Earliest surviving manuscript of “Silent Night,” in the handwriting of the Rev. Joseph Mohr. (photo: Salzburg Museum). The hills around Salzburg are alive, we hear, “alive with the sound of music.” ...

Franz Xaver Gruber and Joseph Mohr are best known for composing the timeless Christmas carol Silent Night. Gruber, a schoolteacher and church organist, composed the melody, while Mohr, a young priest, ...

It’s difficult to imagine today, but there was a time when “Silent Night” was not virtually synonymous with Christmas. As recently as the nineteenth-century, Christmas was not widely celebrated in the ...

In 1816, near the starving and ruined city of Salzburg, Austria, a 24-year-old priest named Joseph Mohr suffered, along with his parishioners, in the wreckage of the Napoleonic Wars. In that suffering ...

Stevie Nicks’ Christmas cover from 38 years ago still has fans divided, but many say it’s one of her most heartfelt and overlooked performances.

Lady A returns to Christmas music with "On This Winter's Night (Vol. 2)." The faith-filled album celebrates family and the ...

According to a document written by Gruber in 1854, the song first became popular in the nearby Zillertal valley. From there, ...

The country trio returns to Christmas music with "On This Winter’s Night (Vol. 2)." The faith-filled album celebrates family ...

“Silent Night” occupies a somewhat unique status as what anthropologists call a sacred or inalienable object—your grandmother’s wedding ring, the Constitution, or the family portrait we carry in our ...

Somebody is going to be playing Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas.” And somebody is going to be playing The Temptations’ “Silent Night.” The two songs, one an original that debuted in 1970, the other, ...

Trace Adkins has a rough and tumble image, but underneath it all, the big and burly, deep-voiced singer is a teddy bear. He showed off his thoughtful side during the 'CMA Country Christmas' special on ...