O, Holy Night

Christmas Carols Explained, #1

In 1847, French poet Placide Cappeau was hired by his local parrish priest to write up something moving for Christmas. Originally titled “Minuit, Chretiens,” meaning “Midnight, Christians,” the lyrics were adapted from the Gospel of Luke, which is the foundational story in the Bible of the birth of Christ.

Once the poem was put to music it was called “Cantique de Noel,” or “Christmas Carol.” The music was also French, composed by Adolphe Adam, whose main body of work was ballet and opera. Funnily enough, Adam was Jewish, but that’s cool, so was the main character of the song.

The first singer to perform the song was French opera belle Emily Laurey, at the traditional midnight mass in Roquemaure. It was popular and successful at first, though it fell out of favor with French Catholics when Cappeau joined a socialist movement and Adam’s Jewish roots were made public. The song made its way to America where it found new appreciation in 1855, because America has never had a problem with anyone of any background for any reason and has never done anything wrong, and that’s why we love her. But I digress.

We can thank the Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight for enabling the song’s distribution, and his translation to English really emphasized the theme of breaking chains and lifting up the downtrodden. This helped the song to resonate with growing abolitionist sentiments of the time period.

In much the same way that the Charlie Brown Christmas special has made the birth of Christ a perennial focus for generations, “O Holy Night” renders an impactful account of the birth in the manger, the journey of the Wise Men, and the meaning of the Savior’s long-promised arrival on Earth. While there are countless powerful arrangements of this song, my personal favorite is from Josh Groban’s 2007 album Noel. Given that the song’s origins are rooted in opera, it only makes sense that an operatic sensibility can continue to bring it to life in our time.