There’s nothing quite like a few bars of our favourite Christmas carol to get us in the festive spirit. Sure, by the time January rolls around, we’ve usually had our fill of sleigh bells and mistletoe, but we still look forward to the return of their familiar melodies each and every year. One of the best-known and well-loved, Silent Night, is shared by billions of voices around the world every year, yet it came from very humble beginnings. As the documentary Silent Night – A Song For The World discovers, it has become a song of hope and connection that transcends language and nationality.
When Roman Catholic priest Joseph Mohr penned his simple poem ‘Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht’ in 1818, it was intended as nothing more than a way to bring hope and comfort to his small post-war community on the outskirts of Salzburg. His prayer for divine inspiration to help him reach his congregation following the bleakness and hardship of the Napoleonic Wars was answered in the words that he eventually wrote, capturing the magic of the Christmas season in its purest form.
As Mohr later workshopped an accompanying melody for the poem with friend, sacristan and schoolteacher Franz Gruber in nearby Arndorf, the two men could never have imagined that their Christmas Eve composition would one day be an annual chorus shared by two billion voices around the world.
Narrated by Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) and featuring interviews and performances from some of the biggest names in the international music scene including Josh Groban, Lina Makhoul, David Foster and Anggun, Silent Night – A Song For The World explores the carol’s transformation throughout history and reflects on the significance of its message for a global audience.
For many around the world, Christian or not, Silent Night has become synonymous with the joy of the festive season and, above all else, an anthem of human connection. It has transcended the boundaries of culture and religion, with translations into more than 300 languages, and firmly secured its place within an array of diverse traditions and belief systems.
Though the documentary leaves viewers with no doubt that the carol was remarkable from the very beginning, it did take more than one hundred years before it became the worldwide phenomenon it is today. The original text was written by Mohr in the German language, rather than the Latin favoured by most Christian works of the period, a deliberate decision that ensured it was, in every sense, a hymn for the people, to be enjoyed and sung by all.
Hugh Bonneville tells the story of 'Silent Night' Source: Moonlake Entertainment Rights
A couple of decades later, the Rainer Siblings brought it to the rest of Europe and the US, performing it in 1839 beneath the Alexander Hamilton statue, close to Trinity Church on New York City’s Wall Street. Later, in 1859, a priest from that same Church, John Freeman Young, published the English translation of the carol’s three verses.
Though it was slowly making its way into communities far from Salzburg, its true introduction to the world stage came much later thanks to the unparalleled talent of crooner Bing Crosby. By 1934, Crosby was arguably the biggest musical name in America, and his recording of the largely unknown hymn for a charity record propelled it into the collective consciousness as a go-to soundtrack for the holiday season. As in every part of this carol’s history, again there was a little magic at work.
Crosby’s timeless recording of the carol was among the first in a long list of reinterpretations in the 20th century, spanning across a range of genres, a testament to its enduring popularity. Each musician in the documentary tells of the personal significance of the carol, and their own memories associated with it, but also shares a unique performance inspired by their own music and that of their homeland.
Lina Makhoul in 'Silent Night' Source: Moonlake Entertainment Rights
Joss Stone’s soulful rendition is hauntingly beautiful, singer-songwriter Ailee sings her version of the carol in the Korean language, and Kelly Clarkson’s collaboration with the Vienna Boys Choir is nothing short of breathtaking. For Palestinian singer-songwriter Lina Makhoul, the carol takes on a new and particularly touching significance as she performs it in the Arabic language, intimately linking it with the Nativity and the homeland of Jesus Christ.
It’s hard to believe, given how the carol has touched the hearts and minds of so many, that in describing it Franz Gruber simple wrote in his diary “it is only a simple composition, without any special meaning”. Canadian composer and musician, David Foster, who has been involved in the production of some of the most successful Christmas albums of all time, is quick to point out that it is, in fact, that simplicity Gruber wrote of, coupled with an ineffable ability to move people that makes Silent Night so much more than just notes on a page.
A big fan of Christmas: Kelly Clarkson sings in 'Silent Night - A Song For The World'. Source: Moonlake Entertainment Rights
No story better highlights this ability to bring people together than that of Christmas Eve 1914. It’s not often that a simple piece of music has the power to halt a war and bring peace to a battlefield, if only for a moment, but Silent Night did just that. The sound of the German soldiers huddled in the trenches of the Western Front singing it in unison saw a white flag raised and a truce declared between the two sides, with weapons abandoned and division forgotten, albeit briefly. As the documentary recounts how the carol turned no man’s land into a back and forth of Christmas chorus, it’s impossible not to be left with that warm fuzzy feeling; it’s the feeling Silent Night has been giving people, from all walks of life, for generations.
The story of Silent Night is one defined by serendipity. Every year, it touches our hearts and serves as a reminder of togetherness in a world that so often forgets its common humanity. The lyrics and music are perfectly matched, its message resonates in every language and style, and like so many great works, it all began with an inimitable moment in time, providing a comforting sense of peace and joy for over two hundred years.
Silent Night – A Song For The World screens on SBS at 9pm, Saturday 24 December.
