200 years “Silent Night”
On the traces of “Silent Night”
Gentle tunes and soothing words that touch the soul: The magic of “Silent Night” has remained uninterrupted for 200 years. A song that promises consolation and gives hope. Over and over again.
For centuries, the song has crossed borders and overcome crises. It connects people no matter their origin, age or religion, and provides a link back to the time during which it was created. 200
years ago, Joseph Mohr, a priest from Salzburg, and Franz Xaver Gruber, a teacher from Upper Austria, sang the song for the very first time at the St. Nikola Church in Oberndorf near Salzburg. The original poem was authored by Joseph Mohr, whereas Franz Xaver Gruber added the melody on his request. Only a few years later, singing families from the Zillertal valley carried the song from Austria into Europe and the rest of the world. Today, the song is performed in over 300 languages and dialects.
5 comments:
This was my first solo. I sang Silent Night for our Kindergarten evening Christmas program for all of the students and their parents. My kindergarten teacher was a very gifted musician and the wife of the Director of the University of Notre Dame Glee Club. She was instrumental in nurturing my love of Christmas music and Church music in general. She and I sang the In Paradisum together for my father's funeral decades later. Merry Christmas to all.
Jack here...
TJM, what a lovely story for Christmas Eve. Thank you!
Merry Christmas to all!
The English version is less saccharine than the German original - 'holder Knabe im lockigen Haar' - and there are a number of Latin versions which could be sung at an EF Mass!
Jack,
You are most welcome. Regrettably, I do not think young Catholic children today have the same memorable Church related experiences that we had. What's to recall, burlap vestments, sanctuaries stripped of their Catholic accouterments, "Gather us In?"
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