O Holy Night

Alternate Title: "Christmas Song"

For Christmas

Version 1
See O Holy Night - Version 2
Compare: O Night Divine

Words: Cantique de Noël or Minuit, Chrétiens ("Midnight, Christians")
Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), 1847;
With Notes
Translated from French to English by John Sullivan Dwight, Esq., ca 1858 (1813-1893).
Cappeau, a wine merchant of Roquemaure, France, wrote poems for his own enjoyment.
Dwight was editor of Dwight's Journal of Music.

Music: Adolphe-Charles Adam (1803-1856).
Adam, born in Paris, France, is best known for his ballet Giselle (1841)
and many other operatic and theatrical works.
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF / XML
Meter: 11, 10, 11, 10 D

Also using this tune is Oh Solemn Hour! When Hearts Were Lowly Bending.

Source: Gems of English Song: A Collection of Very Choice Songs, Duets and Quartets ; with an Accompaniment for the Piano-forte
(Boston: Oliver Ditson, 1875), pp. 206-208.

1. 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 world¹ rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;

Chorus
Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices!
O night divine! O night when Christ was born.
O night, O holy night, O night divine.

2. 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 come the wise men from Orient land,
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our friend;

Chorus
He knows our need, To our weakness no stranger!²
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King! your King! before him bend!

3. Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is Love and His gospel is Peace;
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,
And in his name all oppression shall cease,
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful Chorus raise we;
Let all within us praise his Holy name!

Chorus
Christ is the Lord, then ever! ever praise we!³
His pow'r and glory, evermore proclaim!
His pow'r and glory, evermore proclaim!

Notes:

1. Or: soul. (Thanks, David!). Return

2. Or: He guardeth us from danger; Return

3. Or: O praise His name forever! Return

Sheet Music "Cantique de Noel," Adolphe Adam
New York: G. Schirmer, 1871
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF / XML
Three verses. The lyrics are from J. S. Dwight, but there is no mention of his name in the sheet music.

Source: Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division,
America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets.
(American Memory, Performing Arts-Music)

Also from Schirmer is this longer arrangement from 1884:
Page One
Page Two
Page Three
Page Four
Page Five
Page Six
Page Seven
Page Eight

Sheet music from Gems of English Song: A Collection of Very Choice Songs, Duets and Quartets ; with an Accompaniment for the Piano-forte
(Boston: Oliver Ditson, 1875), pp. 206-208.
Three verses. English lyrics attributed to J. S. Dwight, music by A. Adam.

A French Score (about 1880):
Minuit Chretiens
(http://www.musimem.com/minuit-chretiens.htm)
Link to score opens in a new window at an external site, MUSICA ET MEMORIA. The cover sheet of this score:

Gems of Foreign Song: A Collection of German, French and Italian Songs and Duets : with English Translation (White, Smith & Company, 1881), pp. 200-201.
First verse only in English and French. English lyrics attributed to J. S. Dwight, music by A. Adam.

Instrumental Musical Setting of "Christmas Song (Cantique de Noël)", A. Adam, by Le Baron from Oliver Ditson & C., Boston, 1882,
Source: The Library of Congress, Music for a Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885.

Sheet Music "Christmas Hymn (O Holy Night)," Adolphe Adam
Arrangement by W. F. Sudds, 1883,
Source: The Library of Congress, Music for a Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885.
Two verses. The lyrics are from J. S. Dwight, but there is no mention of his name in the sheet music.

Musical Setting "O Night Divine (Christmas Song)," Adolphe Adam, by H. P. Danks, New York, 1885,
Source: The Library of Congress, Music for a Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885.

Musical Setting "Christmas Song (Cantique Noel)," Adolphe Adam, from Edgar S. Werner, ed., Werner's Magazine: A Journal of Expression-Vocal and Physical, Vol. XVI, No. 12, December, 1894, New York, pp. 411-414.

Sheet Music from Rev. Charles Lewis Hutchins, Carols Old and Carols New (Boston: Parish Choir, 1916), Carol #741

A Musical Setting by A. E. Heacox of Adolphe Adam in R. P. Jameson and A. E. Heacox, eds., Chants de France (Boston: D. C. Heath & Co, 1922), p. 124-128.

