Ship of Fools: Silent Night - alternative words

Thread: Silent Night - alternative words Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Mudfrog (# 8116) on :

In looking again at which carols to use this year I looked at our version of silent Night, attributed of course to Fr Mohr, but which I have never seen in anyone else's hymn book, carol book or carol sheet.

Does anyone else have these words:

quote:
Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
Round the virgin mother and child;
Holy infant, tender and mild,
Rests in heavenly peace.

Silent night! Holy night!
Guiding star, lend thy light.
See, the eastern wise men bring
Gifts and homage to our King,
Jesus Christ is here.

Silent night! Holy night!
Wondrous star, lend thy light.
With the angels let us sing
Hallelujahs to our King,
Jesus Christ is here.

I would love to know where The Salvation Army got them from.

Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on :

Perhaps they are an adaptation from the original German lyrics? (I barely passed one trimester of German back in univerity, so this is a very wild guess!)

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :

Two different translators the one above was by John F Young the other version Stopford A Brooke.

Jengie

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

I have sung the above version in a very low Anglican church.

Posted by georgiaboy (# 11294) on :

One rarely sees (at least in the USA) a translation of 'Silent Night' that even comes close to the Austro-German original. While my own German isn't up to the task, a priest friend who served in Germany and is quite fluent came up with an accurate translation that fits the metre of the tune. I'll post it (with his permission) if I can find it.

Posted by Forthview (# 12376) on :

The version posted by the OP is the one which is usually heard in RC churches in Scotland.
Generally Presbyterians here have another version which begins Still the Night,holy the nightThis version follows more closely the language of the original version in German.
Unfortuinately I can't remember any more,but you can find the words,I'm sure in any Scottish Presbyterian hymnbook.
There is,by the way a fourth verse, which I don't think was written by Josef Mohr,but which is often sung in Austria at Epiphany :

Stille Nacht,heilige Nacht
Seht den Stern in grosser Pracht
Er fuehrte die Weisen
ins heilige Land
Wo einjeder als Kindlein fand
Christus,den Heiland der Welt

Silent Night,holy night
See the star in its great beauty
It led the wise men
To the Holy land
where each found in the person of a little child
Christ,the Saviour of the world.

Posted by otyetsfoma (# 12898) on :

In my childhood the CofEin Canada had (in its official hymn book) a version that managed to avoid any reference to the Theotokos!As I recall the offending bit "...save the light
Yonder where they sweet vigil keep
O'er thr Babe who in silence deep
Sleeps in heavenly peace"

Posted by Chapelhead (# 21) on :

The second and third verses in the OP looks like some of the verses from Miss JM Campbell's version written in 1862 (less some 'O's). That page contains links to more than most of us would ever wish to know about Silent Night.

Posted by The Silent Acolyte (# 1158) on :

Keeping the steep incline toward the deceased equine firmly in view, may I ask whether there is an alternate tune to this old chestnut, one that doesn't have us screeching out "heavenleeee peeeeEEEEECE!!!!"?

[ 28. November 2012, 22:52: Message edited by: The Silent Acolyte ]

Posted by Oblatus (# 6278) on :

quote:
Originally posted by The Silent Acolyte:
Keeping the steep incline toward the deceased equine firmly in view, may I ask whether there is an alternate tune to this old chestnut, one that doesn't have us screeching out "heavenleeee peeeeEEEEECE!!!!"?

But fat chance another tune would ever be chosen for Silent Night on Christmas Eve except as a strange method of suicide or at least a bridge-burning closure to a phase of one's church-music career. [Paranoid]

Posted by Mr. Rob (# 5823) on :

quote:
Originally posted by The Silent Acolyte:

... this old chestnut ...

I dread to hear it sung every year. It's probably something about the weary, syrupy sentimentality of the hymn which makes be gag. Then too, one encounters Silent Night on the street, in stores and even on the high class radio stations too long before Christmas. By the time Silent Night comes at the midnight Mass with theatrical lowering of the lights, I want to run screaming from the church.

All of this is a very good reason for me to stay hidden away as much as possible during this silly season, go to Mass only on Christmas Day, and turn on the radio again on Christmas morning. For years, when I had to attend Christmas midnight Mass as part of my duties, I could slip out of the sanctuary or out of choir under cover of the dim light in the darkened church and excuse myself during the singing of Silent Night for what appeared to be an emergency toilet call. That worked like a charm and I always returned undercover of darkness for the retiring procession.

I'm sure this is all scandalous, if not heretical, to hear from me about Silent Night. But I think it would take years of psychotherapy to cure me of my neurotic phobia for the hymn. It's like fear of elevators or fear of flying, I think. I once knew a priest who had a neurotic fear of parades, the brass band type of parade.Church processions were OK for him, but not something like a civic praade outside on the street.

So to me, this list is really scary. Just think of all the occasions or places I might encounter Silent Night. And list is not comprehensive. I don't see the great Silent Night opus of Alvin & The Chipmonks, for instance, some versions of Silent Night that have been recorded and released by popular recording artists.

* Perry Como (several times)

* Frank Sinatra from Christmas Songs by Sinatra (1948)

* Elvis Presley from Elvis' Christmas Album (1957)

* Andy Williams from The Andy Williams Christmas Album (1963)

* Jim Reeves from Twelve Songs of Christmas (1963)

* Barbra Streisand from A Christmas Album (1967) entitled 'Sleep In Heavenly Peace'

* The Temptations (1968, and again in 1980)

* Reba McEntire from Merry Christmas to You (1987)

* Bros from the double-A-side single "Cat Among the Pigeons/ Silent Night" (1988)

* Boyz II Men from Christmas Interpretations (1993)

* Gloria Estefan from Christmas Through Your Eyes (1993) partly as Noche De Paz in Spanish

* Mariah Carey from Merry Christmas (1994)

* Enya as a b-side of her "Evening Falls" single (1988) and again on And Winter Came... (2008) both times as {I] Oiche Chiun [/I] in Gaelic

* Jewel from Joy: A Holiday Collection (1999)
Linda Ronstadt from A Merry Little Christmas (2000)

* Christina Aguilera from My Kind of Christmas (2000)

* Plus One from Christmas (2002)

* Whitney Houston from One Wish: The Holiday Album (2003)

* Brad Paisley from Brad Paisley Christmas (2006)

* Sarah McLachlan from Wintersong (2006)
Il Divo from Siempre (2006)

* Damien Leith from the limited special Christmas edition of Where We Land (2007)

* Taylor Swift from Christmas EP Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (2007)

* Josh Groban from Noël (2007) also as Noche De Paz in Spanish

*Katherine Jenkins from Sacred Arias (2008)

* David Archuleta from Christmas from the Heart (2009)

* Tori Amos from Midwinter Graces (2009)

* Susan Boyle from I Dreamed a Dream (2009)

* Pixie Lott from Turn It Up iTunes UK Deluxe Edition (2009)

* Hayley Westenra from the Nativity! soundtrack (2009)

* REO Speedwagon from Not So Silent Night: Christmas with REO Speedwagon (2009)

* Jackie Evancho from O Holy Night (2010)

* Richard Marx from The Christmas EP (2011)

* Annie Lennox from A Christmas Cornucopia (2010)

* Michael Bublé from Christmas (2011)

* Joe McElderry from Classic Christmas (2011)

* Cee Lo Green from Cee Lo's Magic Moment (2012)

* Lady Antebellum from On This Winter's Night (2012)

* Cascada from It's Christmas Time (2012)

* Rod Stewart from Merry Christmas, Baby (2012)

* Justin Bieber from Under the Mistletoe (2012)

*

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