Originally published by Vienna Online - used by permission

Christmas 1999

The birthplace of "Silent Night," the city of Oberndorf at the river Salzach, circa 1890

The mystery of the 'Silent Night' melody

Franz Gruber, composer of Silent Night Be honest: did you even know that the famous Christmas carol of the world, "Silent Night", was created by two Austrians and has actually six verses? It was Joseph Mohr, priest (lyrics, 1816, pictured below) and Franz Gruber, teacher (music, 1818, pictured on the left) who collaborated in writing and presenting this wonderfully simple and touching song (world-premiere: December 24, 1818, Oberndorf, Austria).
The original German title is "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht."

Joseph Mohr, text author of Silent Night
I grew up in the province of Salzburg where "Silent Night" originated. So when I learned to sing the song, I learned it the right way. But here it comes: most of the world sings an altered melody from the original!

What happened was this: the organ at the Oberndorf church was broken on Christmas Eve 1818 and "Silent Night" was added to the service on short notice, because it was written originally with guitar accompaniment. The song was never meant to become famous and was only spread around by word of mouth.

Many years later (after 1832) a publisher listened to a performance of "Silent Night" near Innsbruck, Austria. He liked it so much that he published the song for the first time and claimed the source to be a " Tyrolian folk song." But the performers had changed it to their liking and that printed version was not the original melody anymore.

Before anyone could locate the actual authors this wrong published version of "Silent Night" spread all over the world. Later attempts to tell the world that they sing an altered melody turned out to be pretty much in vain.

Here is the main alteration of the melody: the first occurrence of "sleep in heavenly peace."

Take a look at the original and popular versions side by side (simplified):
original version

Even if you don't read music, just draw a line above the original, and you can see how naturally the melody climbs towards the high point (on the word "peace"). But the popular version reaches the climax prematurely and follows it up with an ugly diminished chord progression that takes away the sometimes-underestimated power of simplicity.

I have to be honest myself: as an Austrian musician I am naturally proud that "Silent Night" originated near my hometown. But it hurts me that more than one half of the world sings an altered melody which is musically not as valid as the original. If the change would have made the song better it would be harder to criticize.

Now you're prepared to listen to the original version of "Silent Night" (in German):

The first verse is sung by two male voices, accompanied by guitar only -
as performed at its world premiere on Christmas Eve, 1818.
The second verse is sung by boys and accompanied by organ.
The third arrangement was created almost thirty years later to do justice to the song's popularity.
It is written for a small orchestra and includes a romantic horn part.

Read more on the performers in this month's installment of Austrian Surfing Music.

You can follow along with the original score
New! Click the score below to get a printable version then just choose 'print' from the browser's menus.
It fits exactly on one page!

The bottom line: if you don't care about the origin of "Silent Night" (and that's OK, really), you shouldn't have to worry about singing the original melody. But if I did spark your interest a little bit - please spread the word and help me stop Joseph and Franz from spinning in their grave. And you might want to go to this very comprehensive website dedicated only to "Silent Night."

... what I like most about Austria? Not the mountains or the yodeling. The food!
Join me in January for a culinary feast to celebrate the year 2000 and print out my favorite recipes!