Deep silence, deep sorrow, some peace: Commonwealth War Cemetery, El Alamein, mid 1990s
Silent Night! Holy Night!
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon godly tender pair
Holy infant with curly hair
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Translated by Bettina Klein
© 1998 Silent Night Museum
A-5024 Salzburg, Steingasse 9
No Advent Quest would be complete without acknowledgement of Silent Night.
This Christmas Eve will mark the 200th anniversary of the first public performance of Silent Night in 1818. It was written by Joseph Mohr in 1816, partly as a way to celebrate peace and freedom, and to encourage joy, following the end of the Napoleonic Wars.*
A hundred and four years ago on Christmas Eve in 1914, German officer, Walter Kirchhoff, a tenor with the Berlin Opera “came forward and sang Silent Night in German, and then in English. In the clear, cold night of Christmas Eve, his voice carried very far.The shooting had stopped and in that silence he sang and the British knew the song and sang back.”
Silent Night has been translated into hundreds of languages and dialects. The carol was declared an intangible, cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011.
When I listen to Silent Night, I remember the Holy Family’s search for peace and sanctuary. And I hear the yearning of most every one of us for the deep silence of peace.
ps
*For an accurate account of why Mohr wrote Silent Night, please read the comment by Shoreacres.
For more information on the recording in the final link please click here
