Joseph Mohr

Painting of Josef Mohr Stille-Nacht-Chapel Oberndorf

Joseph Mohr, sometimes spelt Josef (December 11, 1792 – December 4, 1848) was an Austrian Roman Catholic priest^[1] and composer, who wrote the words to the Christmas carol "Silent Night".

Biography

Josef Franz Mohr was born in Salzburg on December 11, 1792, to an unmarried embroiderer, Anna Schoiberin, and a mercenary soldier, Franz Mohr who deserted the army and Joseph's mother before the birth.

As his musical talent was not recognized, he found a sponsor to set him upon the path to higher education. As an illegitimate child he needed the Pope's special permission to study for the priesthood and was ordained a priest in 1815. Rev. Mohr was sent to a pilgrim church in the remote Alpine village of Mariapfarr, where in 1816 he wrote a six-stanza poem that was to become the world's most popular carol. Mohr was moved to Oberndorf in 1817 to stay there for two years. When Franz Gruber agreed to compose a in churches in the Salzburg Diocese and folk singers from the Ziller Valley were taking the song on tours around Europe.

Until 2006, it was thought that Mohr and Gruber had collaborated on just one song. Now another song has been located in the Wagrain parish archive by the Salzburg Diocesan Archives. "Te Deum" with text by Joseph Mohr and melody by Franz Xaver Gruber can be heard in an audio exhibit at the Waggerl Museum in Wagrain.

Mohr, a generous man who donated most of his salary to charity, was moved from place to place and finally became parish pastor in Wagrain, where he founded a new school for children. He created a fund to allow children from poor families to attend school and he set up a system for the care of the elderly.

Father Mohr died of a pulmonary disease on December 4, 1848. The village school is named after him and his grave has been kept in a place of honor in the nearby churchyard cemetery. An outdoor exhibit detailing the life of Joseph Mohr is situated on the walkway between the church and the parish house where he once lived. In 2006, the town's Waggerl Museum set up a new permanent exhibit -- Joseph Mohr - Vicar of Wagrain.

See also

• Franz Gruber (musician)

References

1. ^ http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/feast-of-joseph-mohr-december-4/

External links

• Free scores by Joseph Mohr in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Silent Night Association - Life of Josephus Franciscus Mohr
• History of song
•  "Joseph Mohr". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 

Persondata
Name	Mohr, Joseph
Alternative names
Short description	Austrian priest and composer
Date of birth	December 11, 1792
Place of birth	Salzburg
Date of death	December 4, 1848
Place of death