Day 18/Track 18,  Silent Night

Author:  Joseph Mohr, 1818

Tune:  Franz Xaver Gruber

Silent Night was first performed on Christmas Eve in a small church in Austria.  The composer, Gruber, composed the tune that same day.  The song soon spread to other churches and was picked up by two travelling families of folk singers.  By 1839, the song had made it to New York City.  And as we know, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.  Today, Silent Night is the world’s most recorded Christmas song, with more than 137,000 known recordings.

I have many memories of this song at Christmas Eve services.  Often song with candlelight.  In the good old days, we each held a light candle as we sang together.  Today, we use battery operated candles or glow sticks.  One year, we were all asked to turn our phone’s flashlights on.  This song is a favorite of mine and one that even my sons will sing. 

Do you use candles during this song at your Christmas Eve service?

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