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The Story of Silent Night
An account of the coming about of the famous Christmas hymn, Silent Night, written by two Austrians in need on Christmas Eve. When they discover the organ has been damaged by mice, a priest presents a Christmas poem to the organist who puts it to a simple melody. The boys' choir replaces the bellows of the organ, and moves the hearts of many in the small Austrian church. The hymn travels through Austria by many hands, anonymous, until rediscovered by the organist's son.
53 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1967
46 people want to read
About the author
Paul Gallico
190 books317 followersPaul William Gallico was born in New York City, on 26th July, 1897. His father was an Italian, and his mother came from Austria; they emigrated to New York in 1895.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.
During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.
He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.
Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.
He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.
He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.
During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.
He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.
Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.
He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.
He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 23, 2023
In a Nutshell: A narration of the origin of the carol, ‘Silent Night’. Great start, a bit dragged in between. Quite informative. Not for everyone.
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‘Silent Night’ is one of the most popular Christmas carols, with its tune conveying the spirit of Christmas night in an unparalleled way. But how did it come into being?
According to this little book, the song was developed by fluke. When the organ of a small church near Salzburg in Austria was damaged by mice on Christmas Eve 1818, the young assistant priest called the organist and presented a simple Christmas poem he wrote. The organist put it to a simple melody. But will the congregation accept this last-minute substitute for such an important celebration? Would the guitar be an adequate replacement for the sonorous organ? How did the tune go from this one-time performance to becoming one of the most beloved carols even more than two hundred years later? You will find out if you read this little 53-page book.
I loved:
🎄 The depiction of Christmas 1818, where the festival was more meaningful than commercial, with celebrations focussed on the solemnity of the day and mass being an essential component of the occasion. My kind of Christmas!
🎄 The history of the carol, and how the tune became an evergreen one. I never thought about the origin story of any carol, and now, I feel an urge to find out more about my favourites.
🎄 The spotlight on the beauty of improvised music, and how a musician’s mind works.
🎄 The humble background of the lyricist and composer – an orphaned priest and a weaver’s son – who came together and developed such a touching melody, and did not even realise the significance of their creation.
🎄 The mention of the choir children, and how they stepped up to learn the tune so that they could be ready in time for mass. I conduct for the children’s choir in my local church, so this aspect especially touched my heart.
🎄 The sad-but-realistic depiction of how destiny doesn’t always offer instantaneous fame or rewards for your efforts, and how some accomplishments end up doing nothing for their creators. Delayed gratification isn’t always rewarding.
This book is quite old, published in 1967, so some of the data is outdated, and the writing style is more like a teacher’s report than an engaging anecdote. However, if you want to see how ‘Silent Night’ ruffled quite a few conservative feathers when it was first sung, and what a meandering journey it took towards success, you might find this an interesting read. I liked it a lot, but I would have loved it even more had it being more linear in its narrative, avoiding repetition, and keeping a tighter control on the narrative. The information is excellent; the implementation is decent.
Recommended to those interested in the topic.
3.5 stars, rounding up for the Christmassy vibes.
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Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || X/Twitter || Facebook ||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘Silent Night’ is one of the most popular Christmas carols, with its tune conveying the spirit of Christmas night in an unparalleled way. But how did it come into being?
According to this little book, the song was developed by fluke. When the organ of a small church near Salzburg in Austria was damaged by mice on Christmas Eve 1818, the young assistant priest called the organist and presented a simple Christmas poem he wrote. The organist put it to a simple melody. But will the congregation accept this last-minute substitute for such an important celebration? Would the guitar be an adequate replacement for the sonorous organ? How did the tune go from this one-time performance to becoming one of the most beloved carols even more than two hundred years later? You will find out if you read this little 53-page book.
I loved:
🎄 The depiction of Christmas 1818, where the festival was more meaningful than commercial, with celebrations focussed on the solemnity of the day and mass being an essential component of the occasion. My kind of Christmas!
🎄 The history of the carol, and how the tune became an evergreen one. I never thought about the origin story of any carol, and now, I feel an urge to find out more about my favourites.
🎄 The spotlight on the beauty of improvised music, and how a musician’s mind works.
🎄 The humble background of the lyricist and composer – an orphaned priest and a weaver’s son – who came together and developed such a touching melody, and did not even realise the significance of their creation.
