Candi's Corner: Wanderlust and Passions

A couple of days ago while listening to the local radio's morning show, I heard an interesting story about the history of "Silent Night, Holy Night". Since this is one of my all time favorite Christmas carols, I did a little bit further research I thought I'd share with you.

Rev. Josef Mohr, an Austrian priest wrote the six-verse poem, "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!" in 1816. In 1817, Rev. Mohr was transferred to Oberndorf to assist the pastor of St. Nicholas church, where he met Franz Gruber; the church organist. In 1818, Rev. Mohr gave the "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!" lyrics to Gruber so that he can compose a "suitable melody for two solo voices with choir and the accompaniment of one guitar." And so Gruber did. It is believed that the famous carol was first performed during the midnight mass on Christmas Eve of 1818. After that Rev. Mohr was transferred from St. Nicholas in 1819, and a copy of the poem was shared with many people and the music arrangement was slightly changed.Somehow, the song got into the hands of Karl Mauracher, who shared it with two neighboring families of singers in the Ziller Valley: the Strassers and the Rainers. Both families loved the song and sang it all over Europe first and the world later. The carol was later translated into more than 300 languages and dialects.

How did it get to us?
The Rainers brought the song into the United States in 1839, where they performed it at many locations. Many English translations have been attempted, with the first recorded one being by J. F. Warner in 1849. This is what his version of the first verse read like:

Silent night! hallowed night!
Land and deep silent sleep;
Softly glitters bright Bethlehem's star.
Beckoning Israel's eye from afar
Where the Saviour is born.

Another attempt was by Emily Elizabeth Steele Elliott in 1858. The first verse of her version read like this:

Stilly Night, Holy Night!
Silent stars shed their light
Where the virgin mother keeps
Steadfast watch where her little one sleeps:
Jesus high and holy!
Jesus pure and holy!

It wasn't until 1859, that Rev. John Freeman Young--then an assistant minister at the Trinity Church in New York--published the definite English translation as we know it today. In 1867, Rev. John Freeman Young became the second Bishop of Florida, where he traveled extensively throughout the state during his Diocese, building churches and schools. In 1885, at the age of 65, Young was struck by pneumonia and passed away. His funeral was conducted in St. Johns church here in Jacksonville, where he was also buried at the Old City Cemetery.

And here's what the official English version reads like: