The popularity of the Christmas carol Silent Night is nothing short of phenomenal. It has been translated into more 300 languages, with over 700 recorded versions in the last 45 years alone.
Bing Crosby’s version sold more than 30 million copies and it continues to be a cornerstone of yuletide celebrations all over the world. While many of the carols performed around Christmas can be traced back over a 1000 years, Silent Night dates back just a little over 200, composed initially as a poem in 1816 by Rev Joseph Mohr, and set to music two years later, on Christmas Eve 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber.
