Customer Reviews

Silent Night, Holy Night

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The soft, moonlit illustrations and flowing verse make this a book to keep and treasure for years to come. Nothing can change the fact that this carol is one of the most well-known and beloved around the world - regardless of dates. The music chip in this one is not the tinny, toy piano type, but plays the full hymn. Truly a wonderful book for families trying to maintain a focus on the "real" story of Christmas and in the end - isn't that what it's really all about?

The book was in good shape however it was not what I ordered. I ordered the book with a music chip and it did not include one. I didn't want to waste any more time in returning it and getting my money back so i kept it.

In the introduction, artist Maja Dusikova wrongly explains that the words to the favorite Christmas carol "Silent Night" were written on the spur of the moment by an Austrian priest one Christmas Eve.

Historians have no information to indicate the exact date when Joseph Mohr wrote his six-stanza poem. We only have Mohr's notation that he wrote it in 1816. There is nothing to indicate that it was "written on the spur of the moment." At that time he was assigned to a pilgrim church in Mariapfarr, Austria.

The music was added by Franz Xaver Gruber on Christmas Eve in 1818. The first performance was in St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria with Gruber and Mohr singing each verse while Mohr played his guitar. The choir repeated the last two lines of each verse.

While the book has beautiful illustrations, it's best not to present wrong information to children when it involves a real event.