Silent Night, O Holy Night

This old time favourite Christmas hymn originated by accident, it was created for an emergency on the spur of the moment and owes its existence to church mice. This is the story of the "Silent Night".

On Christmas eve 1818, Father Josef Mohr, the priest of the Austrian village of Oberndorf, was preparing his church for the midnight mass. To his dismay, he discovered that the organ was out of order. Looking for the cause, he found that part of its leather bellows has been eaten by mice. Time was too short to have the damage repaired.

Father Mohr felt that the church service would lose much of its beauty and warmth if there were no music. Something had to take the place of the organ. He has written a Christmas poem which would he now took to Franz Gruber, the local school master, who was also an amateur composer and like himself, played the guitar.

Fr. Mohr asked him whether he could quickly set this poem to music so that it would be ready that night. He should do so for two solo voices to be accompanied by guitars. Franz Gruber gladly obliged. It took him only a few hours to compose the tune of "Silent Night, Holy Night", which was sung for the first time on the very night of its rapid composition by the two men in that little village church.

"Silent Night" captivated the hearts of many Christians, far beyond the village of Oberndorf.

The renowned Zillertal Choir sang the hymn at recitals all over the country, making it popular nationwide and eventually througout Europe.

Almost 100 years later, Bing Crosby gave it a world fame and today it is one of the most popular and loved Christmas songs enjoyed throughout the world.

I have compiled some video clips from YouTube, I hope you will enjoy listening or joining in the singing of this amazing song.