O Holy Night
Encyclopedia
"O Holy Night" is a well-known Christmas carol
composed by Adolphe Adam
in 1847 to the French
poem "Minuit, chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau
(1808–1877), a wine merchant and poet, who had been asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem. Unitarian
minister John Sullivan Dwight
, editor of Dwight's Journal of Music, created a singing edition based on Cappeau's French text in 1855. In both the French original and in the two familiar English versions of the carol
, the text reflects on the birth of Jesus
and of mankind's redemption.
, a Canadian inventor, broadcast the first AM
radio program, which started with a phonograph record of 'Ombra mai fu
' followed by him playing "O Holy Night" on the violin
and singing the final verse. The carol therefore was the second piece of music to be broadcast on radio.
Tenor Enrico Caruso recorded a version in 1916 which is still in print today.
Three different country music
artists have charted on the Billboard
Hot Country Songs
charts with renderings of "O Holy Night:" Martina McBride
, John Berry and Josh Gracin
. McBride's rendering charted on five separate occasions, peaking at No. 74 in 1997, No. 67 in 1998, No. 49 in 1999, No. 57 in 2000 and No. 41 in 2001. Berry's charted at No. 55 in 1996 and No. 63 in 1998, and Gracin's at No. 59 in 2006..
Luciano Pavarotti
's title record was his first to go platinum, in 1984. Mariah Carey
sang the song on her 1994 album Merry Christmas
, and a live version of it is included on her second Christmas album Merry Christmas II You
(2010).
David Foster
arranged and produced the song successfully for several different artists including Michael Crawford
, whose rendering in the 1993 TV special The David Foster Christmas Album was also featured on Foster's best-selling corresponding album (No. 48 Billboard Top 200 in 1993) as well as Crawford's own A Christmas Album (No. 98 Billboard Top 200 in 1999) and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
's platinum-selling DVD The Ghosts of Christmas Eve
; secondly, Celine Dion
(voted most popular rendering in a 2004 poll and featured on her 5x platinum album These Are Special Times
), then Josh Groban
(No. 1 Billboard Adult Contemporary in 2002) and most recently by Andrea Bocelli
for his 2009 double platinum My Christmas
album, Jackie Evancho
for her 2010 EP
"O Holy Night", Michelle Williams
in Destiny's Child
2001 album "8 Days of Christmas", and in 2011 Argentinian tenor Javier Fontana for his second album Appassionato.
In December 2010, Norwegian
band Röyksopp
featured an instrumental electronic music
version on their website under the French title "Le Cantique de Noël".
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
composed by Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
in 1847 to the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
poem "Minuit, chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau
Placide Cappeau
Placide Cappeau was a French poet and the author of the well-known poem, "Minuit, chrétiens" , which was set to music by Adolphe Adam. He was born on 25 October 1808 at 8 p.m. in Roquemaure...
(1808–1877), a wine merchant and poet, who had been asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem. Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
minister John Sullivan Dwight
John Sullivan Dwight
John Sullivan Dwight was a Unitarian minister, transcendentalist and America's first influential classical music critic.-Biography:...
, editor of Dwight's Journal of Music, created a singing edition based on Cappeau's French text in 1855. In both the French original and in the two familiar English versions of the carol
Carol (music)
A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with church worship, and often with a dance-like or popular character....
, the text reflects on the birth of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and of mankind's redemption.
Lyrics
| Placide Cappeau's Cantique de Noël | Literal English Translation |
|---|---|
|
|
| John Sullivan Dwight's Version | Unattributed Version |
|---|---|
|
|
Notable renderings
On 24 December 1906, Reginald FessendenReginald Fessenden
Reginald Aubrey Fessenden , a naturalized American citizen born in Canada, was an inventor who performed pioneering experiments in radio, including early—and possibly the first—radio transmissions of voice and music...
, a Canadian inventor, broadcast the first AM
Amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...
radio program, which started with a phonograph record of 'Ombra mai fu
Ombra mai fu
"Ombra mai fu" is the opening aria from the 1738 opera Serse by George Frideric Handel.-Context:The opera was a commercial failure, lasting only five performances in London after its premiere. In the 19th century, however, the aria was rediscovered and became one of Handel's best-known pieces...
