11. SILENT NIGHT 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 Saviour, is born. Christ, the Saviour, is born. - Glen Rock Carolers
| Words by Joseph Mohr 1792-1848 (1816). Tune by Franz Xaver Gruber 1787-1863 (1818). First presented on December 24, 1818 at the parish of St. Nicola in Oberndorf, 12 miles north of Salzburg, Austria. Legend has it that the organ having been broken, Gruber wrote the melody and simple chords that were played on a guitar. In 1859, the Episcopal priest John Freeman Young, then serving at Trinity Church, New York City, published the English translation that is most frequently sung today. |
© 1818