The Story
The Facts
- 1816: Joseph Mohr wrote the text for "Silent Night" in form of a story in Mariapfarr in Lungau.
- 1818: Franz Xaver Gruber composed the accompanying melody, before Christmas, in the Arnsdorf school house (Parish of Lamprechtshausen).
- 1818: "Silent Night! Holy Night!" experienced its world premier on Christmas Eve in the St. Nikolaus Church in Oberndorf, near Salzburg, with Franz Xaver Gruber and Joseph Mohr.
Premier Performance - Oberndorf, near Salzburg, 1818
"It was on the 24th December 1818 that the assistant pastor of the newly established parish of St. Nicola in Oberndorf, Joseph Mohr, gave a story to Franz Gruber (a school teacher in Arnsdorf at the time), who was standing in for the organist, and asked him to compose a suitable melody for 2 soloists with choir and a guitar accompaniment." - Franz Xaver Gruber wrote this on the 30th December 1854 as the "Authentic Reason" for the coming into being of the Christmas Carol "Silent Night! Holy Night!. Gruber handed over his musical composition to Mohr on the 24th Dezember 1818. The carol pleased him and thus it was sung at the Christmas Midnight Mass. Mohr sang Tenor and played the guitar, Gruber sang Bass. The carol was "generally applauded" by the people of Oberndorf (who were mainly boatmen on the Salzach and boat builders).
In the "Authentic Reason" we do not find anything leading to the motive for the origins of the carol. It is thought perhaps that there were no examples in the old affirmations of the Church and therefore Mohr and Gruber created a carol with guitar accompaniment. There are many fanciful tales and romantic stories decorated with anecdotes and details of the origin of the carol, surrounding the premier performance of "Silent Night".
Lyrics - Mariapfarr, 1816
As we know today, Mohr already wrote the text of the carol in 1816 whilst he was an assistant pastor in Mariapfarr in Lungau. The only original exemplar of "Silent Night!", found in 1995, is signed with Mohr's own hand, "Text von Joseph Mohr mpia Coadjutor 1816". The signature has proven to be before 1830, most likely in 1816 when the text was written. Mohr's autograph also includes the text "Melodie von Fr: Xav: Gruber" and therfore finally proves the authorship of the composition.
Historical Background
The creation of "Silent Night" came in very difficult times. The Napoleonic Wars were over and Europe experienced new laws put down by the Vienna Congress. The ecclesiastical principality of Salzburg, which had lost its independence as a result of these, became secularized. A part of Salzburg came to Bavaria in 1816 and a larger part to Austria. Oberndorf, near Salzburg, where the premier performance of "Silent Night!" was held, was divided off from the centre of its town, Laufen (today in Bavaria, Germany) as the Salzach River was made the new border between the two countries. This river, through the transportation of salt, was responsible for the basic prosperity to be found in Laufen/Oberndorf. Thus boat travel, boatsmen, boat builders and indeed the whole town experienced uncertain times. Mohr came to Oberndorf at this time and stayed between 1817 and 1819.
His former parish, Mariapfarr (1816-1817) suffered from the departure of the Bavarian occupation troops. The text of the fourth verse of "Silent Night!" had a special meaning in the circumstances of these times. It emphasised the dire yearning for peace.
