Episode 52 - The Hymnists: Joseph Mohr (Christmas 2022)

We're continuing our series of episodes on hymn writers  And since it's almost Christmas at the time I'm publishing this episode we're going to take a look at the life of the writer of that most popular Christmas song, Silent Night  Silent Night was written by Joseph Mohr, an obscure Austrian priest who nearly went unrecognized but who's work has been enjoyed by generations of Christians. 

RESOURCES

Stille Nacht Museum: https://stillenacht-wagrain.com/e_stm_mohr.php

Salzburgerland: https://www.salzburgerland.com/en/joseph-mohr-1792-1848/

In Mozart's Footsteps: http://inmozartsfootsteps.com/836/the-story-of-silent-night-joseph-mohr-and-franz-gruber/

The Silent Night Association: https://www.stillenacht.at/en/history/joseph-mohr

The First Silent Night: https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/The_First_Silent_Night?id=2LGzbFpSGc8

Transcript

Hello and welcome to episode 52 of the Giants of the Faith podcast. This is the podcast where we look at men and women from the age of the Church whose lives have had an impact for the Kingdom of God with the ultimate goal of finding inspiration and strengthening our own faith.

We're continuing our series of episodes on hymn writers  And since it's almost Christmas at the time I'm publishing this episode we're going to take a look at the life of the writer of that most popular Christmas song, Silent Night  Silent Night was written by Joseph Mohr, an obscure Austrian priest who nearly went unrecognized but who's work has been enjoyed by generations of Christians. 

Before I get into the episode I have a Silent Night related recommendation. There's an excellent documentary called The First Silent Night that's hosted by Simon Callow that explores the background of this hymn. It's sometimes free on Amazon Prime Video but, even if it isn't, it's well worth the $2 it costs to purchase. I'll link to it in the show notes, so check that out if you're interested. OK, on to the show.

Josephus Franciscus Mohr was born on December 11, 1792 in Salzburg, Austria. His father, Franz, was a soldier and his mother, Anna Schoiberin, was a seamstress. Joseph was born on the wrong side of the blanket and his parents never married. In fact, Franz deserted his post while Anna was pregnant and subsequently also deserted the family. The local executioner, a man named Joseph Wohlmut, who was actually the last official executioner of Salzburg, was trying to improve his reputation and public image by serving as godfather to illegitimate children  born in Salzburg. And thus, he was recorded as Mohr's godfather and it was from him that Mohr received his name.

Joseph was raised by his mother and grandmother in a cold bleak home. His family was poor and Joseph's prospects were bleak. But as a boy he showed a natural intelligence and a musical affinity. This was noticed by local priest Johann Hiernle, who served as priest and music director at the Slazburgh Cathedral. Hiernle took Mohr under his wing and arranged for him to attend school and to learn music. He sang and played the violin and organ for local choirs. And then, in 1808 was sent to study philosophy at the Kremsmünster monastery. He studied at Kremsmünster for two years before returning to Salzburg to enter seminary in 1811. Since he was still stained by his illegitimate birth special approval had to be given to allow him to study for the priesthood. It was granted and in August of 1815 Mohr graduated from seminary and was ordained as a priest.

His first post as a priest was a temporary one in the town of Ramsau. He was sent there to assist on his way to his first official office in Mariapfarr. Mariapfarr was the ancestral home of Joseph's father and it was here that he met his grandfather for the first time, spending the 1815 Christmas season together before the grandfather died a few months later. Christmas in Mariapfarr was different than what Joseph was accustomed to. The Christmas Eve mass included carols sung in German and using folk instruments in addition to the standard Latin litany.

And it was this Christmas Eve service that inspired Mohr to pen his own Christmas song. In 1816 he put pen to paper and wrote the six verses -not three as we typically sing in English - of Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! But it would be two years before the melody was added and the song was first performed.

In 1817 Mohr was sent back to Salzburg due to ill health. He spent weeks in hospital there before he recovered. In August of that same year he was assigned, first temporarily and then officially, to Oberndorf as the assistant priest. Mohr was known to, or at least accused of, "neglecting his priestly duties, frequenting drinking locales, joking with persons of the opposite sex, and singing songs which do not edify" during his time in Oberndorf. He was a man of the people.