' followed by him playing "O Holy Night" on the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and singing the final verse. The carol therefore was the second piece of music to be broadcast on radio.
Tenor Enrico Caruso recorded a version in 1916 which is still in print today.
Three different country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artists have charted on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
charts with renderings of "O Holy Night:" Martina McBride
Martina McBride
Martina McBride is an American country music singer and songwriter. McBride has been called the "Céline Dion of Country Music" for her big-voiced ballads and soprano range....
, John Berry and Josh Gracin
Josh Gracin
Joshua Mario "Josh" Gracin is a country music singer. A former member of the United States Marine Corps, he first gained public attention as the fourth-place finalist on the second season of the Fox Networks talent competition American Idol.After his elimination from the show, Gracin completed his...
. McBride's rendering charted on five separate occasions, peaking at No. 74 in 1997, No. 67 in 1998, No. 49 in 1999, No. 57 in 2000 and No. 41 in 2001. Berry's charted at No. 55 in 1996 and No. 63 in 1998, and Gracin's at No. 59 in 2006..
Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
's title record was his first to go platinum, in 1984. Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
sang the song on her 1994 album Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas (Mariah Carey album)
Merry Christmas is a holiday album and fourth studio album by American singer Mariah Carey. Released by Columbia Records on November 1, 1994, the album features both cover versions of popular Christmas tunes, including some original material...
, and a live version of it is included on her second Christmas album Merry Christmas II You
Merry Christmas II You
Merry Christmas II You is the thirteenth studio album and second Christmas album by American singer Mariah Carey. The album was released on November 2, 2010 and features four original songs, all-time Christmas classics and a re-recorded version of her 1994 Christmas hit "All I Want for Christmas Is...
(2010).
David Foster
David Foster
David Walter Foster, OC, OBC , is a Canadian musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, and arranger, noted for discovering singers such as Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and Charice Pempengco; and for producing some of the most successful artists in the world, such as Céline Dion, Toni...
arranged and produced the song successfully for several different artists including Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
, whose rendering in the 1993 TV special The David Foster Christmas Album was also featured on Foster's best-selling corresponding album (No. 48 Billboard Top 200 in 1993) as well as Crawford's own A Christmas Album (No. 98 Billboard Top 200 in 1999) and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra is an American progressive metal band founded in 1993 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to form the core of the creative team. Since then, TSO sold nearly 8...
's platinum-selling DVD The Ghosts of Christmas Eve
The Ghosts of Christmas Eve
The Ghosts of Christmas Eve is a 1999 made-for-TV concert film showcasing a Christmas music performance by Trans-Siberian Orchestra with guest performers Michael Crawford and Jewel...
; secondly, Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
(voted most popular rendering in a 2004 poll and featured on her 5x platinum album These Are Special Times
These Are Special Times
These Are Special Times is a Christmas album by Canadian singer Céline Dion, released on October 30, 1998 through Epic subsidiary 550 Music...
), then Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in that country...
(No. 1 Billboard Adult Contemporary in 2002) and most recently by Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....
for his 2009 double platinum My Christmas
My Christmas
My Christmas is the thirteenth studio album and first holiday album released by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.The album is a compilation of seasonal holiday favorites, mainly in English, with a few selections in Italian, German, and French, produced by multiple Grammy Award winner David Foster,...
album, Jackie Evancho
Jackie Evancho
Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho is an American child singer described as a classical crossover artist. After entering some talent competitions, issuing an independent album, Prelude to a Dream, and attracting interest on YouTube, she gained wider popularity in 2010 with her performances in the...
for her 2010 EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
"O Holy Night", Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams (singer)
Tenitra Michelle Williams , commonly known as Michelle Williams, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress...
in Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child was an American R&B girl group whose final line-up comprised lead singer Beyoncé Knowles alongside Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Formed in 1997 in Houston, Texas, Destiny's Child members began their musical endeavors in their pre-teens under the name Girl's Tyme...
2001 album "8 Days of Christmas", and in 2011 Argentinian tenor Javier Fontana for his second album Appassionato.
In December 2010, Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
band Röyksopp
Röyksopp
Röyksopp is a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø, formed in 1998. Since their inception, the band's line-up has included Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland....
featured an instrumental electronic music
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
version on their website under the French title "Le Cantique de Noël".