“Silent Night” Is Still The Most Popular Carol of All Times The song we know as “Silent Night” was born as “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht” in a small Austrian village in 1818. According to legend, the church organ was broken on Christmas Eve, so the organist and town priest collaborated to create the carol with a guitar accompaniment in order to ensure that the people of Oberndorf did not go without music on the holy night. The song was translated to English by an American Episcopal priest in 1859. Though Christmas had become a national tradition by World War I, “Silent Night” was far from the dominant song of the season. But by the time of the famous 1914 Christmas truce—100 years ago this Christmas—the carol played a crucial role in bringing about the temporary break in the fighting. All along the trenches, two sides started singing carols at each other. After the musical icebreaker, some of them met in No Man’s Land, exchanged presents, and played makeshift soccer games. Legend has it that “Silent Night” was the only carol the two sides had in common, but in reality the Germans were much more familiar with the carol. They were the ones who most frequently sang “Stille Nacht,” while the English responded with a variety of tunes, from “Good King Wenceslas” to “The First Noel.” Christmas music in general took off in the two decades after World War I, coinciding with the rise of radio and the music industry. Bing Crosby, whose Christmas album is one of the most popular of all time, first recorded “Silent Night” in 1928. In the almost nine decades since, the song has been recorded and re-recorded by countless artists. Time magazine found that “Silent Night” is by far the most recorded carol in America since 1978. In 2011, UNESCO declared “Silent Night” part of the “intangible cultural heritage,” but 100 years ago, it wasnt nearly the cultural fixture it is today. Since it’s humble origins in an Austrian village almost 200 years ago, the song has come a long way, featured on countless recordings and helping to bring together nations entrenched in the bloodiest war in modern history.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 18:18:15 +0000
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