The First Silent Night

Join renowned actor Simon Callow as he uncovers the moving origins of Silent Night. Simon journeys to the Austrian village of Oberndorf as well as the city of Salzburg, where the story of the world’s favorite carol had its origins. The First Silent Night introduces us to two impoverished children–Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber–who grew up in Austria’s cobbled streets and wooded villages. The hard years that shaped them would also  destine them to meet one day in a poor country church to unite Gruber’s music and Mohr’s text into this classic carol about the birth of a third poor boy on a quiet night in ancient Palestine. (PBS Distribution)