While hordes of tourists flow through Mozart’s birthplace here and crowd buses for “Sound of Music” tours, fewer connect the Salzburg area with the famous hymn. Visits to sites connected with “Silent Night” deepen its meaning and allow a view of modern Austria and a strong sense of the 18th century.

Oberndorf, Austria — December 22, 1818
It was just two days before Christmas in 1818 when the organ bellows at St. Nikolas Church in Oberndorf, 11 miles north of Salzburg, rotted through making the organ inoperable.  Father Joseph Mohr, Parish Priest wrote a poem and asked organist and choir director, Franz Gruber, and the parish choir to set it to music, knowing the congregation would expect music on Christmas Eve at midnight mass.  In his study in the village of Arnsdorf, Franz Gruber looked out over the snowy fields from his window.  Then, as he read the poem, he began to hum and then sing the poem, “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht….”. A few hours before midnight mass, Franz headed back to the church to reherse the hymn with Father Mohr and teach the refrain to the choir.

Happy Birthday Jesus !

Christmas Eve, 1818, Franz Gruber sung the bass and Father Josef Mohr sung the tenor and accompanied on the guitar. This was the birth of our, now, most famous and popular Christmas Hymn.

The organ builder who repaired the St. Nikolas bellows then carried the song to his home, 200 miles away near Innsbrook.  Two family singing groups performed it in the organ builder’s town.  Later the families introduced “Silent Night” in a performance in New York, on Christmas Eve, in 1839.

In 1827, Father Mohr took a position in Wagrain where in the next 21 years until death, he built the Joseph Mohr School and Joseph Mohr Home for the Aged.  The old Nikolas church was destroyed by a flood but the townspeople constructed a memorial on the site of the old church in 1837.  Father Mohr met his death in 1848.

Franz Gruber accepted an organist position in 1833 in the larger town of Hallein, 10 miles south of Salzburg. He resided there until his death in 1863, at the age of 75.

Where ever these two important men in history hung their hats, are memorialized and there are museums throughout areas of Austria.

This story was originally written and published in The Milwaukee Journal on December 19, 1993, by Jim Johnson in a tribute to the 175th anniversary of this hymn.

  ]]> http://www.music.articleposts.com/classy-composers/the-legacy-of-silent-night/feed/ 0 http://www.music.articleposts.com/classy-music/vinyl-record-resurgence-bringing-the-past-forward-in-to-the-present/ http://www.music.articleposts.com/classy-music/vinyl-record-resurgence-bringing-the-past-forward-in-to-the-present/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:52:05 +0000 norinepeardon http://www.music.articleposts.com/classy-music/vinyl-record-resurgence-bringing-the-past-forward-in-to-the-present/ The newer age band, who might have not been born at some stage in the peak of rock vinyl prominence or have even heard the true tune and vintage sound of analog formats, might be perplexed by the unsurpassed generation of older music fans devoted to the revival of vinyl records. Despite the expediency which shared downloads of MP3s and iPods provide, the current music industry still leaves enough breathing room for vinyl records to succeed. Sales of conventional music recordings, like LP’s are recognized to reduce the build up of digital music as record centers and music stores are bringing back niches for gramophone and vinyl racks.

The pledge of ease attached to inanimate music downloads might have brought enjoyment to the public but not for long.  With nearly everything attainable in the virtual space, enthusiasts hungered for more concerete music products and want to revive the gratifying feeling of obtaining music records of their own.  Being lured by the type of music not similar to that of the aged records and relating with items that are physically lacking in the music world is making it very impossible for people to relate to the music.

Providing a remarkable musical encounter has become a bit hard for contemporary media to attain, thus the rationale for the public’s increasing propensity and interest towards tracks recorded on vinyl.  As a result, LP records’ well-timed rebirth has logged a high of 50% rise in the second quarter sales of the prior year.

With record outputs increasing in number every year, broad selections of magnificent music collections have been revived and music loyalty unstoppably progressed from one genre to another.  Funk and soul music on vinyl were popular hits a couple of years ago, possibly since vinyl recordings resurged just in time when hip hop influence was trending.  Artists focusing on classic rock music like Pink Floyd and The Beatles are on a comeback as the genre of music they were known for, is considered attuned with the time.  Music enthusiasts across the ages, know that the reality for vinyl records could never compete with the portability and ease of use features that digital music provides.  The presence and renaissance of vinyl recordings has been welcomed by all generations.

It is startling to note how people of today are not as genre-specific as contrasted to those in the past.  Thanks to the enhancements in music and creation of extremely alluring music tunes, barriers have been broken and individuals have learned to value music on record albums that are not essentially of the same genre or not even close to repeating the original sound.

© Bill