Joseph Mohr is born
On the Day December 11 1792
Khen Lim
Oberndorf in 1890 (Image source: silent-night-museum.org
On every Christmas Eve throughout the world for the last two
hundred or so years, there is one hymn that has become its signature
celebratory piece. It’s unfailingly sung in every church, large and small by
every denomination and by every congregation and choir.
It’s adorned every
famous singer’s Christmas repertoire in the past century from Bing Crosby to
Sinead O’Connor and Amy Grant to the King’s Singers to Yolanda Adams and David
Phelps to Kathleen Battle and Christopher Parkening. It invariably provides the
imagery of a whispery quiet night blessed with stars in the sky and soft snow
on the ground. Its original name in German is Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht. In
our more familiar English, we know it as Silent
Night.
(L-R) Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber (Image source: zivot.cas.sk)
Born in Salzburg on this day two-hundred and twenty-four years
ago, in 1792, to an unmarried embroider Anna Schoiberin and Franz Mohr, a
mercenary soldier and deserter (who later abandoned his mother before he was
born), Josephus Franciscus Mohr benefited early in his years under the foster care
of Johann Nepomuk Hiernle, vicar and music teacher at the Salzburg Cathedral
(where he was baptised a few hours after his birth). Through Hiernle, Mohr
received education and music instructions and later served as a singer and
violinist in the choirs of the University Church and also at the Benedictine
monastery church of St Peter.
If it weren’t for Hiernle, Mohr’s life would have remained
miserable. His father, Franz, was not only away from home for much of the time.
He was also a deserter, which meant that he had to be in constant flight in
order to escape arrest. In fact, before Mohr was born, his father abandoned the
family home and it’s possible that he was never seen again.
Meanwhile, his
mother, Anna Schoiberin, was impoverished. With the father not contributing, it
was a very difficult time for her. Furthermore, Joseph was her third child out
of wedlock. To worsen matters, Mohr’s godfather was hardly in a happy
disposition since he was the town’s executioner!
Under his foster father, Hiernle, Mohr’s life improved. From
16 to 18 years of age, Mohr left to study at the Benedictine monastery in Kremsmünster
in Upper Austria before returning home to attend the Lyceum school. A year
after, he commenced seminary studies in his hometown but only after he received
the mandatory special dispensation in order to circumvent his illegitimate
birth status. Four years later on August 21 1815, Mohr graduated and was
ordained as a priest.
In Fall of that year, he was temporarily consigned to offer
assistance in Ramsau, a village near Berchtesgaden. Thereafter he served as
assistant priest in Mariapfarr until 1817. It was during this time that he
wrote the words to Stille Nacht, Heilige
Nacht (Silent Night, Holy Night) in Mariapfarr.
By the summer of 1817, Mohr
was forced to return home due to poor health but after a short recuperation, he
resumed his pastoral duties as assistant priest at St Nikolaus in Oberndorf. He
was there until 1819 but more importantly, it was at this period of his life
that he met Franz Gruber, a local schoolteacher, for the first time, in nearby
Arnsdorf.
Former St Nikolaus Church in Oberndorf near Salzburg (Image source: stillenacht.info)
Franz Xaver Gruber was born on November 25 1787 in Hochsburg,
a village in Unterweizberg in Upper Austria. Born to a poor family where the
father, Josef, was a destitute linen weaver, he was under persistent family
pressure to adopt a useful trade and skill but young Gruber was already
musically inclined.
Despite his father’s insistence, he quietly took violin
lessons under Andreas Peterlechner, a Hochburger schoolteacher without his
knowledge while at the same time, he was also an assistant to the organist at
his own church. It was only when his father heard him play the organ that he
relented, paving the way for Gruber to study and become a teacher but not
before he worked as a weaver until 1805 when he was 18 years of age.
Subsequently he also completed his music education under the
tutelage of George Hartdobler, the church organist in Burghausen and two years
later, in 1807, he began work as a full-fledged schoolteacher in Arnsdorf,
which was near Oberndorf, while also working as a church caretaker and organist
at the same time. A year later, he married a widow by the name of Maria
Elisabeth Fischinger Engelsberger and together, they had two children although
tragically, they died young.
In 1816, Gruber was appointed the organist at the St Nikolaus
Church where Mohr happened to be the assistant priest a year later. However
nothing unusual took place between the two although by then, both had met one
another. It was only until one cold Christmas Eve in 1818 when Mohr happened to
be walk the three kilometres from his home in Oberndorf to visit Gruber in
Arnsdorf.
The autographed version from Joseph Gruber of the original Silent Night music manuscript on display in the Salzburg Museum (Image source: stillenacht.at)
That fateful night, Mohr brought along a six-stanza poem he had
composed two years earlier. He asked Gruber if he could cobble together a carol
for the Christmas Eve midnight mass that was only a few short hours away.
Seeing that his friend was a talented choir master and organist (not to mention
a schoolteacher), Mohr was hoping that he could quickly whip up something that
would add musicality to his poem.
After a few hours, Gruber had the melody created for Mohr’s
poem called ‘Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht.’ Very frantically, both of them
hurriedly added a simple arrangement for the new song to be played using a
guitar (only because the church organ had broken down) and sung by a choir.
The 'Silent Night' Memorial Chapel of St Nikolaus Church (Image source: stillenacht.info)
That
night, at the Memorial Chapel of the St Nikolaus Church in the picturesque village of Oberndorf, Silent Night was performed for the very
first time anywhere. Both Mohr and Gruber sang their own original carol at
Christmas Mass; Mohr played the guitar and Gruber the singer led the choir to
an unforgettable night of all nights.
Although they have been much said about what happened in this
regard but the simplest and most probably explanation was that Mohr just wanted
a basic but original guitar rendition and nothing more than that. Quite
remarkably, it only took a few years for the music arrangement to be endorsed
by churches throughout the Salzburg Archdiocese and then for folklieder singers
from the Ziller Valley in Uderns, Austria to sing it on tour across the
European continent.
Eventually, Gruber went on to refine the musical arrangements
for Silent Night, making them better
suited to other instruments including the organ or the organ with orchestra.
Mohr’s original Stille Nacht lyrics are in German as follows with the literal
English translation given in italics:
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
Music: Franz Xaver Gruber (1818) / Lyrics: Joseph Mohr
(1816/1818) | Oberndorf, Austria
Note: Original German
lyrics with English transliteration are in brackets. John Freeman Young’s 1863
version is available in greyed text of each line.
Stille nacht, heilige nacht / Silent night, holy night / Silent
night, holy night
Alles schläft, einsam wacht / All are asleep, alone watches / All
is calm, all is bright
Nur das traute heilige Paar / Only the beloved, holy couple / Round
yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holder Knab im lockigten Haar, / Blessed boy in curly hair / Holy
Infant so tender and mild
Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh! / Sleep in heavenly peace! / Sleep
in heavenly peace
Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh! / Sleep in heavenly peace! / Sleep in heavenly peace
Stille nacht, heilige nacht / Silent night, holy night / Silent
night, holy night
Hirten erst kundgemacht / Shepherds
just informed / Shepherds
quake at the sight
Durch der Engel Halleluja, / By the angels’ Hallelujah / Glories
stream from heaven afar
Tönt es laut von fern und nah: / It
rings out far and wide / Heavenly
hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, der Rette ist da! / Christ the Saviour is here! / Christ,
the Saviour is born
Christ, der Rette ist da! / Christ the Saviour is here! / Christ, the Saviour is born
Stille nacht, heilige nacht / Silent night, holy night / Silent
night, holy night
Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht / Son
of God, oh how laughs / Son
of God, love’s pure light
Lieb’ aus deinem göttlichen Mund / Love out of Your divine mouth, / Radiant
beams from Thy holy face
Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund’ / Because now the hour of salvation strikes for us / With
the dawn of redeeming grace
Christ, in deiner Geburt! / Christ, in Thy birth! / Jesus,
Lord, at Thy birth
Christ, in deiner Geburt! / Christ, in Thy birth! / Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.
Reading sources:
Huey, Steve (2016) Joseph
Mohr – Artist Biography (All Music) Available online at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/joseph-mohr-mn0000227163/biography
Kent, Gary (Dec 2011) Silent
Night – A Simple Melody (It Is Written Oceania Episode 43) Available online
at https://www.hopechannel.com/watch/silent-night-a-simple-melody
Nelson, David (December 2010) The Story of Silent Night: Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber (In
Mozart’s Footsteps)
Schaffenberger, Renate ( ) Franz
Xaver Gruber (1787-1863) – Life and Work (Stille Nacht Gesellshaft)
Available online translated from German to English at http://www.stillenacht.at/en/gruber.asp
Schaffenberger, Renate ( ) Joseph
Mohr (1792-1848) (Stille Nacht Gesellshaft) Available online translated
from German to English at http://www.stillenacht.at/en/mohr.asp
Silent Night Composer and Writer (StilleNacht.info The Sound
of Christmas) Available online translated from German to English at http://www.stillenacht.info/en/silent-night/franz-xaver-gruber-joseph-mohr.asp
Stille Nacht – Silent Night; Austria’s ‘Stille Nacht’ (The
German Way & More) Available online at http://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/christmas/stille-nacht-silent-night/
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