Since it’s that time of year…here’s Andrea Bocelli singing Oh Holy Night - or Cantique de Noel, in French last year in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London for BBC TV’s “Songs of Praise”. It is of course one of the best known Christmas songs and was in fact originally written in French by Adolphe Adam in 1844 and originally called Minuit, Cretiens (Midnight, Christians)
4
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
2 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.What a magnificent place to sing! Loved this one!! 
Redheadedgammy
Level 9
Dec 21, 2021
3
Yes…it’s Christopher Wren’s great architectural masterpiece. I’ve sung this song dozens of times, but of course Bocelli’s in a class above.
@Marionville I absolutely love his voice and singing! He has such a rich emotional voice.
I know this may seem odd for a non-believer, but this has always been my favorite Christmas song ... and it remains so in French as well now that I've heard it. I had no idea it had originally been written in French. Thank you!
Lauren
Level 8
Dec 21, 2021
3
The music is the important thing…I love the song too and was raised an atheist, so the words are immaterial, merely a means to be able to sing and enjoy the beautiful music.
@Marionville Exactly so! 
Nothing wrong in liking beautiful music even though it has a religious bend to it. I’ve always enjoyed many Xmas songs even though I’m an Atheist.
@Redheadedgammy I think we're enlightened. It was my knee-jerk response because so many atheists seem to have a problem with it. But there's so much beautiful religious music and art out there!
@Lauren, @Redheadedgammy, @Marionville The background of what inspired the music does matter but the fact that the composer was inspired by a religion is between the composer and his/her beliefs. My favourite carol was written as a poem by Christina Rossetti and later put to music by Gustav Holst and Harold Darke (I learned Holst version but through King's College grew to prefer the Darke version). Christina was very associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, whom one does not associate as being devout though their paintings often are inspirational. I really don't care how devout anyone is. That is their own thing. JSBach was incredibly religious and one of the great mysteries about him was the writing of the B Minor Mass, since it could never be performed in his country (Catholic mass in Lutheran country).