CarolEnglishGerman 1818; English verse 1859
Silent Night
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht
Silent Night is the best-known Christmas carol in the world. It was first sung in German as "Stille Nacht" on Christmas Eve 1818 in the village of Oberndorf near Salzburg, Austria, and has since been translated into hundreds of languages.
- Written by
- Joseph Mohr (German original), John Freeman Young (English, verse 1), Jane Montgomery Campbell (English, verses 2-5) (died 1885)
- Music
- Franz Xaver Gruber
- In the video
- The Choir of King's College, Cambridge
- Context
- English version of the Austrian carol "Stille Nacht" (1818), as printed in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920)
- Year
- German 1818; English verse 1859
- Language
- English
Silent Night lyrics
Verse 1 is John Freeman Young's 1859 translation; verses 2-5 are by Jane Montgomery Campbell, as printed in the 1920 hymnal (punctuation as in the source). Many hymnals instead use Young's own second and third verses ("Shepherds quake at the sight" and "Son of God, love's pure light").
Silent night, holy 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,
Silent night, holy night, Darkness, flies and all is light; Shepherds hear the angels sing: 'Alleluia! hail the King! Jesus the Saviour is here, Jesus the Saviour is here.'
Holy night, peaceful night, Child of heaven, O how bright Thou didst smile when thou wast born; Blessed was that happy morn, Full of heavenly joy, Full of heavenly joy.
Silent night, holy night, Guiding Star, O lend thy light; See the eastern wise men bring Gifts and homage to our King! Jesus the Saviour is here, Jesus the Saviour is here.
Silent night, holy night, Wondrous Star, O lend thy light! With the angels let us sing Alleluia to our King! Jesus our Saviour is here, Jesus our Saviour is here.
Amen.
The story behind Silent Night
Joseph Mohr, a young Catholic priest, wrote the German words in 1816. On Christmas Eve 1818, at St Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, he asked the schoolteacher and organist Franz Xaver Gruber to set them to music, and the two sang it together with a guitar accompaniment.
Travelling folk singers from the Ziller valley carried the carol across Europe and to America. In 1859 the Episcopal priest John Freeman Young, then at Trinity Church in New York, published the English translation of the first verses that is still sung today.
This page carries the English text from The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920), which combines Young's first verse with further verses translated by Jane Montgomery Campbell. In 2011 the carol was added to Austria's national inventory of intangible cultural heritage.
What Silent Night means
The carol pictures the night of Jesus' birth as a moment of complete stillness. The first verse looks at the mother and child and ends with a lullaby: sleep in heavenly peace.
Later verses widen the scene: darkness gives way to light as the shepherds hear the angels, the child smiles on the first morning, and a guiding star draws the wise men with their gifts. The last verse invites the singers to join the angels' alleluia.
Its gentle melody and simple images of calm, light and peace explain why it is sung in churches, homes and public gatherings far beyond any single tradition.
Quick facts
- First performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas Church, Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria.
- German words by Joseph Mohr (1816); melody by Franz Xaver Gruber.
- John Freeman Young published the standard English translation in 1859.
- Added to Austria's intangible cultural heritage list in 2011.