The Twelve Day of Christmas

Day 12 - For our final day of The Twelve Days of Christmas, Susan Lewis brings us the story behind the classic Christmas carol Silent Night . . .

"It's a song about a calm, bright and silent night, and the wonder of a tender and mild newborn child; words written in 1816 by a young Austrian priest, Joseph Mohr, not long after the Napoleonic wars had taken their toll.

As the story goes, that young priest went for a walk and looked out over a very quiet, snow-laden town. That town at peace inspired him to write his verses. On Christmas Eve 1818, the now-famous carol was performed for the first time as Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht. And performing it were guitarist Joseph Mohr, the young priest who wrote the words, accompanying singer Franz Xaver Gruber, the choir director who had written the melody.

Some time later, an organ builder and repair man working at Mohr and Gruber's church (St. Nicholas in Oberndorf) took a copy of the six-verse song to his home village. There, it was picked up and spread by two families of traveling folk singers, who performed throughout northern Europe. In 1834, the Strasser family performed it for the King of Prussia. In 1839, the Rainer family of singers debuted the carol outside Trinity Church in New York City. The composition evolved, was translated into over 300 languages, and arranged for a wide variety of vocal and instrumental ensembles. It was sung in churches, town squares, and even on the battlefield during World War I. During a temporary truce in the war on Christmas Eve, soldiers sang carols from home. Silent Night (by 1914 now known round the world) was sung simultaneously in French, German and English.

Over the years, the carol's mystique grew with its popularity. After the original manuscript was lost, some speculated that the music had actually been written by Haydn, Mozart or even Beethoven. But in 1994, an original manuscript was found in Mohr's handwriting, with Gruber named as composer. Today, the Franz Xaver Gruber Museum in Hallein and the Joseph Mohr School in Wagrain, Austria honor the creators of this classic carol. The Stille Nacht Gesellschaft (The Silent Night Society) hosts a virtual Silent Night museum, tracks events, and promotes the use of all six verses, which in the words of the Silent Night Society president encourage peace and demand responsibility around the globe.

Silent Night - Winchester Cathedral Choir

Silent Night - Per-Olov Kindgren (guitar)