Christmas Carols and Their Stories
Puzzle 42 · Carols of Many Lands · Page 64 in print
O Holy Night
John Sullivan Dwight, the Boston writer behind the English O Holy Night, taught music at the Brook Farm community and edited his own Journal of Music from 1852 to 1881.
Jump to a word
The words
Adolphe Adam
Composer (1803–1856) who set Cappeau’s words in 1847.
Ville de Roquemaure (opens a new tab) · Grove (opens a new tab)
Boieldieu
François-Adrien Boieldieu, Adam’s teacher at the Conservatoire.
Boston
City where Dwight was born and worked as a music critic.
Brook Farm
The Massachusetts community where Dwight taught music.
Cantique
From Cantique de Noël, the title of Adam’s tune.
Cappeau
Placide Cappeau, wine merchant and poet of Roquemaure, author of the French words.
Ville de Roquemaure (opens a new tab) · Hymnary.org: O Holy Night the Stars Are (opens a new tab)
Collegiale
The collégiale, Roquemaure’s collegiate church, from whose gallery it was first sung.
Conservatoire
The Paris Conservatoire, where Adam studied.
Dwight
John Sullivan Dwight, author of the English version.
Hymnary.org: O Holy Night the Stars Are (opens a new tab) · Encyclopædia Britannica (opens a new tab)
Emily Laurey
Singer who first sang the carol on 24 December 1847.
Giselle
Adam’s ballet of 1841.
Jullien
The Jullien brothers, builders (1690) of the organ in whose gallery the carol was first sung.
Postillon
Le Postillon de Longjumeau (1836), Adam’s most successful comic opera.
Rhone
The river Rhône, on whose banks Roquemaure stands.
Roquemaure
Town on the Rhône where the carol was first sung in 1847.
Sources
- Ville de Roquemaure (Gard), official municipal site, “Patrimoine & histoire”roquemaure.fr
- Grove, A Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1st ed.), “Adam, Adolphe” (F. H.), transcribed on WikisourceWikisource
- Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), vol. 8, “Dwight, John Sullivan”, transcribed on WikisourceWikisource
- O Holy Night the Stars Are Brightly Shin (text)Hymnary.org text record “O Holy Night”