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January 2015
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 20, No. 1
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Next meeting will be January 4th at 5;00 to 8:00pm.
The International Songwriter’s Guild meets at 5 PM on the first Sunday of every month at the
Central Florida Musician’s Union building, 3020 East Robinson (at the extreme east end of
Robinson, near Orlando Executive Airport) in Orlando.
Songwriters, composers, performers, publishers, and the curious are encouraged to join us. Non-
members are invited to attend a meeting or two to get a feel for our group and what we do. For
more information, visit our website at www.tinyurl.com/isgsongs or myspace page at
http://www.myspace.com/21075001
The meetings will be structured as follows: 5:00 to 5:30, business and introductions. 5:30 to
6:00, presentation by a guest speaker (when scheduled), 5:30 or 6:00 to 8:00, song critiques.
Please bring a CD or I-phone or mp3 player or perform your song live, and bring 10 or more lyric
sheets. If we have at least 5 songs by members who wish to be scored, and 6 members scoring, then
we will have them entered in the Monthly competition. Everyone is encouraged to write
constructive comments on the lyric sheets.
Any Details not in this newsletter are at: www.tinyurl.com/isgsongs
More Christmas Tales
by Jeff Mason
In 1818, Joseph Mohr was an assistant priest at St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf,
Austria. He had been planning the music for a special Christmas Eve mass for some months. As he
made the final preparations for the service he came across an unexpected problem. He couldn’t get
the church organ to play. He pulled out stops and tinkered with keys but to no avail. What could
he do? A couple of years earlier he had written a Christmas poem but had never composed a melody
to accompany it. He took the crumpled paper out of his desk and read the words. He saw a possible
answer to his dilemma.
Franz Gruber was a schoolteacher who sometimes played the organ at St. Nicholas’s
services. That Christmas Eve he was surprised to hear a knock on the door of his apartment. He
was even more surprised when he opened the door and saw Father Mohr. The priest should have been
at the church preparing for the service not making rounds visiting friends. Father Mohr explained
his problem and asked Gruber if he could compose a melody for his Christmas poem “Stille Nacht!
Heilige Nacht.” Gruber read the six stanzas and thought that he might be able to write an
accompaniment on his guitar.
With only a short time left before the Christmas Mass, Gruber managed to write a melody
that complemented Mohr’s words. The two men came up with an arrangement consisting of four-part
harmonies and were able to teach the choir their new song. That Christmas Eve mass included the
first public performance of their song “Silent Night.”
In 1832, a family of singing glove makers, the Stassers, performed the carol in front
of a large audience at a Leipzig fair. The beautiful melody and message of the song so delighted
King William IV of Prussia that he asked to have the country’s Cathedral Choir sing it at his
annual Christmas celebration. The song became popular in Eastern Europe and in Great Britain. In
1839, another singing family, The Rainers, sang the song in English at Trinity Church in New York
and “Silent Night” took off like wildfire in America.
Some songs take on a life of their own. We’ve seen this before with Leonard Cohen’s
“Hallelujah” or the melodies to “Danny Boy” and “Greensleeves.” This is true for “Silent Night.”
Even the story about the organ breaking down has been romanticized. The tale being told that mice
chewed the organ’s bellows. The reason the organ broke down was because it was old and the
weather was cold. Still it’s a cute embellishment. It reminds me of a Disney movie!
It is true that during the Christmas truce of 1914 “Silent Night” was one of the songs
that the troops sung during the ceasefire.
http://www.christmastruce.co.uk/songs.html
I found a book titled “Silent Night: The Story of the World War 1 Christmas Truce” by Stanley
Weintraub. The carol was popular at the time of the American Civil War and some accounts
reference there being a a cessation of hostilities at Christmas time. The carol was likely sung
during these truces.
As the song gained popularity legends spread about it’s origin. Some publishers gave
credit to Beethoven, Handel and Bach. Joseph Mohr was a humanitarian who gave most of his money
to charity. Mohr died penniless in 1848. Gruber began a letter writing campaign stating that he
was one of the authors of the piece. Still, the unlikely legends of the song’s origin continue to
be told even into the twenty-first century. The question of the song’s origin has only recently
been settled when an arrangement of “Stille Nacht” in Joseph Mohr’s hand was authenticated. In
the upper right-hand corner of the arrangement Mohr had wrote, “Melodie von Xav Gruber.”
http://silentnight.web.za/history/
You can find many web sites dedicated to this lovely, old Christmas carol, here are a
couple more: http://www.stillenacht.at/en/origin_song.asp
http://carmelnet.org/christmas/silentnight/origins/origins.htm
I would, also, recommend “Stories Behind The Best Loved Songs of Christmas” by Ace
Collins. The song has been recorded more than any other song in history. It’s amazing to think
that a song written out of necessity could become so influential!
I hope everyone has a peaceful Christmas and I’ll see you in the new year.
ISG Bulletin Board
Meeting space graciously provided by Central Florida Musicians Association, Local 389. You are
invited to join the largest union in the world, representing the interests of the professional
musician. Visit their website at afm389.org for more information. You may reach them by phone
at: 407-894-8666.
Why isn't your gig announced here? Members in good standing
call us with your appearance schedule! 407-760-2153
Current members please send us your website info if you would like your site to be listed in the
ISG members page. Also if you have any songs that have placed first in the monthly critiques,
please send the mp3's to isgorlando@gmail.com if you would like to have them featured in the ISG
MySpace page. https://myspace.com/21075001
New members always welcome!
© 2015 ISG