While many carols originated as hymns, “The First Noel” began as a folk song. “Silent Night” was composed just hours before Christmas Eve Mass.
The First Noel
“The First Noel” is among our oldest carols. It dates back at least 500 years, though it was not written down and published until the 1800s. Most music historians believe the song originated in England, though it has been attributed to both England and France. The word “Noel” fits easily into both languages as a shout of joy at the birth of Christ. Some sources trace “Noel” to a Latin word meaning “birthday.” First sung at a time when few people could read and few Bibles were in circulation, the words are based more on stories people heard about the birth of Christ than on exact scripture.
The carol was reportedly sung each year by English peasants as they lit the family Yule log. The Yule log was a custom adopted during the middle ages from Norse tradition. A huge log was cut, hollowed out and filled with aromatic oils and spices. It was lit on Christmas Eve with the hope it would burn through the 12 days of Christmas ending on January 6.
The early church looked down on peasant songs that they felt lacked the solemnity of true hymns. Consequently, “The First Noel” was not used in church services during the first several hundred years of its existence. Finally the song was published and the Church of England began using it in Christmas services in the mid-1800s.
Silent Night
In 1818, the parish priest in a tiny town in the Austrian Alps was making last minute preparations for a Christmas Eve mass he had been planning for weeks. Just hours before the service was to begin, Joseph Mohr discovered the organ in his church wasn’t working.
Frantic, Mohr pulled out a poem he had written after walking from his grandfather’s house on a cold, quiet evening near Christmas. He thought that perhaps the simple words could be sung by the choir with only a guitar for accompaniment. He rushed to the home of Franz Gruber, the town’s schoolteacher and church organist.
Could Gruber set the poem to music that the choir could learn quickly and sing to guitar chords? Gruber accomplished the task and just after midnight, Silent Night made its debut.
“Silent Night” was quickly picked up by traveling folk singers, particularly the Strasser family with their four musical children. It spread throughout the region and eventually reached New York. It has now been translated into more than 20 languages and is one of the most beloved Christmas carols around the world.
Sources:
Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, by Ace Collins, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2001.
Come Let Us Adore Him: Stories Behind the Most Cherished Christmas Hymns, by Robert J. Morgan, J. Countryman, Nashville, Tennessee, 2005.
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