St. Nicholas Cathedral If you drive north for about 30 minutes from Mozart’s hometown Salzburg, Austria, you will come across a small mountain village called Oberndorf. Even now, only about 3,000 residents are enjoying a quiet and peaceful life, regardless of the noise of modern civilization. The entire village has a quiet monastery-like atmosphere.
It was right here. On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1818, ‘Silent Night’ was sung for the first time in the town’s St. Nicholas Cathedral. Father Joseph Mohr, a young priest at the cathedral, wrote the lyrics, and Franz Gruber, a music teacher in the village, added the music.
This music, so beautiful and simple, soon spread throughout Austria and Germany. Now, it has become a carol for people all over the world, so there is no difference at all whether you sing it with English lyrics or in Korean. It was the same in Austria. It was such a familiar melody that people thought it was ‘music that existed from the beginning.’
There was a plausible rumor that the lyrics for Christmas were added to a folk song from an Alpine mountain village in Tyrol. Somewhere it was said that it was a song written by the great composer Josef Haydn. It was only later that it became known that it was a small, simple piece of music written by a young priest and music teacher in a small rural village, moved by the quiet Christmas atmosphere of the village. GettyImages There are countless great singers who have sung this song, but this Christmas, how about hearing it in the voice of soprano Leontyne Price? She is the first black woman to occupy the position of ‘prima donna’ on the opera stage, which had long been monopolized by white sopranos.
In particular, he was selected by the maestro conductor Herbert von Karajan and has performed many impressive performances on the best stages around the world, including Salzburg, Milan, Vienna, and New York. Price’s voice is characterized as being soft and warm like velvet. In addition to the elegant mid-bass and dramatic high notes that evoke shivers, the human warmth of the rich soul unique to black people is very impressive.
Karajan, who has a unique aesthetic attitude and a noble view of art, has recorded a Christmas carol album only once in his life, and that was with Leontyne Price. Karajan was famous for not recording until he found the perfect artist for a particular piece of music, and in the end, it could be said that the greatest soprano in carol music, in Karajan’s opinion, was Leontyne Price. In addition, the ‘accompaniment’ of this music was performed by the famous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, so it is true that it is difficult to see a more luxurious carol album by Jin Yong again.
Under Karajan’s rich direction and with Price’s touching voice, the carol frequently goes back and forth between divine emotion and earthly warmth. Let her brew a cup of warm, cinnamon-scented Glühwein, or sit around with her beloved family, enjoy delicious food, and listen to the warm voice of Leon Tyne Price, which is like a gentle campfire. It will be a more special and beautiful Christmas than ever before. Karjan_Price Carol album cover
