"O Holy Night" (original title: Cantique de Noël) is a well-known Christmas carol. [I only discovered it a couple of years ago - I know, I need to get out more!] Originally based on a French-language poem written in 1843 that composer Adolphe Adam set to music in 1847.
The English version (with small changes to the initial melody) is by John Sullivan Dwight.
“O Holy Night” has a controversial, albeit intriguing history. The dissensions attached to it can be connected with two distinct facts - Placide Cappeau, the poet/lyricist being an atheist, and Adolphe Adams, the composer being a Jew!
I started with a boy soprano accompanied by piano and guitar; introduced a pipe organ to augment the boy soprano - leading into a full-bodied cathedral organ with superb (IMO) reverberation typical of a cathedral setting...
This has become my carol-of-choice ~~~ just wish I had known it a long time ago!
https://app.box.com/s/lzawpt0rv1gbowweansnyvdslftxdvow
Ken H.