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Polish 'Silent Night' - two versions. Why?? [8]
An odd one from Australia..
Apparently there is an earlier set of Polish lyrics for the universally popular 'Silent Night'. circa 1930's/40's
Not the current 'Cicha Noc' nor the much older, different, 'Wsrod Nocnej Ciszy'.
It is sung to the same German, (Father?) Franz Gruber's beautiful melody.
Does anyone know of it and why it was replaced - sometime in the 1960's ?
(I have the current one on a 'Sla,sk' (!!??) old vinyl record- mono I think ! I have 'written' it to a CD. Actually it is quite beautiful.)
Here is the first verse of the 'older' one (please pardon the English type characters.):-
"Cicha noc, swieta noc,
Wszystka spi, atoli
Czuwa Jozef I Maryja
Niechwiec Boska ich dziecina
W blogim spokoju spi.
I have two more verses now, since I started probing.
I have been running the topic as the thread on 'VirtualTourist.com, Miscellaneous Forum'.
Some other information and those verses are posted there.
Please visit if you can. VirtualTourist.com, - Browse to Forums - Miscellaneous Forum - (Date, Wed. Dec. 26th.) 'Silent Night in Polish ... ... ' - or a 'keyword search' in VT.
Understandably I could not post a direct link here.
Actually Google could bring it up if you speak to it nicely?!! ;-)
It is sort of a 'sacred, culture' subject so I hope will be forgiven for 'pushing the boundaries' a bit !
I have had, for a long time, very close Polish friends here in Melbourne, Australia.
I sang (with the congregation) at a Polish Mass in a big classic church yesterday - St. Stephen's day. I love it !!
I have driven a Peugeot 106 all around Poland and Europe - 10,000kms. And I love Trabi's !! :-))
Laurie. (A 'fair-dinkum mature age Aussie'.)