O Holy Night
"O Holy Night" (original title: Cantique de Noël) is a sacred song for Christmas performance. Originally based on a French-language poem by poet Placide Cappeau, written in 1843, with the first line "Minuit, Chrétien, c'est l'heure solennelle" (Midnight, Christian, is the solemn hour) that composer Adolphe Adam set to music in 1847. The English version (with small changes to the initial melody) is by John Sullivan Dwight. The carol reflects on the birth of Jesus as humanity's redemption.

History
In Roquemaure in France at the end of 1843, the church organ had recently been renovated. To celebrate the event, the parish priest persuaded poet Placide Cappeau, a native of the town, to write a Christmas poem. Soon afterwards, in that same year, Adolphe Adam composed the music. The song was premiered in Roquemaure in 1847 by the opera singer Emily Laurey.
Transcendentalist, music critic, minister, and editor of Dwight's Journal of Music, John Dwight, adapted the song into English in 1855. This version became popular in the United States, especially in the North, where the third verse (including "Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother, And in his name all oppression shall cease") resonated with abolitionists.The wide vocal range of the song makes it one of the more difficult Christmas songs to execute properly. In French-language churches, it is commonly used at the beginning of the Midnight Mass.

Lyric
On record charts
The song has been recorded by numerous pop, classical, and religious singers. Several renditions by popular artists have appeared on record charts:

1971: Tommy Drennan and the Monarchs reached Christmas No. 1 in the Official Irish Singles Chart
1994: Mariah Carey, from her first studio holiday album, Merry Christmas, reached No. 70 on the US Billboard Holiday 100 chart. It was re-released as a single in 1996 and 2000; a re-recorded live rendition is included on her 2010 follow-up album Merry Christmas II You. In 2019, her single was certified Gold in the US by RIAA. It reached No. 28 in Italy and it was certified Gold. It reached the top-twenty in Iceland, peaking at number 19.
1996: John Berry No. 55 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart
1997: Martina McBride No. 74 on Hot Country Songs chart (also No. 67 in 1998, No. 49 in 1999, No. 57 in 2000, and No. 41 in 2001)
1998: Celine Dion No. 44 on Billboard's Holiday chart; in 2014, Nielsen SoundScan reported that her version had sold 240,000 copies in the US.
2002: Josh Groban No. 1 Billboard Adult Contemporary chart
2006: Josh Gracin No. 59 on Hot Country Songs chart
2010–2011: Glee cast No. 1 US Billboard Holiday Digital Song Sales chart
2012: Ladywell Primary School in Motherwell, Scotland, released "O Holy Night" as a digital download on November 21, 2012. The school donated 90 percent of proceeds from the song to the Meningitis Research Foundation in memory of a student who had died of meningococcal septicaemia. The remaining 10 percent went to school funds. It reached No. 39 on the UK Singles Chart.
2017–2018: Lauren Daigle No. 14 US Billboard Christian adult contemporary, No. 33 US Hot Christian Songs, and No. 33 US Christian Airplay charts

See also
List of Christmas carols

References
External links

 French Wikisource has original text related to this article: Minuit chrétiens
"Cantique de Noël": Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Free sheet music for voice and piano, Cantorion.org
Sheet music and musical details, artsongcentral.com
"Minuit Chrétien" on YouTube, Charles Jauquier (original French version)