(It can also be translated as awed, blessed, devout, righteous, sacred, saintly, solemn - or holy.) That makes sense since “hallowed” is one of the possible translations of the German word Heilige. Warner titled the song “Silent Night! Hallowed Night!” Warner created what is believed to be the oldest English version of Mohr’s German lyrics in 1849. But it wasn’t the first.Īccording to the authoritative, amazingly detailed history of the song on The Hymns and Carols of Christmas site, an American named J.
His English adaptation became the one that’s best known.
Young made up his own words for the middle part of the first verse and for most of the other two verses (of the original six) that he “translated.” The most famous English version of the song was written by American Episcopal Bishop John Freeman Young (1820-1885) and first published in 1859. Ī literal English translation of the German words of the first verse is something like this: And, although it’s the only one most people are aware of today, there have actually been many different English translations. However, it wasn’t until the 20th Century that this version became standard. Today, the familiar English version of this first verse that most of us know is: The original German title of the song - “Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!” - is taken from the opening line of the first verse: According to legend, he played a guitar because a mouse had chewed on and damaged the bellows of the church organ. The church organist, Franz Gruber (1787-1863), wrote the music.ĭuring that first performance of the song, Gruber accompanied Mohr and the choir on guitar. The lyrics of the song were written in German by Joseph Mohr (1792-1848), an Austrian Catholic priest who sang tenor during the song’s debut. Most sources say this happened on Christmas Eve, the night of Decem, though some say it was after midnight on December 25.
Nicholas Church at Oberndorf, Austria, the song we know as “Silent Night! Holy Night!” (or just “Silent Night”) was performed in public for the first time. In 1818, during the annual Christmas Midnight Mass at the St.
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