Autograph of the carol by Gruber

"Silent Night" ("Stille Nacht") is a popular Christmas carol. An autograph is a Document written entirely in the handwriting of its Author, as opposed to a typeset document or A Christmas carol (also called a Noël) is a carol ( Song or Hymn) whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas, or the winter The original lyrics of the song Stille Nacht were written in German by the priest Father Josef Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber. Lyrics (in singular form Lyric) are a set of words that accompany music either by speaking or singing The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Josef Mohr ( December 11, 1792 – December 4, 1848) was an Austrian priest and composer who wrote the words to the Christmas This article is about Franz Gruber the Austrian composer There is also an article on the actor in the Japanese Tokusatsu movie and TV productions named Franz Gruber (actor The version of the melody that is generally sung today differs slightly (particularly in the final strain) from Gruber's original. Today, the lyrics and melody are in the public domain. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone

History

The carol was first performed in the Nicola-Kirche (Church of St. Nicholas) in Oberndorf, Austria on December 24, 1818. Oberndorf bei Salzburg is a Town in the Austrian state of Salzburg, about 17 km (11 mi north of the City of Salzburg. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Events 563 - The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by Earthquakes Year 1818 ( MDCCCXVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Mohr had composed the words much earlier, in 1816, but on Christmas Eve brought them to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the church service^[1]. Year 1816 ( MDCCCXVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Christmas Eve, December 24, is the day before Christmas Day, the celebrated birthday of Jesus. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles

In his written account regarding the composition of the carol, Gruber gives no mention of the specific inspiration for creating the song. According to the song's history provided by Austria's Silent Night Society, one supposition is that the church organ was no longer working so that Mohr and Gruber therefore created a song for accompaniment by guitar. Silent Night historian, Renate Ebeling-Winkler says that the first mention of a broken organ was in a book published in the U. S. in 1909.

Some historians believe that Mohr simply wanted a new Christmas carol that he could play on his guitar. The Silent Night Society says that there are "many romantic stories and legends" that add their own anecdotal details to the known facts.

Silent Night Museum and Memorial Chapel in Oberndorf

The Nicola-Kirche was demolished in the early 1900s due to flood damage and due to the fact that the town's centre was moved up the river to a safer location, with a new church being built there close to the new bridge. A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land a deluge A tiny chapel, called the "Stille-Nacht-Gedächtniskapelle" (Silent Night Memorial Chapel), was built in the place of the demolished church and a nearby house was converted into a museum, attracting tourists from all over the world, not only but primarily in December.

The original manuscript has been lost, however a manuscript was discovered in 1995 in Mohr's handwriting and dated by researchers at ca. 1820. It shows that Mohr wrote the words in 1816 when he was assigned to a pilgrim church in Mariapfarr, Austria, and shows that the music was composed by Gruber in 1818. Mariapfarr is a municipality in the district of Tamsweg in the state of Salzburg in Austria. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich This is the earliest manuscript that exists and the only one in Mohr's handwriting. A manuscript is any Document that is Written by hand as opposed to being printed or reproduced in some other way Gruber's composition was influenced by the musical tradition of his rural domicile. The melody of Silent Night bears resemblance to aspects of Austrian folk music and yodelling. Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous Yodeling (or yodelling, jodeling) is a form of Singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from the

Another popular story claims that the carol, once performed, was promptly forgotten until an organ repairman found the manuscript in 1825 and revived it. However, Gruber published various arrangements of it throughout his lifetime and we now have the Mohr arrangement (ca. 1820) that is kept at the Carolino Augusteum Museum in Salzburg. is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg.

It is believed that the carol has been translated into over 300 languages and dialects around the world, and it is one of the most popular carols of all time. It is sometimes sung without musical accompaniment. Although written by Catholics, it is given special significance in Lutheranism.

The song was sung simultaneously in English and German by troops during the Christmas truce^[2] of 1914, as it was one of the few carols that soldiers on both sides of the front line knew. The " Christmas Truce " is a term used to describe several brief unofficial cessations of hostilities that occurred on Christmas Eve or

Lyrics

As translated by John Freeman Young (1820 - 1885) - Out of copyright^[3]

• German Lyrics available at wikichristian.org

Samples

External links

• Silent Night Lyrics Christmas Lyrics to Silent Night Christmas Carol / Christmas song
• Stille-Nacht-Association, Salzburg, text and music, verse1 (de), verse4 (de)
• History of song
• Silent Night Web: translations (193 versions in 130 languages), notation, and history.
• Joseph Mohr Memorial Organ, Wagrain, Austria

References