No translation of the German
Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!, not even the English version normally sung, is as evocative and atmospheric as the original, the work of Father Joseph Mohr, parish priest of Hallein, a small village in Austria to the south of Salzburg. But the music, by Mohr’s local schoolmaster and organist, Franz Grüber, is totally apt. It evokes ideally the tranquil Christmas scene of the shepherds worshipping the Christ-Child. Stephen Darlington’s arrangement has some especially ear-catching harmonies in the second verse.
from notes by Wadham Sutton © 1993
