz Xaver Gruber. The story behind "Silent Night" Why was "Silent Night" written? Though there are conflicting stories as to why it was written for guitar, as most carols of the time were written for organ. So, the next day Mohr went to see the church organist, Franz International License. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 "He was inspired...the town was at peace.". When you use this material, an acknowledgment of the source would Father Joseph Mohr was not a man to just give up however. "Stille Nacht" was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire on the Salzach river in present-day Austria. Silent Night was chosen by the Church in Wales for people to sing at 19:00 GMT on Christmas Eve. Deeply impressed, Mauracher took copies of the music and words It was sung in churches, in town squares, even on the battlefield during World War I, when, during a temporary truce on Christmas Eve, soldiers sang carols from home. In 1994, an original manuscript was found in Mohr's handwriting, with Gruber named as composer. majestic silence of the wintry night, Mohr gazed down at the Christmas-card like scene. this most famous of Christmas carols came to be written: In 1818, a roving band of actors was performing in before Christmas. Wei-yu Zhu and Jing-ren Wu (1921). What British musical made 13-year-old Liam Mower the youngest Laurence Olivier Award-winner in 2006? towns throughout the Austrian Alps. The German words for the original six stanzas of the carol we know as "Silent Night" were written by Joseph Mohr in 1816, when he was a young priest assigned to a pilgrimage church in Mariapfarr, Austria. "Silent Night," by 1914, known around the world, was sung simultaneously in French, German and English. There, it was picked up and spread by two families of traveling folk singers, who performed around northern Europe. Over the years, the carol's mystique grew with its popularity. 'Round yon Virgin Mother and Child, Holy Infant so tender and mild. In 1863, nearly fifty years after being first sung in German, "Silent Night" was translated long-awaited Messiah to shepherds on a hillside. Dave Hartley and Keith White playing "Silent Night" on pedal steel guitars, Christmas season resources:    Today, the Franz Xaver Gruber Museum in Hallein and the Joseph Mohr School in Wagrain, Austria honor the creators of this classic carol. Silent Night Chapel near Salzburg, Austria. resources. Mohr grew up under very humble circumstances. The composition evolved, and was translated into over 300 languages with many different arrangements for various voices and ensembles. WRTI's Gregg Whiteside is your host. Shepherds quake at the sight! Mohr’s text seems to have inspired the Chinese poets. 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