"Silent Night" (German: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht") is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria.[1] It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011.[2] The song was first recorded in 1905[3] and has remained a popular success, appearing in films and multiple successful recordings, as well as being quoted in other musical compositions. It is the world's most recorded Christmas song, with more than 137,000 known recordings.[4]
History
"Stille Nacht" was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at the Nikolauskirche, the parish church of Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire on the Salzach river in present-day Austria. A young Catholic priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars,[1] 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.[5]
The melody was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, schoolmaster and organist in the nearby village of Arnsdorf [de], now part of Lamprechtshausen. On Christmas Eve 1818, Mohr brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for that night's mass, after river flooding had possibly damaged the church organ.[1][6] The church was eventually destroyed by repeated flooding and replaced with the Silent-Night-Chapel. It is unknown what inspired Mohr to write the lyrics, or what prompted him to create a new carol.[5]
According to Gruber, Karl Mauracher, an organ builder who serviced the instrument at the Oberndorf church, was enamoured of the song, and took the composition home with him to the Zillertal.[7] From there, two travelling families of folk singers, the Strassers and the Rainers, included the tune in their shows. The Rainers were already singing it around Christmas 1819, and they once performed it for an audience that included Franz I of Austria and Alexander I of Russia, as well as making the first performance of the song in the U.S., in New York City in 1839.[1] By the 1840s the song was well known in Lower Saxony and was reported to be a favourite of Frederick William IV of Prussia. During this period, the melody changed slightly to become the version that is commonly played today.[5][7]
Mohr's autograph, 1820/1825
Over the years, because the original manuscript had been lost, Mohr's name was forgotten and although Gruber was known to be the composer, many people assumed the melody was composed by a famous composer, and it was variously attributed to Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert.[5] However, a manuscript was discovered in 1995 in Mohr's handwriting and dated by researchers as c. 1820. It states 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.[8]
Original melody
The first edition was published by Friese [de] in 1833 in a collection of Four Genuine Tyrolean Songs, with the following musical text:[9]
Franz Xaver Gruber, painted by Sebastian Stief (1846)
The contemporary version, as in the choral example below, is:
Translations
In 1859, the Episcopal priest John Freeman Young, then serving at Trinity Church, New York City, wrote and published the English translation that is most frequently sung today, translated from three of Mohr's original six verses.[10] The version of the melody that is generally used today is a slow, meditative lullaby or pastorale, differing slightly (particularly in the final strain) from Gruber's original, which was a "moderato" tune in 6 8time and siciliana rhythm.[11][12] Today, the lyrics and melody are in the public domain, although newer translations usually are not.
In 1998 the Silent Night Museum in Salzburg commissioned a new English translation by Bettina Klein of Mohr's German lyrics. For the most part, Klein preserves both Young's translation and the interpretive decisions that inform his word-choices. Yet Klein also attempts occasionally to restore Mohr's original phrasing, changing, for instance, Young's "Holy infant, so tender and mild" to Mohr's "Holy infant with curly hair" (Holder Knab' im lockigten Haar). However, she continues to interpret Mohr's traute heilige Paar as referring to Mary and the baby, whereas Mohr's use of the word traute can mean "espoused," thus suggesting perhaps that the "holy pair" represents Mary and Joseph watching (picking up Mohr's wacht) over the curly-haired infant/boy. [13]
The carol has been translated into about 300 languages.[14]
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Hirten erst kundgemacht
Durch der Engel Halleluja,
Tönt es laut von fern und nah:
Christ, der Retter ist da!
Christ, der Retter ist da!
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht
Lieb' aus deinem göttlichen Mund,
Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund'.
Christ, in deiner Geburt!
Christ, in deiner Geburt!
Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child!
Holy infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace!
Sleep in heavenly peace!
Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight!
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Saviour is born!
Christ the Saviour is born!
Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!
