Placide Cappeeau's 'O Holy Night'

O Holy Night is a beloved Christmas carol that is almost 150 years old, and it is still sung widely around the world. It is a simple song with interesting origins. It originated as a poem. Then it was banned from the church only to be later revived on the radio and is now a song that many famous artists lend their voices to.
O Holy Night was composed in Roquemaure, France in 1847 by writer, Placide Cappeau and composer Adolphe Adams. Placide Cappeau was asked by his parish priest to write a poem for the Christmas mass. To find inspiration, Cappeau imagined himself a spectator to the birth of Jesus, and from these wondrous thoughts, he wrote a poem called "Cantique de Noel". Although Cappeau had the lyrics, he knew he needed the right melody to enhance the true meaning of “Cantique de Noel”. He found Adolphe Adams, a well known classical musician and composer in France. It was an unusual request because Adams was Jewish; however, he was happy to help Cappeau, and thus composed the melody for “Cantique de Noel”. “Cantique de Noel” was performed at Cappeau’s parish during the Christmas Eve mass that same year. The congregation loved the carol, but after it was discovered that the Adophe Adams was Jewish, the church banned the song from its liturgy throughout France. One
French bishop condemned it saying, “it lacked musical taste and was absent of the spirit of religion.” Despite the church’s ban, the French people would continue to sing the song outside of mass. Ten years later, American John Sullivan Dwight, heard the song and was fond of its strong message of hope. Dwight translated the “Cantique de Noel” into English, which then became “O Holy Night”. At this time, the American Civil war was taking place; Dwight wanted to bring this song back home to tell all Americans that there will always be hope for their country. “O Holy Night” became very popular during the American Civil War.
On Christmas Eve, 1906, Reginald Fessenden, a radioscientist from Canada, was experimenting with a telegraph and microphone. Fessenden started to read the Nativity story from the gospel of Luke. Around the world, operators on ships heard a voice come out of their telegraph machines. This experiment became the first radio broadcast in history. Fessenden played “O Holy Night” on the violin over the radio waves. It was the first song ever played over the radio. After this radio broadcast, “O Holy Night” became well known around the world and was immediately loved by millions.
Since then, many artists worldwide have performed covers of this song to make it their own.
Not one artist made this carol famous, but there are four artist that are best known for their version of “O Holy Night.” The most recent version was releases by Susan Boyle in her album “The Gift” which she recorded in 2010. In 1998, Celine Dion released her version of “O Holy Night” in her album called “These Are Special Times.” In 2002, Josh Groban released his edition of this song included in his album, “In Concert.” Finally, the most well know version of this song was sung by Mariah Carey. She recorded her adaptation of the famous song in 1994, which was a part of her album “Merry
Christmas.”
“O Holy Night” is one of my favourite Christmas carols. I believe the most important section in “O Holy Night” is “Long lay the world in sin and error pining/
Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth.” These two lines mean a lot to me because these lyrics are telling us that the world was full of sin and Jesus was born to save all of us all. It reminds me that Jesus is always watching out for me and He will do everything to help me through every troubled situation. Another small verse in “O Holy Night” that I believe that has a strong importance is “O night, Divine.” Jesus came to earth on one wondrous night to save the human race from sin, and Christmas is a celebration of the beginning of our salvation. The tune in “O Holy Night” makes this song one of my favourites. The powerful tune of “O Holy Night” matches the powerful lyrics of Jesus’ birth. My favourite version of this song is Mariah Carey’s version. Her performance is flawless and she shows she has a very wide vocal range as sing low notes at the notes at the beginning and build to very powerful high notes at the end.
O Holy Night is an adored Christmas carol around the world. It has endured for over 150 years, starting with the collaboration between Placide Cappeau and Adolphe Adams. The carol was banned by the French church, but loved by its citizens. Once this song was brought to America it was broadcasted over the radio for the first time. Today, “O Holy Night” is one of the most popular Christmas carols of all time and will be for years to come.