The simple but significative melody of this song was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber in 1818.
The words were written by Father Joseph Mohr. Mohr got the inspiration when he was going to bless a newborn baby. He was so filled with the spirit of the season and with the simple beauty of the mother and infant that when he returned home, he wrote the poem we sing today.
Joseph Mohr was born in Salzburg, Austria. He became a Roman Catholic priest in 1815. In 1818, Mohr asked and organist called Franz Gruber, to set his poem to suitable music. Within a few hours, Gruber composed "Stille Nacht" ("Silent Night").
Franz Gruber was also born in Austria. He was a schoolteacher before he became the organist at St. Nicholas Church. Gruber wrote over 90 musical compositions, but he is best remembered as the composer of "Silent Night".
At first, the song was known as a Tyrolean Folk Song, and it was first published in a song collection called "Vier Achte Tyroler-Lieder" in 1828. In 1954 the King of Prussia, Frederick Wilheim IV, first heard the song and instructed his royal court musicians in Berlin to find out the names of the author and composer.
In 1863, an American Episcopal clergyman called John F. Young, translated the song into English. This is the version we all know. Young served as Bishop of the state of Florida in 1867.
II.- Questions
1.- Who was Franz Xaver Gruber?
2.- When did he compose "Stille Nacht"?
3.- What is the "Silent Night" version we all know?
4.- Do you know the lyrics?
5.- What other Christmas songs lyrics do you know?
III.- Vocabulary
- Compose = Componer
- Bless = Bautizar
- Infant = Infante, niño/a
- Become = Convertirse, llegar a ser
- Ask = Pedir
- Suitable = Apropiado/a
- Within = Dentro
- Publish = Publicar
- Instruct = Ordenar, mandar
- Find out = Averiguar
- Clergyman = Clérigo, pastor
- Bishop = Obispo
IV.- Grammar
a) Simple Past Tense
Some examples:
- This song was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber in 1818.
- When he returned home, he wrote the poem.
- He became the organist.
b) Past Continuous Tense
- He was going to bless a newborn baby.
c) Irregular Verbs
- Be, was/were, been.
- Write, wrote, written.
- Get, got, got.
- Become, became, become*
- Know, knew, known.
- Hear, heard, heard.
* = Come, came, come
d) To Be Born - Nacer
- Joseph Mohr was born in Salzburg.
Other examples:
- I was born on the 2nd of November.
- He was born at the hospital.
- She said she was born in 1980.
V.- Word Construction
It is very important to know how to construct words. A simple trick is using Preffixes and Suffixes. But you can use other ways to improve your vocabulary.
- Signify, significance, significative
- Inspire, inspirate, inspiration
- Suit, suitable
- Compose, composite, composition
- Publish, publisher, publishing
- Collect, collectable, collection
- Music, musical, musician
