The mesmerizing appeal of the timeless Christmas carol Silent Night is truly remarkable. It has been translated into over 300 languages and has over 700 recorded versions in the past 45 years alone. Bing Crosby’s rendition alone sold more than 30 million copies and the song remains a staple at festive celebrations worldwide.
While many Christmas carols have roots dating back over a thousand years, Silent Night is a relatively young composition, originally penned as a poem in 1816 by Rev Joseph Mohr and set to music two years later on Christmas Eve 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber. It was first performed that same night at Christmas Eve Mass in the church of St Nicholas in Oberndorf, near Salzburg, Austria.
The song’s simplicity has contributed to its enduring popularity, with an initial performance featuring a basic choral accompaniment that the choir could learn in just a matter of hours. Mohr and Gruber also broke from tradition by opting for a guitar accompaniment instead of the usual church organ.
If you’re ever in the area of Hallein, Austria, you can visit the Silent Night Museum and see the very same guitar that Joseph Mohr used to debut this iconic composition. Numerous artists, including the great Larry Carlton, have also recorded Silent Night.
Our arrangement of Silent Night can be dissected into several sections. Starting with a Django-style intro, we then transition into a harmonization of the well-known tune, followed by an improvised solo section in F major with a shift in energy towards a jazz waltz feel. We then return to D major for the final statement of the tune, incorporating a variation of the ‘La Pompe’ rhythm to match our 6/8 time signature, concluding with a beautiful outro and a playful machinehead dive.
Arranging a well-known piece in this way is a valuable learning experience, so we encourage you to first master this arrangement and then consider creating your own arrangement of another Christmas carol. The possibilities are endless and the musical fulfillment is guaranteed.
