The Story Of Silent Night (Stille Nacht)

December 9, 2004

On 23 December 1818 Father f Mohr, the young priest of St. ' Church

in Oberndorf, Austria was worried - in 24 hours he was supposed to lead a

Christmas Eve service, but he had no music as the organ had rusted and wouldn't

work.

That evening he attended the town Christmas play but instead of going straight

home afterwards he climbed the small mountain overlooking the town to try and

get some inspiration. It was nearly midnight before he reached his room and sat

down to write a new song that could be played on a guitar - at least that wasn't

broken.

" Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! " he wrote - " Silent night, holy night. " The

night-time peacefulness of Oberndorf was fresh in his mind and he could imagine

Bethlehem, bathed in moonlight:

All is calm, all is bright. Round yon Virgin Mother and child! Holy Infant so

tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace.

It wasn't long before the simple song was finished and he could think of going

to sleep.

The next morning he took the song to Franz Grüber, his organist and asked if he

could compose some music for the words before that evening's service. Grüber set

about the task quickly and in a couple of hours had finished - just in time to

rehearse with the choir before the service. Mohr sang tenor, Grüber sang bass

and the service went off beautifully.

The song gradually became known throughout Europe and in 1834 the Strasser

family performed it for the King of Prussia, who ordered it to be sung by his

cathedral choir every Christmas Eve. The Rainer family singers brought it to

America in 1839 and by the middle of the eighteenth century it had become

popular around the world. However, by this time no one could recall its

composer.

It took a long time for word of the song's fame to reach the tiny villages of

Austria but in 1854 Franz Grüber sent a letter to the leading musical

authorities with his claim to have written the tune. In 1848 Father Mohr had

died of pneumonia, but Grüber still had the original manuscript to show and

gradually he was recognised as composer.

~ " We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a

little of each other everywhere. " ~ ~ " If I could reach up and hold a star for

every time you've made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of

my hand. " ~

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