The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) has a number of arrangements at their site in English, French and Portuguese; see O Holy Night.

Musical Setting "Cantique de Noel" (O Holy Night) by Douglas Brooks-Davies, 2002, Distributed under the terms of the CPDL license.

Cantique_de_Noel-Brooks-Davies.pdf

See A Garritan Community Christmas for MP3s:
O Holy Night, Leif Chappelle
O' Holy Night, Daniel Kury

Note:

A second version of this carol can be found at Wikipedia: O Holy Night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Holy_Night; accessed February 4, 2007). Neither the translator nor the source were stated.

O Holy Night - Cantique de Noël:
 Kantik' de Noel'
in Esperanto! by Gene Keyes

An Additional 6 Christmas Carols by Gene at Jula Karolaro

Plus 148 Christmas Carols in Esperanto at Kristnaskaj Kantoj

Editor's Notes:

This carol has been heralded as among the most beautiful of all Christmas carols, with excellent lyrics and a superb melody.

The author of the lyrics was Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), a resident of Roquemaure, located a few miles north of the historic city of Avignon. He was a commissionaire of wines, and an occasional writer of poetry. It is said that Cappeau was about to embark upon a business trip to Paris when the local parish priest asked Cappeau to write a Christmas poem. On December 3, 1847, about halfway to Paris, Cappeau received the inspiration for the poem, "Minuit, Chrétiens."

Note: I've again received an email concerning the spelling of M. Cappeau's last name. Some authoritative sources give "Cappeau." Other equally authoritative sources give "Clappeau." I will, again, research this issue. In the meantime, here is a biographical note (in French) of M. Cappeau and a note concerning the music to this carol by M. Adam  (also in French).

According to William Studwell, when Cappeau arrived in Paris, he took the poem to the composer Adolphe Adam (1803-1856), an acquaintance of M. and Madam Laurey who were friends of Cappeau. Adam was at the peak of his career, having written his masterpiece, Giselle, only a few years before, in 1841. He was also the composer of over 80 stage works. Adam wrote the tune in a few days, and the song received its premier at the midnight mass on Christmas Eve 1847 in Roquemaure.

Notwithstanding its intrinsic beauty and initial success, the song was later attacked by churchmen in Cappeau's native France. The reason was not because of the nature or subject of the song.  Rather, the attacks were based on the reputations of the lyricist and composer.  Late in his life, Cappeau was described as a social radical, a freethinker, a socialist, and a non-Christian. Indeed, he adopted some of the more extreme political and social views of his era, such as opposition to inequality, slavery, injustice, and other kinds of oppression. In our own age of strategic PR thinking, where people are masters in communication that doesn't always address these issues, it's good to remember charity, kindness and the awe described in this song.

And it was falsely alleged that the composer, Adolphe Adam, was Jewish.³ That, plus his reputation as a composer of light operatic works and ballets, was deemed incompatible by those churchmen with the composition of a Christian religious song. One French bishop denounced the song for its "lack of musical taste and total absence of the spirit of religion."

Fortunately, more rational perspectives have prevailed. By 1855, the carol had been published in London, and has been translated into many languages. The best known English translation is "O Holy Night," authored by John Sullivan Dwight (1813-1893), a Unitarian minister and American music critic and journalist who made his home at the Transcendentalist community of Brook Farm, MA. It has been reported that this translation was first published 1855⁴ in his Journal of Music, and was reprinted in songbooks of the period. Further research indicates that it might have been published in April, 1858, by the J. H. Hidley Company, a music publisher in Albany, New York. That research is continuing.

Interestingly, it is rarely found in modern hymnals. In my modest collection of about three dozen, it is only found in three hymnals (one of which was a significant alteration of Dwight's translation; see John W. Peterson and Norman Johnson, compilers, Praise! Our Songs and Hymns. Singspiration Music of the Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, MI., 1982, Hymn #183, "O Holy Night," revised by Avis B. Christiansen, copyright 1975, 1979).

Cappeau's strongly abolitionist views are said to have influenced aspects of his free translation, including

Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.

