O holy night (Adolphe Adam): Aled Jones 1985

From a TV programme called “Voices from the Holy Land”, filmed in 1985, Aled Jones performs the first verse of Adolphe Adam’s famous carol.

Adam composed this carol in 1847 to the French poem “Minuit, chrétiens” (“Midnight, Christians”) by the wine merchant and poet, Placide Cappeau (1808–1877), who had been asked to write it by the parish priest of Roequmaure, to celebrate the renovation of the church organ. The song, now set to Adam’s music, was premiered in Roquemaure in 1847 by the opera singer Emily Laurey and was translated into English in 1855 by the Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight. In both the French original and the English version of the carol, as well as many other languages, the text reflects on the birth of Jesus and on humanity’s redemption.

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.