Dec 24th 1818 "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht" was heard for the first time in a village church in Oberndorf, Austria. The congregation at that Midnight Mass in St. Nicholas Church listened as the voices of the assistant pastor, Fr. Joseph Mohr, and the choir director, Franz Xaver Gruber, rang through the church to the accompaniment of Fr. Mohr's guitar. Or so says various internet sources, bloody singer songwriters I'd rather hear a Guitar/Child Ballad or two from the sources mentioned above by Howard Jones. JohnB
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