On Christmas 1914, in Europe, the guns went silent and voices in German, French, and English rose in the stillness singing Silent Night. For a short time, enemies found common ground in a nearly one-hundred-year-old carol.
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| ChristmasTruce1914 |
But long before WW1, another set of enemies set aside their weapons to sing Silent Night. During the US Civil War, the Union and Confederate troops halted fighting on Christmas day each year and could be heard singing this holiday classic. If only the soldiers on both sides of these wars could have held onto that brief peace after the last strains had been sung.
If Father Josef Mohr, of Austria, had known the power of his simple poem, he might not have tucked it away for two years, only to be brought out because of a Christmas crisis.
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| Stained-glass rendering of Mohr |
In 1816, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic war, Mohr was in Mariapfarr, Austria. Appreciating the quiet after the war, he penned a six-stanza poem titled Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht. A year later, he was transferred to Saint Nicholas parish in Oberndorf in the state of Salzburg in Austria. Then in 1818, after the Salzach River had flooded, the head priest tasked young Mohr with putting together the Christmas Eve midnight service. Mohr was thrilled to finally be given some responsibility.
He put the program together with the hymns the choir had practiced. On Christmas Eve day, Mohr went to the church to make sure everything was in order. As an afterthought, he sat at the organ to play through the songs to be sung. The instrument didn’t make a peep, probably damaged by the flood. He tried everything he knew to get it to utter a note, but nothing worked. How could they have a Christmas Eve service without music?
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| Author Photo |
Mohr braved the snowy streets by walking three kilometers to a nearby town to get help from a friend, Franz Xaver Gruber, schoolmaster and organist. Gruber was at a loss for what to do but offered to play his guitar during the service. Though the idea had merit, none of the pieces the choir had practiced would work with a guitar. Then, inspiration struck. Mohr remembered his poem, and if Gruber could put it to music, it could be played on guitar and sung.
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| Gruber |
The young priest hurried home, found the poem, and returned. Gruber created a melody to fit the words. Mohr singing tenor and Gruber bass with accompaniment of the guitar along with the congregation joining in on the chorus saved the service in the little church.
Silent Night might have faded into the darkness of future silent nights if not for the broken organ. In January 1819, organ repairman Karl Mauracher came to Saint Nicholas. Mohr shared the story of having to use a guitar. Mauracher asked him to sing it. Impressed by the tune, Mauracher wrote down the words and learned the melody and took them back with him to the Ziller Valley. He then taught it to churches all across Europe. Thousands of choirs were singing it within a decade.
In 1832, the song was performed at a fair. In attendance was King William IV of Prussia. So moved by the piece, he insisted it be sung at his annual Christmas celebration.
Seven years later, this moving carol traveled across the ocean to the United States by way of the Rainer singing group who performed it at Trinity Church in New York. Silent Night became America’s favorite Christmas carol within a decade. From there, it has been recorded by numerous singers and groups.
Though today, we sing Silent Night slow and reflective, the original arrangement was at a more rapid tempo.
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| Silent Night Music-circa1820 |
Our contemporary version consists of stanzas 1, 6, and 2. Here are all six verses as translated from Mohr’s original, found on https://silent-night-museum.org/sounds/lyrics.htm. You may notice that some of the words are different. Modern translators changed some of the words to make it more relatable to people.
Silent Night! Holy Night!
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon godly tender pair
Holy infant with curly hair
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace.
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.
Silent Night! Holy Night!
Brought the world gracious light
Down from heaven's golden height
Comes to us the glorious sight:
Jesus, as one of mankind
Jesus, as one of mankind.
Silent Night! Holy Night!
By his love, by his might
God our Father us has graced
As a brother gently embraced
Jesus, all nations on earth
Jesus, all nations on earth.
Silent Night! Holy Night!
Long ago, minding our plight
God the world from misery freed
In the dark age of our fathers decreed:
All the world is redeemed
All the world is redeemed.
Silent Night! Holy Night!
Shepherds first saw the sight
Of angels singing alleluia
Calling clearly near and far:
Christ, the saviour is born
Christ the Saviour is born.
I find it fitting that a poem/song that was penned in the aftermath of one war brought temporary peace during two other wars. And if not for a broken organ, it may have remained in Mohr’s bottom desk drawer, forgotten.
Merry Christmas!
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Margaret “Peggy” Witherspoon is a thirty-four-year-old widow, mother of two daughters, an excellent pilot, and very patriotic. She joins the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots). As she performs various tasks like ferry aircraft, transporting cargo, and being an airplane mechanic, she meets and develops feelings for her supervisor Army Air Corp Major Howie Berg. When Peggy learns of U.S. soldiers being held captive in Cuba, she, Major Berg, and two fellow WASPs devise an unsanctioned mission to rescue them. With Cuba being an ally in the war, they must be careful not to ignite an international incident. Order HERE!
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Sources
Stories Behind The Greatest Hits Of Christmas, by Ace Collins
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/silent-night-celebrates-its-bicentennial-180971044/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Night
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-history-behind-silent-night/
https://americansongwriter.com/behind-meaning-of-the-christmas-carol-silent-night/
https://theconversation.com/silent-night-the-story-of-the-carol-that-paused-a-war-108692
https://silent-night-museum.org/sounds/lyrics.htm
Thank you for posting today. I love this hymn, and its' story. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
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