Musical contribution - November 2024

Stille nacht, heilige nacht - Martien van der Zwan (Geb.1973)

(LiVE Sampleset: Amsterdam, Vater-Müller)

We’re delighted to offer you yet another arrangement of ‘Stille nacht’. It’s great to have various arrangements of this, as it’s sung so often every year.

In 2019 we wrote:

‘Silent night’ is perhaps the best-known Christmas carol in the world. Originally written in German, it has now been translated into more than 140 languages. The carol was performed for the first time in 1818, at the Nicolauskirche in Oberndorf. There are several romantic stories about the origin of this song; we’ll leave the question open as to whether or not they’re based on truth. However, what we do know for sure is that the song was originally written with guitar accompaniment.

This year, Martien van der Zwan produced the arrangement. Martien is an extremely versatile musician. After receiving a thorough education at the conservatoire, he soon found his own path. As well as playing organ and piano, he also started conducting. Many choirs and ensembles have since performed under his leadership.

And last but not least, composing/arranging is a great passion of this dedicated musician. He even composed a collection with preludes to all 150 Psalms. This deserves our full appreciation and will certainly find its way to many an organ lover. Feel free to take a look at Martien’s website: www.martienvanderzwan.nl

Kind regards,

André