Clarksville, TN – “Silent Night” is one of the best-loved Christmas carols of all time. Somehow, the simple words convey the mystery and simplicity of the real Christmas story better than any other hymn.
The original carol was entitled “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht”; it was written in German at the request of an Austrian priest, Father Josef Mohr.
Four years after writing a poem, Joseph Mohr visited his friend Franz Gruber, a music teacher and musician who resided in Arnsdorf, a neighboring town. He requested him to compose a tune and a guitar part for his poem so they could sing it at the church service on Christmas Eve.
Gruber indeed wrote the original melody with only a guitar accompaniment. This has led to numerous speculations as to why a simple guitar was used rather than the pipe organ located in the church. Some have guessed the organ was broken because mice had eaten the bellows.
But the reality is less exciting. There was nothing wrong with the organ, but Mohr preferred a new song that could be played with a guitar. He had penned the words two years before, moved by a picture of the birth of Jesus that he spotted at a friend’s home.
The carol was first performed by Mohr and Gruber at the St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria, on Christmas Eve 1818. The congregation loved it, and soon, thanks to traveling singers and missionaries, it spread across Europe and the world.
Along the way, the carol acquired many myths and legends. A movie made for Austrian television weaves evil railroad barons and a double-dealing priest into a fabricated history. A book written on the subject connects Mohr with a fire in Salzburg and has Gruber playing the zither. A cartoon, “Silent Mouse,” even tells the supposed story of “Silent Night” from the viewpoint of a mouse!
But the real story of “Silent Night” is simpler and more beautiful. It is the story of how a poem, a guitar, and a mouse created a Christmas classic that has touched the hearts of millions for over two centuries.
