Adolphe Adam (1803-1856) was a French composer best known for the ballet Giselle and the Christmas carol O Holy Night. He also wrote many works for the Paris Opera and taught at the Paris Conservatory ...

In the fall of 1847, a French merchant, Placide Cappeau, was asked by his local priest to write a Christmas poem. Cappeau showed this poem, “Minuit, chrétiens,” to the famed French composer Adolphe ...

While I can no longer remember who said it and in which class, I recall being taught in seminary that we learn much of our theology from hymn writers. And, at least for me, there is no greater season ...

Caruso, Bjorling, Pavarotti, Carreras, Domingo, Alagna, Kaufmann, Florez and (Eric) Cartman. One of these things is not like the other, ‘tis true, but there is one way in which they are kind of the ...

Twenty-six years ago, George W. Hunt, S.J., then editor in chief of America, wrote that “O Holy Night” was one of his favorites among Yuletide songs, modestly adding: “I’ve sung it countless times in ...

In the fall of 1847, a French merchant, Placide Cappeau, was asked by his local priest to write a Christmas poem. Cappeau showed this poem, “Minuit, chrétiens,” to the famed French composer Adolphe ...

This is John Sullivan Dwight’s translation from 1855. He was a Unitarian minister and a schoolmaster at the Brook Farm commune who went on to become America’s first influential music critic. That ...