Silent Night

Stille Nacht/Silent Night

         Silent Night, the well-known, familiar Christmas song , was written in the year 1818, and first performed in a little village in Austria. It was a cold Christmas Eve that year in the village of Oberndorf bei Salzburg . The village at that time was located right on the banks of the Salzach River, which also runs through Salzburg, Austria.

          The pastor of St. Nicholas Church, ( Nicola-Kirche in German) Joseph Franz Mohr (1792-1848) walked to the home of his friend, Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863).
In his pocket was a poem that he had written. He needed a special song for that evening's Midnight Mass, and Gruber, his friend, was the choirmaster of the church. The pastor's hope was that his friend could put music to this poem in time for the Midnight Mass.

          A lot of prayers were said by the good pastor on his walk that day!
The big problem that the pastor had on that Christmas Eve was that the church organ had been damaged from local flooding of the Salzach River, and it was unplayable. The pastor desperately wanted some special music for that evening's vigil Mass.

         Happily, not only was Franz Gruber able to compose music for the poem, he did it in only a few hours! That very same evening, at the Christmas Vigil Mass, Franz Gruber and Pastor Josef Mohr stood before the altar of the church and performed "Stille Nacht"(with choir backup!) for the first time.

         The instrumental accompaniment for that first performance was played on a guitar. The original melody is only slightly different from what we sing today. Also, the English translation differs a little from the original German.

         Over the years, Silent Night has been translated into hundreds of languages. In Austria, it is considered to be a national treasure and it traditionally is not played before Christmas Eve, and neither is it used for any commercial purpose.

Stille Nacht/Silent Night

GERMAN/ ENGLISH
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht
Silent night, holy night

alles schläft, einsam wacht
everyone sleeps; alone watches

nur das traute hochheilige Paar
only the beloved, most holy couple

holder Knabe im lockigen Haar
blessed boy in curly hair

schlaf in himmlischer Ruh'
sleep in heavenly peace.

schlaf in himmlischer Ruh'
sleep in heavenly peace