Balancing the scare - Silent Night revisited!

It's a bit early for Christmas stuff. Is it? Yes, it is. But I can listen to "Silent Night, Holy Night" anytime, and it gives me goose bumps. The simple melody is "pure genius". Written in 1918 by Franz Xaver Gruber, it's first and foremost purpose was to provide the Christmas music for a small church in Austria. 2 years earlier, Joseph Moor had created the lyrics, so he asked his friend Gruber for a guitar arrangement. The church organ had broken down, but the congregation didn't want to celebrate Christmas Eve Mass without their own music. The story of "Silent Night" is amazing. By 1900, the song was performed on all continents. Today there are versions in 300 dialects and languages, recorded by over 300 artists. Bing, Tony, Perry, Mahalia, Andy, Britney, Christina, Mariah, Celine, Andrea...you name them. Swing on over to my Squidoo lens about this marvelous tune, and listen to a few very, very beautiful versions of "Silent Night, Holy Night".