On 23 December 1818 Father Josef Mohr, the young priest of St. Nicholas' Church in Oberndorf, Austria was worried - in 24 hours he was supposed to lead a Christmas Eve service, but he had no music as the organ had rusted and wouldn't work.
That evening he attended the town Christmas play but instead of going straight home afterwards he climbed the small mountain overlooking the town to try and get some inspiration. It was nearly midnight before he reached his room and sat down to write a new song that could be played on a guitar - at least that wasn't broken.
"Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!" he wrote - "Silent night, holy night." The night-time peacefulness of Oberndorf was fresh in his mind and he could imagine Bethlehem, bathed in moonlight:
All is calm, all is bright. Round yon Virgin Mother and child! Holy Infant so tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace.
It wasn't long before the simple song was finished and he could think of going to sleep.
The next morning he took the song to Franz Gruuber, his organist and asked if he could compose some music for the words before that evening's service. Gruuber set about the task quickly and in a couple of hours had finished - just in time to rehearse with the choir before the service. Mohr sang tenor, Gruuber sang bass and the service went off beautifully.
The song gradually became known throughout Europe and in 1834 the Strasser family performed it for the King of Prussia, who ordered it to be sung by his cathedral choir every Christmas Eve. The Rainer family singers brought it to America in 1839 and by the middle of the eighteenth century it had become popular around the world. However, by this time no one coul recall its composer.
It took a long time for word of the song's fame to reach the tiny villages of Austria but in 1854 Franz Gruuber sent a letter to the leading musical authorities with his claim to have written the tune. In 1848 Father Mohr had died of pneumonia, but Gruuber still had the original manuscript to show and gradually he was recognised as composer.
