One cold, snowy evening in 1818, Joseph Mohr, the Associate Pastor of the the Church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, Austria, walked home from attending a presentation of the story of Jesus' birth performed by an acting group. From a hilltop, he observed the peaceful, snow-covered village. The scene brought to mind a poem that he had penned a few years earlier about the angels announcing Jesus' birth to the shepherds on the hillside.
He decided that his poem could be the basis of a carol that he could introduce to his congregation the next evening at the Christmas Eve service. However, he had no music to accompany the words. Mohr approached Franz Gruber, the church organist, the next day to see if he would compose the music for his poem. The organist had been unable to play the organ due to a malfunction of the organ, so he needed to create a tune that would be easily played on guitar. Gruber successfully wrote a simple tune to go to Mohr's words and they sang "Silent Night, Holy Night" for the first time to the congregation that evening.
Weeks later, Karl Mauracher, a well-known organ builder, arrived at the Oberndorf church to repair the organ. After the repair, he asked Gruber to test the organ. Gruber played the simple tune that he had recently composed for "Silent Night." Deeply moved by the tune, Mauracher took copies of the new Christmas carol back to his village at Kapfing. Two well-known families of singers--the Rainiers and the Strassers--heard it and began to perform it at Christmas presentations. In 1834, the Strassers sang "Silent Night" for King Frederick William IV of Prussia and he ordered his cathedral choir to sing it every Christmas Eve.
He decided that his poem could be the basis of a carol that he could introduce to his congregation the next evening at the Christmas Eve service. However, he had no music to accompany the words. Mohr approached Franz Gruber, the church organist, the next day to see if he would compose the music for his poem. The organist had been unable to play the organ due to a malfunction of the organ, so he needed to create a tune that would be easily played on guitar. Gruber successfully wrote a simple tune to go to Mohr's words and they sang "Silent Night, Holy Night" for the first time to the congregation that evening.
Weeks later, Karl Mauracher, a well-known organ builder, arrived at the Oberndorf church to repair the organ. After the repair, he asked Gruber to test the organ. Gruber played the simple tune that he had recently composed for "Silent Night." Deeply moved by the tune, Mauracher took copies of the new Christmas carol back to his village at Kapfing. Two well-known families of singers--the Rainiers and the Strassers--heard it and began to perform it at Christmas presentations. In 1834, the Strassers sang "Silent Night" for King Frederick William IV of Prussia and he ordered his cathedral choir to sing it every Christmas Eve.
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