"Silent Night" was born on Christmas Eve, 1818. When the organ broke down at St. Nicholas Church in the village of Oberndorf in Upper Austria, the Rev. Joseph Mohr had to come up with a musical substitute. He wrote out the words to "Silent Night, Holy Night" and asked his friend Franz Gruber--ther village schoolmaster and organist--to set them to music.
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The two sang the song that night, with Gruber accompanying on the guitar.