That Most Silent of Nights

This blog is part of a series of blogs about the music of the Advent and Christmas Season.

The last notes of Feliz Navidad faded as our community chorale finished their annual Christmas concert.  The converted performance hall, once a part of a small Lutheran college, was the perfect venue for the 50 or so singers and musicians who perform a varied medley of Christmas favorites each year.  The high ceilings and wooden floors of the hall provided an acoustical marvel, and the many months of hard work by the group resulted in a lively concert.  I added my voice to the alto section. This year’s program was all about popular Christmas songs: a mix of rock and pop songs, with a couple of novelty songs thrown in.  We sang about White and Blue Christmases, Rudolph and Santa, Christmas Fruitcakes and Waltzes,  with a healthy dose of those Christmas Longings—To be Home for Christmas, or to hold that treasured Darling one more time.  And of course it ended with Wishing all a Merry Christmas, in English and Spanish… As the audience stood and cheered, notes from the grand piano softly began to permeate the air.  The crowd quieted as the performers added an unannounced finale…a new arrangement of Silent Night.  The pure sounds, tights harmonies, and exquisite words of this beloved carol were the perfect touch to send us all, audience and performers, on our way into the crisp December night with the echoes of musical beauty sounding in our heads.

Last night, in churches, cathedrals and sanctuaries all over the world, the strains of Silent Night filled the air as hundreds of thousands of worshipers lifted their voices in these treasured melody and words. Countless other worshipers listened to this hymn over the internet, radio, or television from their homes and workplaces.  Like our concert selections, much of Christmas preparation is filled with energy, humor and anticipation, a cluttered mix of this and that, of changing emotions and jumbled desires.  But on that most Silent of Nights, calmness enters, bright light shines and spirits settle.  Holiness streams through the air, and peace seems possible. 

Just like the final song of that concert, Silent Night is both the end and the beginning of something beautiful. It is a fitting finale to the Advent Season, and a beautiful transition into the season of Christmas. Christmas is, if we pause to listen to it, a pure gift of silence, holy silence.   Its strains can be heard in the background of all we do and say and feel.  It is the hidden melody in our sometimes frantic lives.

Peace, Joy, and Holy Silence to All this Day.