It is interesting that Dwight, like Cappeau, held strong anti-slavery views. By coincidence, Christmas became a legal holiday in Massachusetts the same year as it is believed that Dwight purportedly published his translation. A fuller biography by John Robinson of Dwight can be found at the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society (UUHS): Biography of John Sullivan Dwight (http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/johnsullivandwight.html; accessed February 4, 2007). This biography has an excellent bibliography.

An additional translation of Cantique de Noël can be found at Wikipedia: O Holy Night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Holy_Night; accessed February 4, 2007). The first line is "O! Holy night! The stars, their gleams prolonging." The name of the translator is not stated.

Another free English translation of Cantique de Noël can be found at About.com: Cantique de Noël (http://french.about.com/library/blxm-minuit.htm ; accessed February 4, 2007). There is also this free adaptation by H. P. Danks: O Night Divine.

Franco-Prussian War

There is an unsubstantiated (but frequently repeated) story that this carol figured prominently on Christmas Eve, 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War. The story goes that, unexpectedly, a French soldier jumped out of his trench and sang Cantique de Noël. Moved by the song, the Germans did not fire upon the French soldier, and inspired by the sentiment, a German soldier emerged from his trench and sang Luther's Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her, a popular Christmas hymn from his country ("From Heaven Above To Earth I Come"). The beautiful Austrian carol, Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!, was also reportedly sung by soldiers in trenches on both sides.

A similar exchange would occur during World War I on Christmas Eve, 1914. See: A Carol from Flanders.

First Radio Broadcast of 1906

This carol had the distinction of being the first one ever played live on a Christmas radio broadcast. That first broadcast was conducted by Canadian Reginald Fessenden (1866-1931) from his Brant Rock, Massachusetts station to ships at sea on December 24, 1906, with the assistance of his wife Helen, his secretary Miss Bent and his associate Mr. Stein.

At 9 p.m., Fessenden began his broadcast playing Handel's "Largo" (presumably from his opera Serse or Xerxes) on an Ediphone phonograph. He then played Gounod's "O Holy Night" on his violin, singing the last verse as he played.  Finally, he read a selection from the book of Luke: "Glory to God in the highest — and on earth peace to men of good will." Originally, Miss Brant and Mrs. Fessenden were to read the selection; stage fright, however, intervened. The group completed the broadcast by wishing their listeners a Merry Christmas and then saying that they proposed to broadcast again New Year's Eve.

The Christmas program was picked up as far south as Norfolk, Virginia; when the program was repeated on New Year's Eve, it was heard as far away as the West Indies.

Notes:

3. Doubts have been cast on this allegation. It has been reported that the funeral notice for M. Adam stated that "Les obsèques de M. Adolphe Adam auront lieu lundi 5 mai, à 11 heures, en l'église de Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, sa paroisse." ("The funeral of Mr. Adolphe Adam will take place Monday, May 5, [at 11 AM] in the church of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, his parish."). See Answers.com and M. Adolphe Adam. Return

4. I spent the afternoon of February 3, 2007, going through a microfiche of all issues of the Journal Of Music from October 7, 1854 through March 29, 1856, but was unable to locate any reference to this carol. Again on February 5, I reviewed all issues published between those dates (ensuring that no issues or pages were omitted), and found no reference to "O Holy Night" or "Cantique de Noël." I believe that I can definitively say that the translation was not published in that time frame.

Subsequently, I found a reference to publication by Dwight in 1857. By July, 2013, the Journal of Music had been scanned and put online (both at Google Books and at the Internet Archive). I searched the years 1856-1858, without finding the lyrics. These same volumes were searched again in November, 2013, again without success.

What I did find was a listing on a web page at the U.S. Library of Congress that noted that an arrangement with the title of "Christmas Song" was copyright in 1858 by J. H. Hidley in Albany, NY, words by Dwight and Music by Adam. See Greatest Hits: 1850-1860 (accessed August 7, 2007). No scan of the sheet music was available.

If first publication of this sheet music was in 1858, I suspect that that is the first publication of Dwight's "translation."

