Silent Night started life as a poem around the early 19th century by a chap called Joseph Mohr, it was called "Stille Nacht". Mohr was an assistant pastor in his local church.

The story goes that he gave the poem to the church organist, a Mr. Franz Gruber on christmas eve. Gruber straight away composed a melody and arranged it for two voices, choir, and guitar, to be finished in time and performed that night at the Midnight Mass. Phew just in the nick of time eh!