Oberndorf at the time was a struggling place. The salt trade that made Salzburg and the surrounding areas prosper was in decline. This was exacerbated by the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies that gave rise to cold temperatures, food shortages, and waves of disease throughout Europe from 1816 to 1818.

It was also in Oberndorf that Mohr met Franz Gruber, who was to help Mohr put Stille Nacht to music and perform it for the first time. Gruber, the son of a weaver, was a schoolmaster and organist  in the neighboring town of Anrsdorf and the two men became fast friends. 

In 1818 Mohr asked his friend Gruber to help him put the little poem he'd written to music for the Christmas Eve mass. Gruber composed the melody in only a few hours and the two performed the song for the first time ever on Christmas Eve, 1818. Gruber sang and played the melody on the guitar - a very unusual instrument to hear in church - and Mohr also sang the words.

The song then began it's global spread. In 1819 master organ builder Karl Mauracher came to Oberndorf to fix the church organ. Incidentally, many speculate that the organ was broken and that was the reason for the unusual decision to perform Silent Night on the guitar. Anyway, when Mauracher left he took a copy of the song with him. From Mauracher it made it's way to two families of musicians - the Rainers and the Strassers - that helped spread the song across the world.

The Rainers publicly performed the song in their home church in Fugen in 1819 and, by 1822, had sung it for such lofty gentlemen as Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Emperor Franz I of Austria.  They also brought the song to the United States, performing it outside of Trinity Church in New York City in 1839. The Strassers were glove makers who traveled to fairs across the region to sell their gloves and they often sang to attract potential customers. And one of their standards became Stille Nacht.

These two families did more than anyone else at the beginning to grow the popularity of Mohr's song. But as the song's popularity grew, so too did the anonymity of it's composers. Mohr continued serving as a priest moving from town to town until weak lungs caused his death on December 4, 1848. Gruber remained organist and school teacher in Arnsburg until 1829 when he moved to Hallein to become choir director. 

Then in 1854 the Royal Prussian Court Orchestra in Berlin sent a request to the Benedictine Abbey in Salzburg to find out who had written the song. But no one knew. News of the inquiry reached the Salzburg Cathedral where a young choir boy named Felix Gruber heard about it. Felix was, of course, the son of Franz and he knew of the origins of the song. He told his father about the inquiry and that prompted Franz to write his "Authentic Reason for the Composition of the Christmas Song “Silent Night, Holy Night!”" and the world finally knew who had written this most popular Christmas carol.

In 1859 an American priest named John Freeman Young translated and published Silent Night as a three verse work in English in his pamphlet Carols for Christmas Tide. This is the version you probably know and sing today.

The story of Silent Night took a grisly turn in 1912. While there were plenty of portraits of Franz Gruber floating around there were none made of the obscure Joseph Mohr during his lifetime. In order to create a somewhat accurate rendering for a monument celebrating the centennial of the song, Mohr's skull was exhumed and sent to sculptor and pastor Joseph Mühlbacher. Mühlbacher suffered a stroke while working on the sculpture and subsequently lost the skull. He did finish the sculpture in time for the centennial but was not able to return Mohr's head. The skull eventually made it's way to Oberndorf by way of the Austrian constabulary and postal service and is now embedded in the Silent Night Memorial Chapel constructed on the spot where the song was first performed.

And that's it for this episode. Thank you very much for listening and Merry Christmas.

RESOURCES

Stille Nacht Museum: https://stillenacht-wagrain.com/e_stm_mohr.php

Salzburgerland: https://www.salzburgerland.com/en/joseph-mohr-1792-1848/

In Mozart's Footsteps: http://inmozartsfootsteps.com/836/the-story-of-silent-night-joseph-mohr-and-franz-gruber/

The Silent Night Association: https://www.stillenacht.at/en/history/joseph-mohr

The First Silent Night: https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/The_First_Silent_Night?id=2LGzbFpSGc8