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sILENT NIGHT IS A SONG

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-{{other uses}}
-{{Listen|filename=Silent Night (choral).ogg|title="Silent Night"|description=Choral version by United States Army Chorus
-|filename2=Gruber - Schumann-Heink - Stille Nacht.ogg|title2="Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht"|description2=[[Ernestine Schumann-Heink]]}}
-"'''Silent Night'''" ({{lang-de|Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht}}) is a popular [[Christmas carol]], composed 1818 in [[Austrian Empire|Austria]]. It was declared an [[intangible cultural heritage]] by the [[UNESCO]] in March 2011.
+sILENT NIGHT IS A SONG
-== History ==
-[[File:Stille nacht.jpg|thumb|[[Autograph]] of the carol by Franz Xaver Gruber]]
-[[File:Franz Xaver Gruber.jpg|thumb|Franz Xaver Gruber, painted by Sebastian Stief (1846)]]
-The song was first performed on [[Christmas Eve]] 1818 at the St Nicholas parish church in [[Oberndorf bei Salzburg]]. The small town on the [[Salzach]] river, part of the former [[Archbishopric of Salzburg]], had just passed to Austria in 1816. The young priest Father [[Joseph Mohr]] had come to Oberndorf the year before, he had already written the
-original [[lyrics]] of the song "Stille Nacht" in 1816 at [[Mariapfarr]], the hometown of his father in the Salzburg [[Tamsweg District|Lungau]] region, where he had worked as a coadjutor.
-The melody was composed by [[Franz Xaver Gruber]], schoolmaster and [[organist]] in the nearby village of [[Lamprechtshausen|Arnsdorf]]. Before Christmas Eve, Mohr brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and [[guitar]] accompaniment for the church service.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/christmas/carols_2.shtml |title=BBC Religion & Ethics |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=2009-08-04 |accessdate=2011-12-06}}</ref> Both performed the carol during the [[mass (liturgy)|mass]] on the night of December 24.
-In his written account regarding the composition of the carols, Gruber gives no mention of the specific inspiration for creating the song. According to the song's history provided by Austria's Silent Night Society, one supposition is that the [[church organ]] was no longer working so that Mohr and Gruber therefore created a song for accompaniment by guitar. Silent Night historian Renate Ebeling-Winkler Berenguer says that the first mention of a broken organ was in a book published in the United States, ''The Story of Silent Night'' (1965) by John Travers Moore.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} There is evidence that a radio play of this version was performed as a Hallmark Theatre Broadcast in 1948.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://media.podcastingmanager.com/94060-86797/Media/481223%20The%20Story%20of%20Silent%20.mp3 | title=Hallmark Theatre Broadcast in 1948 | accessdate = 5 December 2011}}</ref>
-Some<ref>[http://www.stillenacht.at/de/liedentstehung.asp Historical background], Stille Nacht Geselleschaft (Silent Night Society) {{De icon}}</ref> believe that Mohr simply wanted a new Christmas carol that he could play on his guitar. The Silent Night Society says that there are "many romantic stories and legends" that add their own anecdotal details to the known facts.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
-[[File:Silentnight1.jpg|thumb|left|Silent Night Museum and Memorial Chapel in Oberndorf]]
-The Nikolaus-Kirche was demolished in the early 1900s as a result of flood damage and because the town's center was moved up the river to a safer location, with a new church being built in the new town, close to the new bridge. A tiny [[chapel]], called the "Stille-Nacht-Gedächtniskapelle" (Silent Night Memorial Chapel), was built in the place of the demolished church and a nearby house was converted into a museum, attracting tourists from all over the world, not only but primarily in December.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
-The original manuscript has been lost. However a manuscript was discovered in 1995 in Mohr's handwriting and dated by researchers at ca. 1820. It shows that Mohr wrote the words in 1816 when he was assigned to a pilgrim church in [[Mariapfarr]], Austria, and shows that the music was composed by Gruber in 1818. This is the earliest [[manuscript]] that exists and the only one in Mohr's handwriting. Gruber's composition was influenced by the musical tradition of his rural domicile. The melody of "Silent Night" bears resemblance to aspects of Austrian [[folk music]] and [[yodelling]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}
-Another popular story claims that the carol, once performed, was promptly forgotten until an organ repairman found the manuscript in 1825 and revived it. However, Gruber published various arrangements of it throughout his lifetime and we now have the Mohr arrangement (ca. 1820) that is kept at the [[Salzburg Museum|Museum Carolino Augusteum]] in Salzburg.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
-==Translations==
-In 1859, [[John Freeman Young]] (second Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Florida) published the English translation that is most frequently sung today.<ref>Underwood, Byron Edward, "Bishop John Freeman Young, Translator of 'Stille Nacht'", ''The Hymn'', v. 8, no. 4, Oct. 1957, pp. 123–132.</ref> The version of the melody that is generally sung today differs slightly (particularly in the final strain) from Gruber's original, which was a sprightly, dance-like tune in 6/8 [[Time signature|time]], as opposed to the slow, meditative [[lullaby]] version generally sung today. Today, the lyrics and melody are in the [[public domain]].
