Silent Night
English words adapted from the original German of Joseph Mohr,
music by Franz Gruber

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve in 1818, in a tiny village called Oberdorg, high in the Austrian Alps, Joseph Mohr, the local Catholic priest, wrote some appropriate stanzas for the season. The church pipe organ had given out and could not be repaired in time for that evening, so the church organist, Franz Gruber, wrote a simple tune, setting the words for a tenor, a bass, and two guitars. That very evening, at the midnight service, "Silent Night" was heard for the first time. The song soon made its way beyond Oberdorg, but anonymously, without mention of the composer or poet. Until the 1850s, neither Gruber nor Mohr, living in their remote village, knew that their song was rapidly becoming the most beloved piece of Christmas music ever written -- nor did the world know of Gruber and Mohr.

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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,
Heav'nly 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.