The holy Christmas night  

The organ at the church in Roquemaure in France had just been renovated and the parish priest wanted a song, composed to celebrate the occasion. He asked Cappeau to write the words and then, Adolph Adam came up with the music.

Titled Cantique de Noel, the opening lines went like this. “Minuit Chretien, c’est l’heure solemnelle.” Translated, it read “Midnight, Christian is the solemn hour.” It was first performed by the opera singer Emily Laurey.

The song easily became a staple in the Yuletide celebration in France. A practice that continues to this day is the singing of O Holy Night before the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

The English lyrics came later when the music critic and minister John Sullivan Dwight translated it into O Holy Night in 1855. It has since then become one of the most loved Christmas songs of all time around the world.

Despite its superior structure and more prayerful message, it is a fact that O Holy Night has always played second fiddle to the simpler Silent Night and even to other Christmas songs. Because of this, a less number of recorded versions also exists and it is not as frequently performed as Silent Night or other carols.

The main reason given for this is that O Holy Night is a difficult song to sing. That ‘...vine’ in ‘divine’ is a most challenging note that only the truly gifted or at least classically trained singers can do properly. So rather than risk embarrassment, singers just avoid it. For a better idea why this is so, do check YouTube, where you will find several versions.

Because O Holy Night was composed for classical singers, you know the kind with the sort of vocals used in the opera, among the best recorded versions are in the classical style.

Most popular among these are those made by today’s great tenors, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Andrea Bocelli. There are also excellent versions by pop to classical crossover artists like Josh Groban and Charlotte Church.

Then, there are the gifted pop singers, who can trill to their hearts’ delight and have made hit recordings of O Holy Night. Among these are big stars like Mariah Carey and Celine Dion, plus Kelly Clarkson who does an a cappella version.

However, because of the strong desire to also be able to sing O Holy Night, artists over the years have developed a way to sing it without having to take on that “vine” note as written by Adam.

It can be done softly like Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald or soulful like Patti Labelle and Gladys Knight or you can skim through it like what Lisa Hannigan does and with a ukulele at that.

A rare combination of classically trained vocals and easy pop is what the soulfully gifted Jennifer Hudson offers in her goosebump inducing rendition. The Academy Award-winning actress offers O Holy Night as a soft prayer that builds up to a triumphant ending.

Amazingly Hudson takes on the “vine” note over the top and even adds a few embellishments.  It is a tour de force performance for which Heaven must be truly pleased.

O Holy Night

O Holy Night/ the stars are brightly shining/ it is the night of the dear Savior’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.

From 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.