-The carol has been translated into 140 some-odd languages.<ref>Ronald M. Clancy, William E Studwell. ''Best-Loved Christmas Carols''. Christmas Classics Ltd, 2000.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Silent Night |url=http://silentnight.web.za/index.htm|work=Silent Night}}</ref> It is sometimes sung without musical accompaniment.
-The song was sung simultaneously in French, English and German by troops during the [[Christmas truce]]<ref>[[Stanley Weintraub]] ''Silent Night: The Remarkable Christmas Truce of 1914''. New York: Free Press, 2001.</ref> of 1914, as it was one carol that soldiers on both sides of the front line knew.
-==Recordings==
-The song has been recorded by virtually every artist, past and present, who has made a Christmas album. There are versions by [[Enya]] (sung in Gaelic), [[Andrea Bocelli]] (sung in Italian), [[Stevie Nicks]], [[Bing Crosby]], [[Mahalia Jackson]], an acoustic version by American R 'n' B group [[Boyz II Men]], and an [[Christmas (Mannheim Steamroller album)|instrumental version]] by [[Mannheim Steamroller]]. [[Simon & Garfunkel]] recorded [[7 O'Clock News/Silent Night|an ironic version of the song]] in which a depressing radio news report is overheard in the background. There have been choral recordings by the [[Choir of King's College, Cambridge|King's College Choir]], the [[Cambridge Singers]], the [[Robert Shaw Chorale]], the [[Mormon Tabernacle Choir]], the [[Harry Simeone Chorale]], the [[Vienna Boys' Choir]], and countless other classical choral groups. Other recordings include [[Perry Como]] (several times), [[Andy Williams]] from ''The Andy Williams Christmas Album'', [[Frank Sinatra]], [[Barbra Streisand]], [[Jim Reeves]] from ''Twelve Songs of Christmas'' (1963),  [[Elvis Presley]] from ''[[Elvis' Christmas Album]]'' (1957), [[The Temptations]] (1968), [[Reba McEntire]] from ''[[Merry Christmas to You]]'' (1987); [[Mariah Carey]] from ''[[Merry Christmas (Mariah Carey album)|Merry Christmas]]'' (1994); [[Linda Ronstadt]] from ''[[A Merry Little Christmas (Linda Ronstadt album)|A Merry Little Christmas]]'' (2000); [[Christina Aguilera]] from ''[[My Kind of Christmas]]'' (2000), [[Plus One (band)|Plus One]] from ''[[Christmas (Plus One album)|Christmas]]'' (2002), [[Josh Groban]] from ''[[Noël (Josh Groban album)|Noël]]'' (2007); [[Tori Amos]] from ''[[Midwinter Graces]]'' (2009), [[Jackie Evancho]] from ''[[O Holy Night (Jackie Evancho album)|O Holy Night]]'' and [[Richard Marx]] from ''[[The Christmas EP (Richard Marx EP)|The Christmas EP]]'' (2011).
-The version recorded by Bing Crosby is one of the fewer than thirty all-time [[single (music)|singles]] to have [[list of best-selling singles worldwide|sold 10 million]] (or more) copies worldwide.
-The African-American singer-activist [[Paul Robeson]] recorded the song several times; his 1937 recording uses a British translation rather than the one more commonly found in the USA.
-In 1943, the Austrian exile [[Hertha Pauli]] wrote the book ''Silent Night. A Story of a Song'', in which she explained to American children the origin of the song. The book was illustrated by [[Fritz Kredel]].<ref>[[Hertha Pauli]]: ''Silent Night. A Story of a Song''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1943.</ref>
-[[Glendale, California]]'s radio broadcaster, Bob Holiday narrated this Christmas carol impersonating [[God]] as a tribute to the [[September 11 attacks|terrorist attacks]].
