Silent Night

Michael W. Smith's “Silent Night” is a quiet treatment of the classic carol first sung in Austria in 1818. The words follow the traditional text: a calm, bright night, the Virgin Mother and her holy Infant, tender and mild, and a call to sleep in heavenly peace.

The second verse moves to the fields, where shepherds quake at the sight and glories stream from heaven afar. Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia, and the announcement is plain: Christ the Saviour is born. The last verse in this version names him Son of God and love's pure light, with radiant beams from his holy face and the dawn of redeeming grace. It ends by addressing Jesus directly as Lord at his birth. Smith keeps the arrangement spare, with a soft piano and a warm voice, so that the carol's words carry the weight. It has long been a closing song at Christmas Eve services, often sung by candlelight, and this recording suits that setting or a quiet evening at home. For many listeners it is the carol that connects the manger to the cross, since redeeming grace is named in the same breath as the birth.

The shepherds and the angels are Luke 2:8-14. A child given, whose name is Prince of Peace, is Isaiah 9:6, and the grace that brings salvation is Titus 2:11.