“Silent Night, Holy Night: A Song For The World”
by Werner Thuswaldner, illustrated by Robert Ingpen.
Penguin, Young Readers Group, New York, 2005,32 pages, Grades 2-4.
Music can elevate the hearts and minds of people. To do so, music must speak to eternal values such as love of God, sacrifice and charity. As well, hope must be present in the piece to help people see beyond their own needs. Music of this kind is rare because it is difficult to write a piece of music that will inspire people of different nationalities.
But sometimes we are gifted with such a composition. One such masterpiece was written in Austria during a cold December night. Werner Thuswaldner tells the marvelous story of how the wonderful song “Silent Night” was composed and performed in his book, “Silent Night, Holy Night: A Song For The World.”
The winter of 1818 is bitter for the downtrodden community of Oberndorf in Austria. The Napoleonic Wars have left a ravaged countryside and there is little work for the men in the community. The Salzach River runs through the town and frequently floods, leaving devastation behind. The women in the town huddle together, not knowing how they will feed their families.
Father Joseph Mohr arrives in Oberndorf to become the pastor of the local church. Father Mohr comes from the same peasant stock as those in his parish and understands their suffering and poverty. Father Joseph also knows that Our Lord came to earth to save mankind and chose to be born in a humble stable.
Father Mohr is gifted in music, writing lyrics and playing the guitar. The organist of the church, Mr. Franz Gruber, also composes music and understands the power music has to elevate people in times of difficulty. Working together, the two men want to give the weary people of Oberndorf a beautiful song for Christmas. The priest writes a poem that catches the eye of the organist. They work the poem into a melody and then into a complete song.
As the bitter winter night sets in, their troubles begin to mount. The church organ gives out right before Midnight Mass and the men are left without the primary musical instrument for the piece. Because of this, Father Mohr decides to play his guitar for the accompaniment. Word spreads throughout the town that a special piece of music is going to be sung at Mass that night. The people excitedly hurry to church to hear the piece. The organist then begins singing the song while Father Mohr accompanies on the guitar. The beaten-down people of Oberndorf are then blessed to be the first to hear and sing the beautiful song, “Silent Night, Holy Night.”
“Silent Night, Holy Night” is one of the most beloved songs in history. It is filled with beauty and a proper sense of humility. For after all, it is primarily a song of love to the Child Jesus. So powerful is its influence in history that German soldiers in World War I sing the German version during the 1914 Christmas Truce and the French and British soldiers respond by singing the hymn in French and English.
I hope you get the chance to go to the library and check out this beautiful book detailing the writing and the first performance of “Silent Night, Holy Night” in Oberndorf, Austria. Even better, teach the younger members of your family on Christmas Eve the meaning of this marvelous, grace-filled song. Then, honor Our Lord’s birth by singing it with them. May you all have a Blessed Advent and Merry Christmas!
