O Holy Night (Cantique de Noël) is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem Minuit, chrétiens (Midnight, Christians) by a wine merchant and poet, Placide Cappeau (1808–1877). In Roquemaure at the end of the year 1843, the church organ was recently renovated. To celebrate the event, the parish priest asked Cappeau, native from this town, to write a Christmas poem. Cappeau did it, although being a professed anticlerical and atheist. Soon after, Adam wrote the music. The song was premiered in Roquemaure in 1847 by the opera singer Emily Laurey. Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight,editor of Dwights Journal of Music, created a singing edition based on Cappeaus French text in 1855. In both the French original and in the two familiar English versions of the carol, the text reflects on the birth of Jesus and of humanitys redemption.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 19:01:43 +0000
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