Disaster hit the church at St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, Austria when the church organ broke down just before the Christmas of 1818. The priest, 26-year-old Father Josef Mohr, realized it couldn't be repaired in time to provide music on Christmas Eve. He recounted his troubles to his friend, a headmaster and amateur composer named Franz Gruber, while giving him as a present a poem he had written two years earlier. Gruber was so taken by the rhythm of the poem that he came up with an instrumental accompaniment,
On Christmas Eve 1818 there was music after all at St. Nicholas. Mohr played his guitar while the pair sung the song. It was the first public performance of "Stille Nacht" or "Silent Night".
When the organ builder, Carl Mauracher, finally did show up to repair the St. Nicholas organ, he was given a copy of the "Silent Night" composition and brought it home. From there, traveling folk singers got a hold of the tune and began incorporating the carol into their repertoire. The first edition was published by Friese (de) in 1833 in a collection of Four Genuine Tyrolean Songs.
"Silent Night" didn’t find universal fame until the 1850s when it became a favorite of the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm IV.
As the song gained popularity throughout Europe, Franz Gruber composed several different orchestral arrangements. He donated all profits from the carol to local charities for children and the elderly, and eventually died penniless in 1863.
An Episcopal priest John Freeman Young, then serving at Trinity Church, New York City, wrote and published in 1859 the English translation that is most frequently sung today, translated from three of Mohr's original six verses.
Bing Crosby’s version is the third best-selling single of all time.
On Spotify there are over 26,000 different versions of "Silent Night," meaning you could listen to a different rendition of the carol every night for 72 years.
A version titled "A Very Silent Night" was released as a Christmas single by the New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in 2007. It was recorded at frequencies too high for humans to hear, but the song is audible to most dogs. It proved very popular in New Zealand, where it topped the singles chart, raising about $20,000 for the SPCA.
Music licensing company PPL announced in December 2010 that this carol tops the list of Britain's "most recorded Christmas song of all time." Said Mike Dalby, Lead Reporting Analyst at PPL: "Silent Night is a beautiful carol which encapsulates the feeling of Christmas entirely. Everyone from punk band The Dickies right through to Sinead O'Connor has recorded it, which exemplifies just how much it resonates with all different types of artists."
Source Much of this material was originally written for Songfacts
On Christmas Eve 1818 there was music after all at St. Nicholas. Mohr played his guitar while the pair sung the song. It was the first public performance of "Stille Nacht" or "Silent Night".
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| Silent Night Chapel in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. Photograph by Gakuro |
When the organ builder, Carl Mauracher, finally did show up to repair the St. Nicholas organ, he was given a copy of the "Silent Night" composition and brought it home. From there, traveling folk singers got a hold of the tune and began incorporating the carol into their repertoire. The first edition was published by Friese (de) in 1833 in a collection of Four Genuine Tyrolean Songs.
"Silent Night" didn’t find universal fame until the 1850s when it became a favorite of the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm IV.
As the song gained popularity throughout Europe, Franz Gruber composed several different orchestral arrangements. He donated all profits from the carol to local charities for children and the elderly, and eventually died penniless in 1863.
 |
| Autograph (c. 1860) of the carol by Franz Gruber |
An Episcopal priest John Freeman Young, then serving at Trinity Church, New York City, wrote and published in 1859 the English translation that is most frequently sung today, translated from three of Mohr's original six verses.
Bing Crosby’s version is the third best-selling single of all time.
On Spotify there are over 26,000 different versions of "Silent Night," meaning you could listen to a different rendition of the carol every night for 72 years.
A version titled "A Very Silent Night" was released as a Christmas single by the New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in 2007. It was recorded at frequencies too high for humans to hear, but the song is audible to most dogs. It proved very popular in New Zealand, where it topped the singles chart, raising about $20,000 for the SPCA.
Music licensing company PPL announced in December 2010 that this carol tops the list of Britain's "most recorded Christmas song of all time." Said Mike Dalby, Lead Reporting Analyst at PPL: "Silent Night is a beautiful carol which encapsulates the feeling of Christmas entirely. Everyone from punk band The Dickies right through to Sinead O'Connor has recorded it, which exemplifies just how much it resonates with all different types of artists."
Source Much of this material was originally written for Songfacts
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