For the last couple of weeks I have been trying to work out a version of the song “Silent Night” on my guitar. I have been asked to play an instrumental version of it at church next Sunday.
It’s a simple song, but that doesn’t mean it is easy. There is a subtlety to it that requires thoughtfulness and concentration. And Heart. You need heart to play “Silent Night” well. I’m working on that part, too.
At the church we attend, “Silent Night” is the running theme for the month of December. By that, I mean we will be focusing and meditating on silence during the services. I suppose we might also be focusing and meditating on the idea of night. Night would be a good concept to contemplate, but I am sure our pastor has already thought of that.
Probably other thoughts will come to mind, as well, as we think about silence and nights. Who knows where the spirit will lead us.
“Silent Night” is a beautiful song. It is one of the most recognizable tunes in the world, and it works as a group sing. It evokes memories of Christmas past. Those are some good reasons to arrange our Sunday worship services around it though I think the pastor’s idea to focus on this particular song came about because 2018 is the 200th anniversary of this classic carol. Two hundred years is more than a sufficient amount of time to establish a song as a classic.
As is sometimes the case with works of art, folklore has accumulated around “Silent Night.” Some of it is true; some of it is not.
It is a fact the song was first performed in 1818 on Christmas Eve in the St. Nicholas Parish church in the village of Oberndorf, Austria. It is also true the lyrics were composed by the church’s young assistant priest, Father Joseph Mohr who had taken residence in the village a year before. The young priest gave the poem to Franz Gruber, a schoolmaster and organist for a church in the nearby town of Arnsdorf, and asked that he compose a melody for it. They were pleased with the results, and so, on Christmas Eve, the two men performed the song standing beside the church’s Nativity scene.
The authors had decided the carol should be accompanied on guitar. This was because the church organ was not working. Folklore maintains that the organ was not working because mice had chewed through the bellows, but there is no evidence to support this story.
Sometime during the next year, Karl Mauracher, who had been called to repair the church’s defective organ, heard the song and was enchanted. He took a copy home to his village, and soon traveling singing groups from the area began working the song into their musical programs. One group, the Rainers, performed “Silent Night” for Franz I of Austria and Alexander I of Russia. The Rainers and “Silent Night” made their way to New York City in 1839.
Unfortunately, the manuscript for the lyrics was lost and after a time Mohr’s name was forgotten while Gruber was cited as the lyric writer rather than the music’s composer. Over the years various experts attributed the music to Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn. It wasn’t until 1995 that written evidence proved beyond doubt that Mohr and Gruber were responsible for the beloved carol. I guess even after almost 200 years, the truth will come out.
I am looking forward to playing “Silent Night” on my guitar at church next week. One of the sources I consulted stated, “It is unknown what inspired Mohr to write the lyrics.”
That is not a question I am interested in having answered. Who can say? Personally, I am content to accept the mystery of how art works, of how the spirit moves.
