O Holy Night
Oct 28th, 2007 by skanson.com
Song History - “O Holy Night” (”Cantique de Noël“) is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 
to the French poem “Minuit, chrétiens” by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877). Cappeau was a resident of Roquemaure, located a few miles north of the historic city of Avignon. He was a commissionaire
of wines, and an occasional writer of poetry. It is said that Cappeau was about to embark upon a business trip to Paris when the local parish priest asked Cappeau to write a Christmas poem. On December 3, 1847, about halfway to Paris, Cappeau received the inspiration for the poem, “Minuit, chrétiens” which later became O Holy Night.
In the carol O Holy Night, the singer recalls the birth of Jesus. “Minuit, chrétiens” was translated into English and became O Holy Night by Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, editor of Dwight’s Journal of Music in 1855 (note the abolitionist reference in the third verse: “for the slave is our brother”) Lyrics for O Holy Night also exist in other languages.
“O Holy Night” may have been the first piece of music to be broadcast via radio, played on the violin. That first broadcast was conducted by Canadian Reginald Fessenden (1866-1931) from his Brant Rock, Massachusetts station to ships at sea 
on December 24, 1906, with the assistance of his wife Helen, his secretary Miss Bent and his associate Mr. Stein.
At 9 p.m., Fessenden began his broadcast playing Handel’s “Largo” (presumably from his opera Serse or Xerxes) on an Ediphone phonograph. He then played “O Holy Night” on his violin, singing the last verse as he played. Finally, he read a selection from the book of Luke: “Glory to God in the highest — and on earth peace to men of good will.” Originally, Miss Brant and Mrs. Fessenden were to read the selection; stage fright, however, intervened. The group completed the broadcast by wishing their listeners a Merry Christmas and then saying that they proposed to broadcast again New Year’s Eve.
The Christmas program was picked up as far south as Norfolk, Virginia; when the program was repeated on New Year’s Eve, it was heard as far away as the West Indies.
This Recording of O Holy Night- Translating the serene yet reverent nature of O Holy Night is accomplished
flawlessly by the classical guitar, cello, and violin of this recording. Skanson’s delicate touch also adds to the truly heart-warming nature of O Holy Night.
“There are two moments in all the Christmas music repertoire that I think are the best. I tried to capture both of them on A Light Classical Christmas. One is in Silent Night which I will mention later. The other is in O Holy Night. When the words go “Fall on your knees…” in the bridge of this song, I always get chills. I believe it to be one of the most brilliant chord changes ever written! O Holy Night is one moment on the record not to miss!” - Darren Curtis Skanson