A final hint was "a snippet" that (possibly) indicated that publication occurred on March 22, 1858, with a notice printed on p. 307 of The Musical World, Saturday, April 3, 1858. The scanned copy of Volume 36 of The Musical World did not include this issue (it skipped from late March to April 17th). The snippet was from Barbara Zakrzewska-Nikiporczyk, et. al., Monatschrift Für Theater und Musik 1855-1865: Calendar, Volume 2, Dwightś Journal of Music, 1852-1881, University of Maryland at College Park. Center for Studies in Nineteenth-Century Music (U.M.I., 1991); ISBN 9780835720847. I will attempt to get this volume on interlibrary loan, and update this note.

The earliest advertisement for this song by the publisher J. H. Hidley that I have found was in 1860 in the New York Musical Review and Gazette, Vol. XI, No. 2, Saturday, January 21, 1860, p. 26.

Another researcher, John Rudy, wrote that he found a similar advertisement in December, 1859, also in The New York Musical Review and Gazette. See: Merry Christmas from a Land of Hope and Sorrow. Return

Public Domain Recordings:

• Oh Holy Night (Link opens in a new window at Sally DeFord Music)
• LibriVox Christmas Carol Collection 2006 (Recording by Karen Savage)

General Sources:

• Ace Collins, Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001)
• Armed Forces Chaplains Board, Book of Worship for United States Forces. (Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office, 1974), Hymn #256.
• The Complete O Holy Night (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1993. Contains eight contemporary settings for organ and piano. Brief notes.
• William C. Egan, The History of Carols
• Walter Ehret and George K. Evans, The International Book of Christmas Carols. (Ft. Lauderdale, FL: Walton Music Corporation, 1963, 1980), pp. 107-11.
• Tom Fettke, senior editor, The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration (Waco, TX: Word Music, 1986), Hymn # 148.
• Robert Joseph, The Christmas Book (New York: McAfee Books, 1978)
• Montrose Music
• Dale V. Nobbman, Christmas Music Companion Fact Book (Anaheim Hills, CA: Centerstream Publishing, 2000)
• Kenneth W. Osbeck, Joy to the World!: The Stories Behind Your Favorite Christmas Carols (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1999)
• John W. Peterson and Norman Johnson, compilers, Praise! Our Songs and Hymns. (Grand Rapids, MI.: Singspiration Music of the Zondervan Corporation, 1982, Hymn #183, "O Holy Night," revised by Avis B. Christiansen, copyright 1975, 1979.)
• Henry W. Simon, ed., A Treasury of Christmas Songs and Carols. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1973), pp. 196-200.
• William L. Simon, ed., The Reader's Digest Merry Christmas Songbook (Pleasantville, NY: Readers Digest Association, revised 2003). This edition also contains the third verse, above, pp. 166-7.
• William Studwell, The Christmas Carol Reader (New York: Harrington Park Press, 1995), which contains an extensive history of the carol and the two men who created it.
• The Ultimate Christmas Fake Book, 4th Edition. (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation, No Date), page 163.

Sources for information about the Christmas Eve Broadcast of 1906:

• Ace Collins, Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001)
• Helen Fessenden, Builder of Tomorrows, 1940, pages 153-154, quoted at the website "United States Early Radio History," Wireless Telephony and the High Frequency Alternator 
• Frederick Seitz, The Cosmic Inventor: Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, published by the American Philosophical Society for its Transactions series, Vol. 89, Pt. 6, 1999; reproduced at RadioCom.net.
• KDKA begins to broadcast, The Public Broadcasting System
• "An Unsung hero: Reginald Fessenden, the Canadian inventor of radio telephony" reprinted by IEEE, courtesy of the Radioscientist.
• Fessenden's Christmas Eve Broadcast, IEEE Virtual Museum
• Biography of Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, Canadian Communications Foundation
• Biography of Reginald Fessenden, Hammond Museum of Radio,reprinted from THE CAT'S WHISKER, Official Voice of the Canadian Vintage Wireless Association, Vol. 3, No. 1 - March 1973
• The First Radio Broadcast, World Faith News (WFN)
• Biography of Reginald Fessenden

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