My Favorite Christmas Carol: Silent Night

When I was little I remember Dad telling  me he could sing Silent Night in German.  That was so cool!  Ever since then it has been my favorite Christmas carol.  I think I like it too because I like the night so much.  The silent night is powerful.  It's nice to be out when it is so peaceful.  My morning rides home are enjoyable for that very reason.  It's quiet.  The stars are out.  It can be so peaceful....until a car comes along.  :-) 

I decided to do some digging and so I looked online to find out a little more about the history of the song "Silent Night".  The author, Joesph Mohr was born in the city of Salzburg on the December 11, 1792 .  As a boy  he was poor until he met Johann Nepomuk Hiernle . Hiernle served as a vicar and leader of music at the Salzburg Cathedral.   This gave Mohr a good opportunity to get an education as well as develop his skills as a musician and his childhood was spent preparing for the priest hood.  On August 21,1815 he graduated from seminary and was ordained a priest.

Mohr served as assistant priest in  Mariapfarr, Austria from 1815-1817.  It was there that he wrote the words to "Silent Night."

Franz Xaver Gruber was born on November 25, 1787 at Unterweizburg 9 in the village of Hochburg in the Inn River region of Upper Austria.  He wrote the melody to "Silent Night."    He was the fifth of six children and his parents were linen weavers.  Although he was expected to take up the family trade he wanted to become a teacher.  He discovered his love of music early on and his school teacher encouraged him by giving him lessons.   He was a weave until he turned 18.  Then his father allowed  him to follow his desire to become a teacher and this alos gave him opportunity to serve as organist in the local church.

As "fate" would have it in 1816 both Franz and Joesph were in the same town at the same church on Christmas Eve.  Joesph was an assistant priest and Franz the organist.  Mohr asked Gruber to write a melody for two solo voices with choir and for accompaniment by guitar. The exact events are unknown but it is thought that the organ may have been damaged so they had to go with another instrument as a plan b of sorts.

The fascinating thing I've found is that the English version of "Silent Night" has only three verses coinciding with a translation of an original text of verses 1, 6 and 2, in that order.  The original song actually has six verses.  The reason this is important is in regards to the historical context of the song.  Specfically verse four.

Silent night! Holy night!
Where on this day all power
of fatherly love poured forth
And like a brother lovingly embraced
Jesus the peoples of the world,
Jesus the peoples of the world.

The area in which Mohr lived had just underwent the Napoleonic wars (1792-1815) which had caused much suffering..  New borders were being drawn and things that people had been doing for centuries were changing.  That's why verse four took special meaning to the people of that area.  I find it intriguing that a song we hear in the malls and on the radio every year has such a deep spiritual and yet at the same time political origin.  People who were living in an economy much like ours, facing depression and coming out of a war were given the gift of this song.  A message of encouragement giving the people hope.  Why?  Because there is a Father who loved them and all the peoples of the world.  What a message!  Certainly something that still holds true today!


sources: http://www.stillenacht.at/en/index.asp, http://www.stillenacht.at/en/text_and_music.asp, http://www.stillenacht.at/en/origin_song.asp, http://www.stillenacht.at/en/spreading_song.asp
 http://www.stillenacht.at/en/gruber.asp, http://www.stillenacht.at/en/mohr.asp