I love this beautiful Christmas song. Silent Night is a true Christmas classic. This arrangement is simple enough for anyone to play it features the melody in the right hand and simple chords in the left hand.
History
Silent Night was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire on the Salzach river in present-day Austria. A young priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before. He had written the lyrics of the song "Stille Nacht" in 1816 at Mariapfarr, the hometown of his father in the Salzburg Lungau region, where Joseph had worked as a co-adjutor.[2]
The melody was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, schoolmaster and organist in the nearby village of Arnsdorf. Before Christmas Eve, Mohr brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the Christmas Eve mass.[3] It is unknown what inspired Mohr to write the lyrics, or what prompted him to create a new carol.[2]
There is a more advanced piano duet arrangement in The Christmas Collection Volume 2
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