When was silent night first performed

When Mauracher finished, he stepped back to let Gruber test the instrument. When Gruber sat down, his fingers began playing the simple melody he had written for Mohr's Christmas poem. Deeply impressed, Mauracher took copies of the music and words of "Silent Night" back to his own Alpine village, Kapfing. There, two well-known families of singers — the Rainers and the Strassers — heard it.

Captivated by "Silent Night," both groups put the new song into their Christmas season repertoire. Silent night! All is calm, all is bright, 'Round yon virgin mother and Child!

Holy Infant, so tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace. The Strasser sisters spread the carol across northern Europe. He liked it so much that he ordered his cathedral choir to sing it every Christmas eve. Today, the words of "Silent Night" are sung around the world in in more than different languages. See a copy of the song as originally written by Mohr and Gruber. Words to "Silent Night" in more than languages, including Italian and Spanish click here. Traditionally the song may not be played publicly before Christmas Eve, and any commercial use of the year-old carol is verboten.

Franz Gruber was born on 25 Nov. He became a teacher and later moved to Arnsdorf. The rooms where he lived and worked can still be seen on the second floor of the Arnsdorf schoolhouse. But Gruber obviously did not spend all his time composing music. He fathered a dozen children by three different wives! In the Gruber family left Arnsdorf for Hallein, just south of Salzburg.

Joseph Franz Mohr was born an illegitimate child on 11 Dec. He became a Catholic priest in August only after receiving the special papal dispensation then required for illegitimate persons entering the priesthood.

He donated his modest earthly fortune for the education of the children in the community. Today the Joseph Mohr School stands as a fitting memorial—only yards away from the grave of the man who wrote the words heard round the world. Get this album from Amazon. Below we present the German lyrics written by Joseph Mohr side-by-side with a literal English translation.

English speakers can compare the two versions and see how closely the familiar English lyrics of the first verse follow the original German text penned by Mohr on that fateful Christmas Eve in All photos on this page except for the Stille-Nacht-Kapelle and the river courtesy Bill Egan and are used with his permission.

More Christmas from A to Z. By , Silent Night was so familiar across the globe that, when German soldiers sang it in the World War I trenches, their British counterparts were able to respond in kind. In more peaceful times, singers from Bing Crosby to Mariah Carey and innumerable festive film scores have helped it to retain its spot as arguably the most popular carol ever written.

As for Mohr and Gruber, they have not been entirely forgotten — even if, for a while, claims were made that Silent Night was the handiwork of Mozart , or possibly Haydn. Head to Oberndorf today, and you will find the Silent Night Museum and the Silent Night Chapel, the latter built in to provide a fitting tribute after St Nicholas church had fallen victim to regular Salzach floods in the late 19th century. Commemorated in stained glass, complete with quill and guitar, the priest and organist continue to welcome visitors, years after their carol enchanted those who first heard it.