In the second stanza, some English versions read "shepherds quail"[17][18] rather than "shepherds quake."[19]
Musical settings
Silent-Night-Chapel in Oberndorf on the site where the song was first performed
Alfred Schnittke composed an arrangement of "Stille Nacht" for violin and piano in 1978, as a holiday greeting for violinist Gidon Kremer. Due to its dissonant and nightmarish character, the miniature caused a scandal in Austria.[20][21]
In film
Several theatrical and television films depict how the song was ostensibly written. Most of them report the organ breaking down at the church in Oberndorf, which appeared in a fictional story published in the U.S. in the 1930s.[6]
The First Silent Night (2014), documentary narrated by Simon Callow[26]
Stille Nacht – ein Lied für die Welt (2018), music documentary created and directed by Hannes M. Schalle, narrated by Peter Simonischek.[27][28] An English version, Silent Night – A Song for the World (2020), narrated by Hugh Bonneville, was released two years later.[29][30]
On record charts
Several recordings of "Silent Night" have reached the record charts in various countries. These include:
![<<
\new Staff <<
\new Voice="melody" \relative c'' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"acoustic guitar (nylon)"
\autoBeamOff
\tempo 4 = 60 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t
\voiceOne
\language "deutsch"
\key d \major
\time 6/8
a8. [ h16 ] a8 fis4 h8\rest
a8. h16 a8 fis4 h8\rest
e8. [ dis16 ] e8 cis4 h8\rest
d8. [ cis16 ] d8 a4 h8\rest
h4 h8 d8. [ cis16 ] h8
a8. h16 a8 fis4 h8\rest
h4 h8 d8. [ cis16 ] h8
a8. h16 a8 fis4 h8\rest
cis8. cis16 cis8 e8. d16 cis8
d4. ( fis4 ) h,8\rest
d8. a16 fis8 a8. g16 e8
d4.~ d4 h'8\rest
}
\new Voice \relative c' {
\voiceTwo
\autoBeamOff
%\omit "Rest_engraver"
fis8. [ g16 ] fis8 d4 s8
fis8. g16 fis8 d4 s8
g8. [ fis16 ] g8 e4 s8
fis8. [ e16 ] fis8 fis4 s8
g4 g8 h8. [ a16 ] g8
fis8. g16 fis8 d4 s8
g4 g8 h8. [ a16 ] g8
fis8. g16 fis8 d4 s8
e8. e16 e8 g8. fis16 e8
fis4. ( a4 ) s8
fis8. fis16 d8 fis8. e16 cis8
d4.~ d4
}
>>
\new Lyrics \lyricsto "melody" {
Stil -- le Nacht! Hei -- li -- ge Nacht!
Al -- les schläft; ein -- sam wacht
Nur das trau -- te hei -- li -- ge Paar.
Hol -- der Knab’ im lok -- kig -- ten Haar,
schla -- fe in himm -- li -- scher Ruh! __
Schla -- fe in himm -- li -- scher Ruh! __
}
>>](https://upload.wikimedia.org/score/6/m/6mnhhgywgjkk1kn4jblmcuajszxhl1a/6mnhhgyw.png)
.jpg)
![\transpose c d \relative c'' {
\key c \major \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"acoustic guitar (nylon)"
\time 6/8 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 4 = 60 \autoBeamOff
g8.^"First edition" [a16] g8 e4. | g8. [a16] g8 e4. | d'4 d16. [b32] b4. | c4 c16. [g32] g4. | a4 a8 c8. b16 a8 | g8. a16 g8 e4. |
a4 a8 c8. b16 a8 | g8. a16 g8 e4. | d'4 d8 f8.-> d16 b8 | c4. (e4) r8 | c8. [g16] e8 g8. f16 d8 | c4.~ c4 r8 \bar "|."
}](https://upload.wikimedia.org/score/6/5/65fmmayhpouohagugtmyjv0zyln83zq/65fmmayh.png)
![\transpose c d \relative c'' {
\key c \major \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"acoustic guitar (nylon)"
\time 6/8 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 4 = 60 \autoBeamOff
g8.^"Contemporary" [(a16)] g8 e4. | g8. [a16] g8 e4. | d'4 d8 b4. | c4 c8 g4. | a4 a8 c8. [b16] a8 | g8. [a16] g8 e4. |
a4 a8 c8. [b16] a8 | g8. [a16] g8 e4. | d'4 d8 f8.-> [d16] b8 | c4. (e4) r8 | c8. [(g16)] e8 g8. [f16] d8 | c4.~ c4 r8 \bar "|."
}](https://upload.wikimedia.org/score/s/c/scyyuvjk6y02f3v6u5dzkuv92qtgogg/scyyuvjk.png)
