O Holy Night

Lyrics

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
it is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
with glowing hearts by his cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
here came the wise men from the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger;
in all our trials born to be our friend.
He knows our need, to our weakness no stranger.
Behold your King! Before the lowly bend!
Behold your King, before the lowly bend!

Truly he taught us to love one another,
his law is love and his gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother,
and in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
with all our hearts we praise his holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
his power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

History

"O Holy Night" began as a French poem, "Minuit, chrétiens", by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877) of Roquemaure in the Gard. Cappeau was a wine and spirits merchant with a legal training and a local reputation as a poet; he had lost a hand in a childhood accident. The usual story is that a local priest asked him for a Christmas text in 1847 and that he wrote it while travelling on business; accounts differ over the priest's name, the date and the route.

The music is by Adolphe Adam (1803-1856), the Paris-born composer best known for the ballet Giselle (1841) and the opera Le postillon de Lonjumeau (1836). Cappeau was introduced to Adam, who is said to have completed the setting within days; the carol was first performed at Midnight Mass in Roquemaure in 1847 and was originally titled "Cantique de Noël". That title survives as the name of the tune on hymnary.org, where the melody is catalogued as CANTIQUE DE NOËL. The poet Alphonse de Lamartine is reported to have called the carol "la Marseillaise religieuse".

The English version most often sung today was made in 1855 by John Sullivan Dwight (1813-1893), a Boston music critic, former minister and founder of Dwight's Journal of Music (from 1852). His text is generally described as an adaptation rather than a literal translation, shaped by his own outlook. Dwight was an abolitionist, and the American carol's popularity in the Northern states during the Civil War is attributed in part to his journal. The English text is in the public domain.

The carol's reception in the Catholic Church was mixed. It drew criticism of its tone and theology, and on 22 September 1936 Archbishop Joseph-Guillaume-Laurent Forbes banned it, with a number of other pieces, from churches of the Archdiocese of Ottawa. Cappeau later broke with Christianity, and that this, together with his politics, drew disapproval of the carol in some quarters. Other stories attach to it, including a claim that Reginald Fessenden's 1906 violin performance of the carol was the first radio broadcast of music, though this is not formally documented.

Performance

This recording by St Martin's Voices runs 5 minutes 43 seconds and was published on the channel in December 2023. A second recording on the channel, titled "O Holy Night by Adolphe Adam. Sung by Grace Stephens Spada and Theo Amies", runs 5 minutes 1 second.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · hymnary.org · hymnwiki.org · St Martin's Voices recording and Words book