1816 Joseph Mohr creates the text to Silent Night! in the form of a poem in Mariapfarr in the Lungau region where he was living at the time. 1818 In the schoolhouse of Arnsdorf, on Christmas Eve, Franz Xaver Gruber composes a melody to fit the text. 1818 Silent Night! Holy Night! has its world premiere on Christmas Eve in the St. Nicholas church of Oberndorf near Salzburg, performed by Franz Xaver Gruber and Joseph Mohr. On the site of former St.Nicola church now stands the Silent-Night-Memorial Chapel. First performance - Oberndorf, 1818 It was the 24th of December of the year 1818, when the then assistant priest Joseph Mohr at the newly established parish of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf handed over to the organist represented by Franz Gruber (who at the time was also school teacher in Arnsdorf) a poem, with the request to write a fitting melody for 2 solo voices together with choir and for accompaniment by guitar. These are the words of Franz Xaver Gruber which he wrote on December 30, 1854 in his Authentic Account of the Origin of the Christmas Carol, Silent Night, Holy Night! Later the same day, on the 24th of December, Gruber came to the musically talented Mohr and handed over to him his composition. As Mohr liked what he saw, this song was included in the Christmas mass that evening. Mohr sang the tenor part and provided accompaniment with guitar, while Gruber sang bass. According to Gruber, the song was met with general approval by all in attendance (mostly shipping laborers, boat builders and their families). In Grubers Authentic Account, there is no mention of the specific inspiration for creating the song. One supposition is that the church organ was no longer working, so that Mohr and Gruber therefore created a song for accompaniment by guitar. Surrounding this premiere performance of Silent Night! many romantic stories and legends have been written adding their own anecdotal details to the known facts. Silent Night was heard for the first time here in 1818 in former St. Nicholas church in Oberndorf near Salzburg youtu.be/qtAbD_w3WUM
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 13:24:39 +0000
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