Silent Night Music Video – BYU Vocal Point
“Silent Night” was first heard by Austrian villagers attending Christmas Eve mass in St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf. It’s a song about a calm and bright night, and the wonder of a newborn child.
The story behind ‘Silent Night’
The words were written in 1816 by Joseph Mohr, a young priest, after the Napoleonic wars had taken their toll. The carol was first performed in Christmas Eve in 1818 as Stille Nacht Heilige Nacht. Mohr played the guitar and sang with Franz Xaver Gruber, the choir director who wrote the melody.
A repairman working at the church took a copy of the song to his home village. Then two families of traveling folk singers performed it around northern Europe. In 1834, the Strasser family performed it for the King of Prussia. In 1839, the song was sung in America for the first time when the Rainer family of singers debuted the carol outside Trinity Church in New York City. By 1914, the song was known as “Silent Night,” and being sung simultaneously in French, German and English.
It’s still ‘Silent’ today
Today, the composition has evolved. It’s known all around the world. It’s been sung in churches, in town squares, even on the battlefield during World War I, when, during a temporary truce on Christmas Eve, soldiers sang carols from home.
We got this lovely rendition from the talented a cappella group, BYU Vocal Point. It’s a beautiful reminder that hope can inspire people of all denominations to look inward and reflect on the value of faith in their own lives this holiday season.
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