Christmas Music has always had a close kinship with the Christian religion; after all, the holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, and Christ is right there in the name of the holiday. It makes sense that many Christmas songs have religious connotations. Songs like “Silent Night,” “Joy to the World,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” and “The First Noel” immediately come to mind. It certainly makes sense; those songs all reference the birth of Jesus – the proverbial reason for the season. One of the most popular Christmas carols written about the subject was “O Holy Night,” and strangely enough, that song was initially banned by the church.
The Origins of ‘O Holy Night’ and the People Who Created It
“O Holy Night” is, in the minds of many people, the definitive Christmas carol. In fact, the song was a combination of a poem written by Placide Cappeau in 1843 and a composition written by Adolphe Adam in 1847. The original title of Adam’s composition was “Cantique de Noël” or “Christmas Carol”. He was not the first to use the term “Christmas Carol” by any means, but it has remained in the lexicon of popular Christmas carols ever since it was released.
Adam was a gifted composer who studied at the Paris Conservatoire. He was well-versed in classical composition and composed many operas, ballets, and church music. In 1841, he composed music for Giselle, one of the most famous romantic ballets ever written. When he composed the music for “O Holy Night,” he blended all of his knowledge to create the soaring melodies and dynamic, almost theatrical climaxes in the song.
As for Placide Cappeau, he was a wine merchant by trade who wrote poetry as a hobby. Historical accounts suggest that he was not particularly religious – some sources from the era accused him of being an atheist. But in 1843, the parish priest of Roquemaure wanted a new piece to celebrate Christmas at the midnight mass, and he asked Cappeau because of his reputation as a talented poet. This sort of task was not unusual as poets were often commissioned to write hymns or celebratory texts for religious or civic occasions, regardless of their personal beliefs.
Why ‘O Holy Night’ Was Banned by Church Leaders
The song was an instant hit, but there was a problem, at least according to French church leadership. Many churches decided to ban the song from their hymn books when they found out that the writers of the song were not Christians – Cappeau was (possibly) an atheist, and Adam was Jewish.
Other church elders took issue with the emphasis on social justice in the lyrics, specifically the line, “the weary world rejoices,” which they felt was a plea for equality, not along any cultural margins, but an equality of the social hierarchy. France was no longer under a strict feudal system, but there was still a very clear social hierarchy in which the wealthy, the aristocracy, the old nobility, and the clergy were at the top, and the working class was beneath them.
While the French church banned the song, the French people – especially the common people in the working class – loved it and refused to let it go, so the song took on a life of its own outside the church.
The song’s fame grew, and by 1855, it had reached the shores of America. There, a minister named John Sullivan Dwight translated the song into English, which is now known as “O, Holy Night”.
During his transcription of the song, he did change the original translated lyric, “People, kneel down, await your deliverance. Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer” (doesn’t that sound like lyrics that Slayer would have written?) to “O night divine, the night when Christ was born.” The translation into English was successful, and the song became a big hit in America.
Why ‘O Holy Night’ Endures as a Christmas Classic
While we still think of “O Holy Night” as one of the definitive religiously based Christmas Carols, it was, in fact, a song written by a Jewish man, based on a poem by a man who was possibly an atheist, that was initially rejected by the church and only lived on because it’s a damn fine song, with soaring swells and rich vocal melodies.
The song borrowed a lot of compositional cues from sacred music. The song’s structure builds dynamically throughout, moving from a quiet, contemplative opening, then lifting to a soaring climax, similar to oratorio or motet-style passages used in church services. This compositional tool was used by countless composers to stir emotion and inspire spirituality. Essentially, music makes humans feel things and this fact is used to great effect in church hymns by very skilled composers like Adolphe Adam.
