History
In Roquemaure, Gard, Roquemaure in France at the end of 1843, the church organ had recently been renovated. To celebrate the event, the parish priest persuaded poet Placide Cappeau, a native of the town, to write a Christmas poem. Soon afterwards, in that same year, Adolphe Adam composed the music. The song was premiered in Roquemaure in 1847 by the opera singer Emily Laurey. Transcendentalist, music critic, minister, and editor of ''Dwight's Journal of Music'', John Dwight, adapted the song into English in 1855. This version became popular in the United States, especially in the North, where the third verse (including "Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother, And in his name all oppression shall cease") resonated with Abolitionism, abolitionists. The wide vocal range of the song makes it one of the more difficult Christmas songs to execute properly. In French-language churches, it is commonly used at the beginning of the Midnight Mass.On record charts
The song has been recorded by numerous well-known popular-music, classical-music, and religious-music singers. It makes a frequent appearance in the annual performances of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge. Several renditions by popular artists have appeared on record charts: *1971: Tommy Drennan and the Monarchs reached Christmas in the Official Irish Singles Chart *1994: Mariah Carey, from her first studio holiday album, ''Merry Christmas (Mariah Carey album), Merry Christmas'', reached on the US ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Holiday 100 chart. It was re-released as a single in 1996 and 2000; a re-recorded live rendition is included on her 2010 follow-up album ''Merry Christmas II You''. In 2019, her single was certified Gold in the US by RIAA. It reached in Italy and it was certified Gold. It reached the top-twenty in Iceland, peaking at number 19. *1996: John Berry (country singer), John Berry on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart *1997: Martina McBride on Hot Country Songs chart (also in 1998, in 1999, in 2000, and in 2001) *1998: Celine Dion on ''Billboards Holiday chart; in 2014, Nielsen SoundScan reported that her version had sold 240,000 copies in the US. *2002: Josh Groban ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart *2006: Josh Gracin on Hot Country Songs chart *2010–2011: Glee (TV series), ''Glee'' cast US Billboard charts, ''Billboard'' Holiday Digital Song Sales chart *2012: Ladywell Primary School in Motherwell, Scotland, released "O Holy Night" as a digital download on November 21, 2012. The school donated 90 percent of proceeds from the song to the Meningitis Research Foundation in memory of a student who had died of meningococcal septicaemia. The remaining 10 percent went to school funds. It reached on the UK Singles Chart. *2017–2018: Lauren Daigle US ''Billboard'' Christian adult contemporary, US Hot Christian Songs, and US Christian Airplay chartsSee also
* List of Christmas carolsReferences
External links
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