🎄 The mention of the choir children, and how they stepped up to learn the tune so that they could be ready in time for mass. I conduct for the children’s choir in my local church, so this aspect especially touched my heart.
🎄 The sad-but-realistic depiction of how destiny doesn’t always offer instantaneous fame or rewards for your efforts, and how some accomplishments end up doing nothing for their creators. Delayed gratification isn’t always rewarding.
This book is quite old, published in 1967, so some of the data is outdated, and the writing style is more like a teacher’s report than an engaging anecdote. However, if you want to see how ‘Silent Night’ ruffled quite a few conservative feathers when it was first sung, and what a meandering journey it took towards success, you might find this an interesting read. I liked it a lot, but I would have loved it even more had it being more linear in its narrative, avoiding repetition, and keeping a tighter control on the narrative. The information is excellent; the implementation is decent.
Recommended to those interested in the topic.
3.5 stars, rounding up for the Christmassy vibes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || X/Twitter || Facebook ||
December 17, 2023
I love everything i have read so far by Paul Gallico and this is another.
A very sweet, happy story about how and where the hymn silent night started.
I found this very fascinating as i never knew any of the details regarding this. It really was great to find out. This is a beautiful hymn and no wonder it has been so popular the world over. Gallico as always captures the spirit of tue story very well and takes up on a lovely journey of descovery.
A very sweet, happy story about how and where the hymn silent night started.
I found this very fascinating as i never knew any of the details regarding this. It really was great to find out. This is a beautiful hymn and no wonder it has been so popular the world over. Gallico as always captures the spirit of tue story very well and takes up on a lovely journey of descovery.
October 20, 2020
"The verdict of time upon manifestations of genius is unpredictable."
A true gem in very few pages.
If ever a song has impacted your life, the tale of how Silent Night came to be will instill a sense of awe for the act of fate that the creative process is.
A true gem in very few pages.
If ever a song has impacted your life, the tale of how Silent Night came to be will instill a sense of awe for the act of fate that the creative process is.
December 23, 2023
This is a gem of a book. A copy might not easy to come by--it was published in the late '60's and is currently out of print--but if you can find one, I highly recommend it. This book chronicles the story of two unassuming men who merely set out to salvage the music for midnight mass when the pipe organ broke down and in doing so, ended up creating one of the most beloved Christmas hymns of all time. The author brings the characters to life in such a way that the reader feels like he or she is witnessing the scene, which happened nearly 200 years ago. He seamlessly synchronizes documented facts and the lore passed down through the ages to tell an unforgettable Christmas story.
December 27, 2025
Dec 2025
Still loved this (of course!) but I am struck this time by how sure Gallico is of the utter genius of Silent Night, which makes me laugh a little.
Dec 2021
This book made me so happy. It's elegant in its simplicity and pulls you into the history in a storybook form. I'm so glad I read it
Still loved this (of course!) but I am struck this time by how sure Gallico is of the utter genius of Silent Night, which makes me laugh a little.
Dec 2021
This book made me so happy. It's elegant in its simplicity and pulls you into the history in a storybook form. I'm so glad I read it
December 23, 2023
I enjoyed this book since I had not previously known the story of the famous carol "Silent Night" That led me to do a little online research, and I came across some slightly varied versions. One book, titled The Stories Behind 40 Beloved Christmas Carols pointed out that Joseph Mohr was led to become a priest since his options as a so-called illegitimate child were limited at that time. (A sad footnote in history along with the papal anger over translating church songs into the local language. ) Was the church organ actually destroyed before Mohr wrote that son? Did a fire occur out of nowhere or was a friend of Mohr's involved? Interesting stuff, and ultimately, there's enough truth in the whole story to keep it going for future generations.
June 27, 2023
Interesting read, a bit flowery
December 3, 2025
This book by seasoned author Paul Gallico tells the story of arguably the world's most famous Christmas carol.
February 7, 2011
A very sweet and easy book to read. Gallico creates a story based on the facts known of the creation of Silent Night. From such simple beginings came this Christmas carol that lives on in a variety of languages and sung by both Christians and non-Christians alike
I am so glad to know this story
and it may be February, but I keep humming the carol and it makes me smile
I am so glad to know this story
and it may be February, but I keep humming the carol and it makes me smile
May 1, 2008
Paul Gallico recounts the most accurate story possible of the writing of the Christmas hymn, Silent Night. A touching story of dedication and humility of two (almost) unknown musical geniuses.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews