Silent Night – The Rest of the Story

Father Joseph Mohr had an emergency on his hands. He was a young priest in a newly created parish and was not yet accustomed to dealing with last-minute crises. Everything had been routine, even minor, until now. But now it was December 24 – Christmas Eve.

The little Austrian village of Oberndorf was already cloaked in gray nightfall, with gently swirling snow. Father Joseph’s parishioners were eagerly anticipating the midnight church service. For them, Christmas would simply not be Christmas unless it was heralded by the choir singing joyful carols accompanied by the chapel organ.

That was the problem—the organ, or rather, the absence of it.

You see, the local schoolmaster and church organist, a young man named Franz Gruber, had arrived early that evening to rehearse for the midnight service. He noticed there was curiously little resistance as his feet pumped the organ pedals, and when his fingers touched the keys – nothing. Not a sound.

Further investigation revealed that hungry church mice had nibbled through the bellows of the organ. With no air pressure to feed the pipes, and with such short notice, repair was out of the question. Reluctantly, Franz made the announcement to Father Joseph.

In a matter of hours, the church would be filled with an eager congregation, and then it would be Father Joseph’s turn to break the news. Almost as an afterthought, Franz mentioned that he also played the guitar.

Father Joseph smiled. The magnificent service he had envisioned would be incongruously diminished by such feeble accompaniment—unless, of course, Franz would like to write new music for the service, music specifically suited to the guitar.

Now Franz was smiling, but Father Joseph was serious. With so little time to work, neither could expect a profound or polished finished product. But for the sake of a merry Christmas, they would have to do their best. With the midnight service fast approaching, Franz hurried home to retrieve his guitar and some blank staff paper.

When he returned to the church, Father Joseph handed him a poem of three verses. He had written it himself—composed just the day before, without knowing how quickly it would be put to use. Franz took the poem and began scoring it for two solo voices, chorus, and guitar accompaniment. The lines of music flowed onto the paper like sacramental wine.

Perhaps the melody was a bit too naïve, a little too simple, but there was no time to embellish. Soon the choir would be arriving. They would need copies. Would there be a few minutes to rehearse? No—no time at all. They would have to perform it cold.

What you have just heard is how a merry Christmas came to a little Bavarian village in 1818. Franz and Father Joseph sang, accompanied by Franz’s guitar and the chapel choir. Against a flickering counterpoint of quiet and candlelight, the Oberndorf parish listened in awe.

Because hungry mice had hushed the church organ, the music for their midnight service was composed in haste. Yet the spontaneous creation of Franz Gruber, inspired by the simple poetry of Father Joseph Mohr, unleashed a power born of stillness—a music reflecting majesty.

For the unsophisticated little Christmas song they wrote remained unrevised, and each year at Christmastime it is rediscovered and celebrated throughout the entire world.

Paul Harvey: Silent Night.