However, a manuscript was discovered in 1995 in Mohr's handwriting and dated by researchers as c.

Over the years, because the original manuscript had been lost, Mohr's name was forgotten and although Gruber was known to be the composer, many people assumed the melody was composed by a famous composer, and it was variously attributed to Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven. During this period, the melody changed slightly to become the version that is commonly played today. By the 1840s the song was well known in Lower Saxony and was reported to be a favourite of Frederick William IV of Prussia. The Rainers were already singing it around Christmas 1819, and they once performed it for an audience that included Franz I of Austria and Alexander I of Russia, as well as making the first performance of the song in the U.S., in New York City in 1839. From there, two travelling families of folk singers, the Strassers and the Rainers, included the tune in their shows. Īccording to Gruber, Karl Mauracher, an organ builder who serviced the instrument at the Oberndorf church, was enamoured of the song, and took the composition home with him to the Zillertal. It is unknown what inspired Mohr to write the lyrics, or what prompted him to create a new carol. The church was eventually destroyed by repeated flooding and replaced with the Silent-Night-Chapel. On Christmas Eve 1818, Mohr brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for that night's mass, after river flooding had possibly damaged the church organ. The melody was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, schoolmaster and organist in the nearby village of Arnsdorf, now part of Lamprechtshausen. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, he had written the poem ' Stille Nacht' in 1816 at Mariapfarr, the hometown of his father in the Salzburg Lungau region, where Joseph had worked as an assistant priest. A young Catholic priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before. Overall it’s another top notch book done by Hodges.' Stille Nacht' was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire on the Salzach river in present-day Austria. My 6 yo was interested in it but it was a bit drawn out for the 4 yo. It is definitely a good read aloud for older children. It’s fairly long and some pages are only text. Silent Night is not a short story as far as children’s books go. The Classical Kids Christmas cd also recalls similar events. But this isn’t the only source I’ve heard some of those stories, so there is probably some basis of truth in them. I have no proof for the authenticity of this story or the events Hodges tells about in war time. Then Hodges goes on to give a few examples of how the song was used amidst war time to give snippets of peace to soldiers. The song was eventually taken to America and translated into English. The story goes on to tell how the song was popularized by a family of singers later on, but no one knew the source, until a connection with the musician was later discovered and the mystery solved. The church musician sets them to music and before the Mass starts they sing it together with a simple guitar accompaniment.

The priest sets about writing a homily and instead comes up with the words to the carol. We read about a little church in Austria whose organ bellows breaks just before Christmas Eve Mass. Silent Night: The Song and its Story is about how the much-loved Christmas carol was written and how its popularity spread.

Last night we read another of Margaret Hodges great legend books.

Silent night book hodges