Steve: Hi, this is Steve Webb, your OG Godcaster.
Steve: You're about to hear the LifeSpring Advent Calendar, which was recorded in 2006.
Steve: It's a daily show which will run right up to Christmas Day,
Steve: so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.
Steve: Now, the story of Advent and Christmas is a timeless story, so it doesn't age.
Steve: However, the links and the phone numbers mentioned on the podcast have all changed but one.
Steve: WhyChristmas.com is still current and active,
Steve: and it's the best Christmas information website on the Internet.
Steve: LifeSpringPodcast.com now forwards you to LifeSpringMedia.com.
Steve: And the phone number you'll hear on the show is changed to plus 1-951-732-8511.
Steve: Hello and welcome to the LifeSpring Advent Calendar, day number nine, and also LifeSpring
Steve: Hymn Stories, or Carol Stories as we'll call it for now, show number 22.
Steve: I'm Steve Webb, your host.
Steve: This is kind of a cross post.
Steve: If you're normally a subscriber to the LifeSpring Hymn Stories and haven't been listening to
Steve: the LifeSpring Advent Calendar, please let me encourage you to go back and listen to
Steve: the previous shows in this series to get caught up.
Steve: You can go to LifeSpringPodcast.com and click on the LifeSpring Advent Calendar tile that
Steve: you'll see there to get the shows.
Steve: Now, if you've been listening to the Lifespring Advent Calendar, but were not aware of the
Steve: Lifespring Hymn Stories show, that's a show I try to put out weekly that tells the backstory
Steve: behind some of the great hymns of the Christian faith.
Steve: It's a very popular show, and I often play the hymns with a real contemporary treatment
Steve: to them, not with a tired old organ background that you might associate with the old hymns.
Steve: Hymns have a very rich history, and their lyrics are so filled with meaning.
Steve: So give the show a try.
Steve: I think you'll like it.
Steve: Check it out at LifespringPodcast.com as well.
Steve: So thanks for allowing me that little side trip.
Steve: On with the show.
Steve: So let's open the door and find out what Christmas Carol we'll be learning about today.
Music: It lasts forever in the love that I get from you
Music: It never gets old
Music: Thank you.
Steve: Ah, today James Cooper and I will tell you the history behind possibly the most recorded Christmas carol ever, Silent Night.
Steve: Hey James, you first.
James: Lots of stories have grown up over the years telling of how this carol came to be written, but most are just that, stories.
James: The words of Silent Night were written by a young Austrian priest, Father Joseph Moore, in Maritzvar, Austria, in 1816.
James: And on Christmas Eve two years later in 1818, he travelled to the home of his musician and school friend, Franz Gruber, in nearby Obendorf and asked him to write a guitar accompaniment for his lovely poem.
James: Later that same evening, at the midnight mass service in St. Nicholas' church, Obendorf, Father Moore and Franz Gruber, together with the church choir, sang Silent Night or Still Nacht for the first time.
Steve: There's a popular legend associated with the carol that says,
Steve: Father Moore wanted the carol to be sung by the children of the village at the midnight Christmas Eve service as a surprise for their parents.
Steve: But in the middle of practicing, the organ broke and not a note would come from it.
Steve: Some even say that the mice had eaten their way through the bellies of the organ,
Steve: so the children had to learn the carol only accompanied by a guitar.
Steve: They learned the carol so well that they could sing it on its own without accompaniment.
Steve: However, there are no records that the organ was broken or that it was a last-minute arrangement.
Steve: Joseph Moore simply wanted a new carol that could be sung to a guitar.
Steve: Here's Karmyn Tyler singing Silent Night in the original German version, a cappella.
Steve: This is beautiful. You'll love it.
Music: Heilige Nacht
Music: Holdek namaim lokigen har
Music: Shlaf in himmlisheru
Music: Shlaf in himmly sheroom
James: The earliest surviving version of the carol was written in 1820 by Father Moore
James: and is for a guitar accompaniment.
James: Over the following few years, families of travelling singers,
James: similar to the von Trapps of The Sound of Music fame,
James: took the new carol throughout the region and it quickly became very popular.
James: In 1839, the traveling Rayner family first performed the carol in the USA
James: at the Alexander Hamilton Monument outside Trinity Church in New York City.
Steve: Joseph Moore died in obscurity in 1848,
Steve: and for several years the authorship of the song was attributed to Haydn, Mozart or even Beethoven.
Steve: But the true authors gained their rightful place in history when a manuscript,
Steve: Handwritten by Moore was discovered, and in the top right corner was written Melodie von Franz-Zever-Gruber.
Steve: Now listen as Karmyn sings the original words of the song translated into English from the German.
Music: Silent night, holy night.
Music: Bethlehem sleeps, yet what light floats around the heavenly pan.
Music: Songs of angels fill the air
Music: Strains of heavenly peace
Music: Straits of heavenly peace
James: The carol was first recorded in 1905 by the Haydn Quartet
James: and quickly became a top seller.
James: Today the beautiful version we're about to hear is by Alison Crow
James: and comes from the Podsafe Music Network.
Music: Silent night, holy night.
Music: All is calm, all is bright.
Music: Round yon virgin, mother and child
Music: Holy infant so tender and mild
Music: Sleep in heavenly peace
Music: Silent night
Music: Holy night
Music: Shepherds quake
Music: At the sight
Music: Glories stream from heaven afar
Music: Heavenly hosts sing
Music: Alleluia
Music: Christ the Savior is born
Music: Silent night
Music: Holy night
Music: Son of God
Music: Our love's pure light
Music: Radiant beams from thy holy face
Music: With the dawn of red dimly grace
Music: Jesus, Lord, at thy birth
Music: Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.
James: I hope you enjoyed the first coming together of the shows of the Lifespring Family Podcasts.
James: Please remember, if this is your first time listening to one of the shows,
James: you can visit LifespringPodcast.com to find out more.
James: To find out more about Christmas, please visit James Cooper's website over at WhyChristmas.com.
James: As always, today's theme music was Brian Duncan and the Neo Soul Band with This Christmas.
James: The background guitar music was Michael Silvestri.
James: And as James mentioned earlier, Alison Crowe sang the full version we heard.
James: And my very special thanks go to Ms. Karmyn Tyler for recording the acapella versions you heard just for us.
James: Yes, these versions were exclusively recorded just for us at the Lifespring Advent Calendar.
James: Karmyn, thanks for being such a very special friend.
James: Links to all the music and Karmyn's website will be at the show notes page at LifespringPodcast.com.
James: I'm Steve Webb, and this has been day number nine of the Lifespring Advent Calendar
James: and show number 22 of Lifespring Hymn or Carol Stories.
James: Thanks for joining us. God bless you.
Music: It never gets old.