 Joseph Mohr |
History of |
 Franz Gruber |
Editor's Note: A lot of fluff and myths have been spread about the origin of "Silent Night" since its creation. The power of the Internet has increased the flow of both fact and myth.
Some of the stories are cute. They just aren't exactly true.
In this essay, you will hopefully find the facts concerning the origin of this great carol of Christmas and the proofs that show its true authorship.
--Bill Drennon
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Click here for streaming video of the CVC Sign Language Class Signing and Singing Silent Night or Click here to go to another page with more video formats |
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ABSTRACT:On Christmas Eve in 1818, in a small village church (St. Nicholas' Church) of Oberndorf in the Austrian Alps, 26-year old assistant pastor, Joseph Mohr, wanted to have a special service to honor his Lord. Thus, he got together with the church organist and teacher, Franz Gruber, to create a special new song for guitar and voices, Stille Nacht! Hilige Nacht! Mohr and Gruber were never to know how popular their little song would become. They wouldn't even be discovered to be the composers until 1854. The true authorship of this hymn was confirmed in 1997 by a recent discovery of an 1820 Mohr manuscript, showing Gruber as the tune's composer to a poem that Mohr had written in 1816...before he was ever pastor of St. Nicholas' Church.
The carol, Stille Nacht. Heilige Nacht had been attributed to many different composers. For a long time, Herr Hadyn, younger brother of Franz Joseph Haydn, had been given the credit for its composition. Others have attributed the melody to F. J. Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven rather than its real composer, Franz Gruber. Had it not been for the curiosity of the director of the Royal Court Choir of Berlin, where "Silent Night" had become the favorite of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, who researched the origins of the carol and traced it to Salzburg in 1854, we might never have learned of Joseph Mohr, Franz X. Gruber and the circumstances which brought about the creation of Silent Night 175 years ago.
Until recently, this was the nicest story:
The 26-year old Joseph Mohr, assistant to the priest at St. Nicholas' Church at Oberndorf, a village on the Salzach River 11 miles down river from the city of Salzburg, was worried in the days before Christmas 1818; the old church organ, always breaking down, was out of commission once more. It would be Spring before the itinerant organ repairman would come by to fix it. The implication was unthinkable: Mass on Christmas Eve without music. Mohr had written a poem, putting the miracle of Christ's birth in simple terms that the masses could understand and appreciate.
He approached his friend, 31-year-old Franz X. Gruber, a school teacher in the neighboring village of Arnsdorf and organist at St. Nicholas' Church. After Mohr had shared his poem with Gruber, he asked him to set it to music so that they could sing it together with guitar accompaniment at the midnight service.
Gee that is a nice story. There is a degree of truth in that the song was first performed at that service in 1818 to guitar due to a broken organ. The only problem is that an original manuscript written in the hand of Joseph Mohr contributes its authorship to 1816.
The newly found manuscript (ca. 1820) bears the signature of Josef Mohr, in the lower left hand corner, followed by "1816" which shows that he wrote the lyrics before his assignment to the church in Oberndorf.
In 1816, Joseph Mohr, was assigned to a small church in Mariapfarr in the southern area of the state of Salzburg in what is now Austria.
Thus, sometime between 1816 when the words apparently took birth and its first known performance on December 24, 1918, a song was created, indeed a carol composed, that was to become one of the most universal songs of Christmas, sung world-wide in every language known to mankind with the possible exception of some remote tribal dialects. And yet, it was only by coincidence (or was it providence of God?) that "Silent Night, Holy Night" is still sung today. After the premiere, the song was quickly forgotten. It was only meant for a one-time event in a small church, though Mohr thought enough about it that he evidently made a copy in 1820. If a fellow named Carl Mauracher had not been commissioned to rebuild the organ at St. Nicholas' in 1825, if he then had not found a handwritten copy of the words and musical notation during his work in the organ loft and taken it along to his native Ziller Valley in the mountains of Tyrol, the song might have remained unknown. True, a manuscript was recently discovered but perhaps that manuscript would not now be around if it weren't for the original discovery.
Mohr was transferred away from Oberndorf in 1819 and his ties with Franz X. Gruber became tenuous. Mauracher's home, the Ziller Valley, has always had a very strong musical tradition. It used to be the home of folk choirs such as the Strasser and Rainer families that traveled and performed all over Europe for the edification of noblemen and wealthy patricians. Singing groups from this Tyrolian valley spread "Silent Night, Holy Night" wherever they went, making it known as "the Tyrolian folk carol."
Fortunately, the director of the Royal Court Choir of Berlin was a disciplined accademian with a great curiosity. Since "Silent Night" had become the favorite Christmas hymn of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, he decided to research the origins of the carol. It was traced to Salzburg in 1854, when Joseph Mohr and Franz X. Gruber finally received recognition for creating this wonderful composition.
Recently I read a newswire that stimulated the research for this article. According to this Austrian press release, an original Mohr manuscript was discovered by a volunteer at Salzburg Austria’s Carolino Augusteum Museum which is considered to be the oldest known manuscript of "Silent Night". Mohr’s "Silent Night" manuscript was recently part of an exhibition, "The Message of Music," at Palais Harrach in Vienna. Handwriting experts have determined that Mohr’s arrangement of the Gruber melody was set down on this manuscript around 1820, after he departed Oberndorf. In 1820, when he wrote this arrangement of Gruber’s melody, he placed the words, "Melodie von Fr. Xav. Gruber," in the upper right hand corner. This silences any doubts about who wrote the music for this world-famous carol.
The site of the first performance of "Silent Night", St. Nicholas’ Church, was torn down earlier this century. However, visitors to Austria can visit several sites connected with the two men who created "Silent Night." Opened for the first time in November 1996, there is the "Josef Mohr Birthplace Exhibition" at Steingasse 9, in the city of Salzburg. Every year on December 24, at 5 p.m. a special service is conducted here which ends with a rendition of "Silent Night" in its original format. In nearby Arnsdorf, one can view the schoolhouse where Franz Gruber lived with his family and the church where he was the organist and choir director. About four miles away is the Silent Night Memorial Chapel and Museum. The chapel is located over the site of the original St. Nicholas’ Church. South of the city of Salzburg is the town of Hallein where the "Franz Gruber Museum" is located in his former home. His grave can be visited outside in the courtyard across from the church where he was choir director. In the ski hamlet of Wagrain, one can attend services in the church where Josef Mohr preached and view his grave located in the churchyard across from the Josef Mohr School.
A view of St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf.
You will find a picture of Franz Gruber at the top of this page. Because he was not famous until after their deaths, finding a picture of Joseph Mohr was much more difficult. We thank Mike Swaldo for pointing out to us where to locate a picture. For further feedback, please contact me at cvchs@cvc.org.
The most common English translation ot this song: Stanzas 1 & 3 translated by John Freeman Young (1820-1885). The other verses have anonymous translators. The song has been translated in atleast 230 languages!
To see 76 different translations go to the following Dutch Reformed site in South Africa: http://silentnight.web.za/translate/index.htm . It is well worth the visit! Also, for many international links on silent night visit http://ingeb.org/silentpa.html
There is a well researched article from the Baltimore Sun
See the lyrics:
| STILLE NACHT, HEILIGE NACHT
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht, Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht, Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht, |
SILENT NIGHT, HOLY NIGHT
Silent night, Holy night, Silent night, Holy night, Silent night, Holy night, |
See the music (Click music sheet to hear it):
