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And Unto Us A Song Was Born…
Posted on: December 25, 2018 at 11:02:20 CT
DoltfromSTL MU
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Joseph Mohr was an Austrian Roman Catholic priest who died penniless, but left the world a beautiful Christmas Carol, “Stille Nacht,” now sung and enjoyed around the world in over 300 languages and dialects.
Josephus Franciscus Mohr was born on 11 December, 1792 in Salzburg, Austria to an unmarried embroiderer, Anna Schoiberin, and Franz Mohr, a mercenary soldier and deserter, who abandoned Joseph's mother before the birth. Johann Nepomuk Hiernle, vicar and leader of music at Salzburg Cathedral, enabled Mohr to have an education and encouraged him in music. As a boy, Mohr would serve simultaneously as a singer and violinist in the choirs of the University Church and at the Benedictine monastery church of St. Peter. He became a Catholic priest in August 1815 (only after receiving the special papal dispensation then required for illegitimate persons entering the priesthood). Mohr then served as assistant priest in Mariapfarr (1815-1817). It was during this time, in 1816, that he penned the words to "Silent Night" in Mariapfarr. No one knows exactly what inspired Mohr to write his six-stanza poem, but speculation was the stillness Mohr experienced on a long, peaceful Winter's walk one evening.
It was a dark and troubled time in Austria during that period. Volcanic ash filled the air from the eruption of Mount Tambora, one of the most powerful in recorded history, had caused climate change across Europe by darkened skies and lower temperatures. 1816 became known as “The Year Without a Summer.”
Austrians also felt battered and exhausted from years of fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. The 12-year conflict claimed many lives, damaged the economy, killed jobs and left the landscape littered with crumbled buildings and homes.
The year of 1816, when Mohr composed the lyrics to ‘Silent Night,’ was a time of suffering for many Austrians. It rained virtually nonstop and even snowed during the summer. Crops failed causing famine. People were hungry and poor. Father Mohr faced a congregation of traumatized people, and I think his text for ‘Silent Night’ was intended to offer peace and comfort during great hardship.”
“Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.”
Poor health had forced Mohr to return to Salzburg in the summer of 1817. After a short recuperation he began serving as an assistant priest at St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, where he made the acquaintance of Franz Gruber in the neighboring town of Arnsdorf. On a very cold Christmas Eve in 1818, Mohr walked two miles to ask Gruber to compose music for the six-verse poem he had written two years earlier. He desperately needed a carol for the Christmas Eve midnight mass that was only hours away. He hoped his friend, a school teacher who also served as the church’s choir master and organist, could set his poem to music. And one of the many amazing things about this carol is that Franz Gruber composed the “Stille Nacht” melody for Mohr in just a few hours on that December 24, 1818. It was a curious choice because Mohr was a talented musician himself — he played violin and guitar — and possessed the skills to produce a song. Recent flooding of the nearby Salzach River had put the church organ out of commission, so Gruber composed the music for guitar accompaniment. A few hours after Gruber finished his composition, he and Mohr stood before the altar of the St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf to perform their own work. A local choir group backed them up as the sounds of the new carol broke the silence of that “Stille Nacht,” two hundred years ago this very night.
Strangley, the original melody was written in 6/8 time which made it more of a dance, a waltz, but over the next few decades the timing was altered and became the reflective, beautiful song that has transcended generations and centuries around the world.
Merry Christmas on the 200th Anniversary of this song.
Josephus Franciscus Mohr was born on 11 December, 1792 in Salzburg, Austria to an unmarried embroiderer, Anna Schoiberin, and Franz Mohr, a mercenary soldier and deserter, who abandoned Joseph's mother before the birth. Johann Nepomuk Hiernle, vicar and leader of music at Salzburg Cathedral, enabled Mohr to have an education and encouraged him in music. As a boy, Mohr would serve simultaneously as a singer and violinist in the choirs of the University Church and at the Benedictine monastery church of St. Peter. He became a Catholic priest in August 1815 (only after receiving the special papal dispensation then required for illegitimate persons entering the priesthood). Mohr then served as assistant priest in Mariapfarr (1815-1817). It was during this time, in 1816, that he penned the words to "Silent Night" in Mariapfarr. No one knows exactly what inspired Mohr to write his six-stanza poem, but speculation was the stillness Mohr experienced on a long, peaceful Winter's walk one evening.
It was a dark and troubled time in Austria during that period. Volcanic ash filled the air from the eruption of Mount Tambora, one of the most powerful in recorded history, had caused climate change across Europe by darkened skies and lower temperatures. 1816 became known as “The Year Without a Summer.”
Austrians also felt battered and exhausted from years of fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. The 12-year conflict claimed many lives, damaged the economy, killed jobs and left the landscape littered with crumbled buildings and homes.
The year of 1816, when Mohr composed the lyrics to ‘Silent Night,’ was a time of suffering for many Austrians. It rained virtually nonstop and even snowed during the summer. Crops failed causing famine. People were hungry and poor. Father Mohr faced a congregation of traumatized people, and I think his text for ‘Silent Night’ was intended to offer peace and comfort during great hardship.”
“Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.”
Poor health had forced Mohr to return to Salzburg in the summer of 1817. After a short recuperation he began serving as an assistant priest at St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, where he made the acquaintance of Franz Gruber in the neighboring town of Arnsdorf. On a very cold Christmas Eve in 1818, Mohr walked two miles to ask Gruber to compose music for the six-verse poem he had written two years earlier. He desperately needed a carol for the Christmas Eve midnight mass that was only hours away. He hoped his friend, a school teacher who also served as the church’s choir master and organist, could set his poem to music. And one of the many amazing things about this carol is that Franz Gruber composed the “Stille Nacht” melody for Mohr in just a few hours on that December 24, 1818. It was a curious choice because Mohr was a talented musician himself — he played violin and guitar — and possessed the skills to produce a song. Recent flooding of the nearby Salzach River had put the church organ out of commission, so Gruber composed the music for guitar accompaniment. A few hours after Gruber finished his composition, he and Mohr stood before the altar of the St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf to perform their own work. A local choir group backed them up as the sounds of the new carol broke the silence of that “Stille Nacht,” two hundred years ago this very night.
Strangley, the original melody was written in 6/8 time which made it more of a dance, a waltz, but over the next few decades the timing was altered and became the reflective, beautiful song that has transcended generations and centuries around the world.
Merry Christmas on the 200th Anniversary of this song.
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And Unto Us A Song Was Born… - DoltfromSTL MU - 12/25 11:02:20