The Story of Silent Night

Silent Night was first heard by Austrian villagers attending Christmas Eve Mass in Oberndorff. Joseph Moore, the young priest who wrote the lyrics, played the guitar and sang along with choir director Franz Xavier Gruber. An organ builder and repairman working at the church took a copy of the sixth verse song to his home village. There it was picked up and spread by two families of traveling folk singers who performed around Northern Europe. In 1839, the Rainer family of singers debuted the Carol outside Trinity Church in New York City. The composition evolved and was translated into more than 300 languages.