-[[Westlife]] performed the song live with [[Sinéad O'Connor]] in 2001. In 2006, [[Brad Paisley]] recorded the song for ''[[Brad Paisley Christmas]]''. In 2007, [[Damien Leith]] included a recording on a limited special Christmas edition of ''[[Where We Land]]'' and [[Taylor Swift]] recorded a version for her Christmas EP ''[[Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection]]''.
-In 2008, the song was featured on a [[We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year|compilation release]] of [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] [[supergroup (music)|supergroups]], performed by members of [[Testament (band)|Testament]], [[Anthrax (band)|Anthrax]], [[Shadows Fall]], and [[The Cult]].
-In 2010 [[Annie Lennox]] included this track on her new album ''[[A Christmas Cornucopia]]' and in 2011, it was recorded by [[Joe McElderry]] for his third studio album, ''[[Classic Christmas (Joe McElderry album)|Classic Christmas]]''.
-==References==
-{{Reflist}}
-==External links==
-{{Commons category|Stille Nacht}}
-{{Wikisource|Silent Night}}
-{{Wikisourcelang|de|Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!}}
-* [http://www.christmassongswords.com/silent-night-songs.htm Lyrics to "Silent Night"]
-* [http://wikifonia.org/node/202 Sheet music on Wikifonia]
-* Free arrangements for [http://cantorion.org/music/15/Silent+Night piano] and [http://cantorion.org/music/54/Silent+Night voice] from ''Cantorion.org'' (cc-by-sa)
-* [http://stillenacht.at Stille-Nacht-Association, Salzburg], [http://stillenacht.at/en/text_and_music.asp text and music], [http://stillenacht.at/music/strophe1.mp3 verse1 (de)], [http://stillenacht.at/music/strophe4.mp3 verse4 (de)]
-* [http://www.stillenacht.info/en/silent-night/index.asp Silent Night Chapel, Origin of song]
-* [http://silentnight.web.za Silent Night Web]: translations (193 versions in 130 languages), notation, and history.
-* [http://www.orgelbau.at/german/orgeln/orgeldetail_external.php?id=1&lang=de Joseph Mohr Memorial Organ, Wagrain, Austria]
-[[Category:1810s songs]]
-[[Category:Austrian songs]]
-[[Category:Christmas in Germany]]
-[[Category:Christian songs]]
-[[Category:Christmas carols]]
-[[Category:Christmas songs]]
-[[bg:Тиха нощ, свята нощ]]
-[[bs:Tiha noć]]
-[[ca:Santa nit]]
-[[cs:Tichá noc]]
-[[cy:Tawel Nos]]
-[[da:Glade jul, dejlige jul]]
-[[de:Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht]]
-[[et:Püha öö]]
-[[el:Άγια Νύχτα]]
-[[es:Noche de paz]]
-[[eo:Stille Nacht]]
-[[eu:Haurtxo maite]]
-[[fr:Douce nuit, sainte nuit]]
-[[ga:Oíche Chiúin]]
-[[gd:Oidhche Shàmhach (òran)]]
-[[ko:고요한 밤 거룩한 밤]]
-[[haw:Pō La‘i Ē]]
-[[hr:Tiha noć]]
-[[id:Malam Kudus]]
-[[is:Heims um ból]]
-[[it:Astro del Ciel]]
-[[csb:Cëchô noc]]
-[[la:Alma nox]]
-[[ln:Butú pi!]]
-[[hu:Csendes éj]]
-[[nl:Stille Nacht (kerstlied)]]
-[[ja:きよしこの夜]]
-[[no:Glade jul]]
-[[nn:Glade jul]]
-[[pl:Cicha noc]]
-[[pt:Noite Feliz]]
-[[ro:Noapte de vis]]
-[[ru:Тихая ночь]]
-[[simple:Silent Night]]
-[[sk:Tichá noc, svätá noc]]
-[[sl:Sveta noč]]
-[[sr:Тиха ноћ]]
-[[fi:Jouluyö, juhlayö]]
-[[sv:Stilla natt]]
-[[tl:Silent Night]]
-[[th:ราตรีสงัด ราตรีสวัสดิ์]]
-[[tr:Sessiz Gece, Kutsal Gece]]
-[[uk:Тиха ніч]]
-[[vi:Đêm thánh vô cùng]]
-[[wa:El nute påjhûle (tchanson)]]
-[[zh:平安夜 (歌曲)]]