gruber • mohr • young
This is the world's most common Christmas Carol, and this year (2018) it celebrates 200 Year Anniversary. In 1814, the Austrian pastor Joseph Franz Mohr (1792-1848) wrote the poem, and when he 2 years later needed a new carol for the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, he visited his friend Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863) for help: besides being a teacher, he was the church's choir master and organist. He composed the "Stille Nacht" melody for Mohr in just a few hours on that 24th of December 1818.
A curiosity is that it was composed for guitar: the organ of the church had lately been destroyed by a flood.
The carol was then more or less forgotten, but in 1863 the Episcopal priest John Freeman Young (1820-1885) translated, or rather rewrote, 3 of the original 6 verses into English, and it gradually rose to fame. Now it's translated into more than 140 languages ... Bing Crosby's 1935 version is the third best-selling single ever.
The song has now and then been attributed famous composers like Bach, Hayden and Mozart, but in 1995 a manuscript from 1820 was found, with Mohr's handwriting, stating that Gruber really wrote it. The notes have slightly been changed for the two last lines, and they were originally repeated. It became "Intangible Cultural Heritage" by UNESCO in 2011. In Austria, commercial use of the carol is forbidden, and it is never played until Christmas Eve.
silent night • holy night
all is calm • all is bright
round yon virgin mother and child
holy infant so tender and mild
sleep in heavenly peace
sleep in heavenly peace
silent night • holy night
shepherds quake at the sight
glories stream from heaven afar
heavenly hosts sing "alleluia"
Christ the savior is born
Christ the savior is born"
silent night • holy night
son of God : love's pure light
radiant beams from Thy holy face
with the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus : Lord at Thy birth
Jesus : Lord at Thy birth
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
E silent night holy night B B7 E E7 all is calm all is bright A F#m7 E E7 round yon virgin mother and child A F#m7 E holy infant so tender and mild B B7 E C#m sleep in heavenly peace E B7sus4 E sleep in heavenly peace
