The Stories Behind 3 Favorite Christmas Carols
by Rose M. Fife, Music Director/ Communications Specialist
Christmas Carols are some of the most beautiful and universally well known tunes we have. But few people know the struggles, strife and care for these pieces to be written. Here are the stories of 3 popular Christmas carols.
Silent Night
Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber
According to several music historians, when Father Joseph Mohr (1792-1848) went into the sanctuary of St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria on Christmas Eve, he suddenly found the organ not working. Not wishing to disappoint his congregation on this momentous occasion, he summoned his choir director, Franz Gruber (1787-1863), and together they wrote the words and music, respectively, for “Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!”
“Silent Night,” as we know it, was then taught and sung for the first time to the accompaniment of Fr. Mohr’s guitar. Interestingly, other sources insinuate that Fr. Mohr may have damaged the organ on purpose so he could accompany the service on his guitar. (Guitarists would never do that…)
O Come, All Ye Faithful/ Adeste Fideles
John Francis Wade
Composer John Francis Wade (1711-1786) was forced to flee England in 1735 during the Jacobite rebellion as he was a Catholic. He became renowned for his musical artwork after finding work teaching music at the Roman Catholic College and Ministry Center in Douay, France. At that time, printing music was difficult, but copying it by hand was thought to be a work of art.
In 1743, he “found and produced” a Latin hymn entitled Adeste Fideles, Laetri triumphantes. Believed at first to be an ancient hymn discovered by Wade, many historians now believe it was an original piece composed by him, but as a refugee living in a foreign land, he did not wish to draw attention to himself.
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
Edmund Hamilton Sears
One of the first carols written by an American, Reverend Edmund Hamilton Sears (1810-1876), published it in 1849 at a time of great unrest. With the frantic California Gold Rush, the Industrial Revolution causing great change and upheaval in New England, and mounting tension between the North and South, this carol quickly became popular for its message of peace. “Who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow.”
This lovely hymn was also one of the first songs to incorporate the angels’ message: “Peace on the earth, goodwill to all, from heaven’s all-gracious king…..Look now, for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing…..when peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendor fling.”