Adolphe Adam (1803-1856) 1847 C major 12/8 Easy 1:56 Both hands
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O Holy Night is one of the great slow Christmas songs, and its long, singing melody is a lovely study in smooth playing. This easy version gives you the whole tune once through - the verse from O holy night to the soul felt its worth, then A thrill of hope and the refrain, Fall on your knees - in C major, read from an 1871 New York print of Adam's Cantique de Noël. That print writes the long-short lilt with dotted notes over a triplet accompaniment; here it is written in 12/8, four slow beats per bar, each split in three. The left hand holds one bass note per bar or half bar. Press Listen first, then learn the melody phrase by phrase in Practice mode.
The whole melody lies between the D above middle C and the E at the top of the treble staff, with a single black key, the F# in bar 7. It starts with a pick-up: a short E, a long E and G - O ho-ly. Bars 1-4 and 5-9 are the two lines of the verse, bars 10-13 are A thrill of hope, and the refrain starts in bar 14 on a long high C, Fall on your knees. It climbs to the E at the top of the staff in bars 18, 22 and 23 - O night divine - and ends on C in bar 25. Keep it smooth and singing.
One long note per bar, or two where the harmony changes. C below middle C is the home note; F comes in bars 1, 6 and 19, E in bars 2, 9 and 19, B in bar 8, D in bar 16, and the G on the bottom line of the bass staff in bars 3, 10, 12, 15, 18 and 20-24. During the first note of the pick-up the left hand waits.
The rhythm of 12/8: four slow beats per bar, each made of three eighth notes. Most beats are long-short - a quarter note and an eighth - and some notes are tied across a beat, like the long E of ho- in the pick-up and the G of night in bar 1: hold them, do not play them twice. The short rests in bars 2, 7, 11, 15, 17 and 21 are breaths before a quick pick-up note. And keep the F# in bar 7.
Start with the thumb on E: E G A with 1-3-4, F with 2 and the high C with 5. For bars 2-4 move the thumb down to C: G E D with 5-3-2, then C C E F G F D C with 1-1-3-4-5-4-2-1. In the refrain put the thumb on A: C B A B with 3-2-1-2, D with 4 and E with 5; on E D G in O night divine, play E and D with 5 and 4, then move the hand down so the thumb takes the G. Left hand: with 5 on C, F is 2 and E is 3; with 5 on the low G, B is 3 and D is 1.
The right-hand melody of this version, bar by bar, in letter names and in Do Ré Mi. Sharps are written #, flats b; a note held across a bar line is written once.
Melody: E E G G G A A F A C G G E D C C E F G F D C E E …
| Bar | Notes | Do Ré Mi |
|---|---|---|
| Pickup | E E G | Mi Mi Sol |
| 1 | G G A A F A | Sol Sol La La Fa La |
| 2 | C G G E D | Do Sol Sol Mi Ré |
| 3 | C C E F G F D | Do Do Mi Fa Sol Fa Ré |
| 4 | C | Do |
| 5 | E E E | Mi Mi Mi |
| 6 | G G A A F A | Sol Sol La La Fa La |
| 7 | C G G F# E | Do Sol Sol Fa# Mi |
| 8 | B G A B B C B | Si Sol La Si Si Do Si |
| 9 | E G | Mi Sol |
| 10 | G A D G G | Sol La Ré Sol Sol |
| 11 | A G C E A G G | La Sol Do Mi La Sol Sol |
| 12 | G A D G G | Sol La Ré Sol Sol |
| 13 | A G C E G | La Sol Do Mi Sol |
| 14 | C B A | Do Si La |
| 15 | B B | Si Si |
| 16 | D A A A | Ré La La La |
| 17 | C C C | Do Do Do |
| 18 | E D G | Mi Ré Sol |
| 19 | C B A | Do Si La |
| 20 | G G G A G | Sol Sol Sol La Sol |
| 21 | G C | Sol Do |
| 22 | E D G | Mi Ré Sol |
| 23 | E D D | Mi Ré Ré |
| 24 | C B B C D | Do Si Si Do Ré |
| 25 | C | Do |
The chords this arrangement holds for at least two bars, read from the score with the root in the bass. Each one opens its page: the notes, every inversion and the fingering, playable on a piano.
The piece is in C major: all the chords of the key
The song began in France as Cantique de Noël, also known by its first words, Minuit, chrétiens. The words are by Placide Cappeau, a wine merchant and poet from Roquemaure, near Avignon, and the music by Adolphe Adam, a successful composer of operas and of the ballet Giselle, who wrote it in 1847.
The English words most people sing, beginning O holy night, the stars are brightly shining, are a free translation by the American writer on music John Sullivan Dwight. The 1871 Schirmer print used for this page already gives them, next to an Italian and the French text. With its slow build to the refrain, Fall on your knees, the song has become a favourite of solo singers at Christmas concerts.
This transcription: G. Schirmer, New York, 1871: Adolphe Adam, "Cantique de Noël (Christmas Song)", with Italian, French and English words, pp. 1-2 (archive.org cantiquedenelchr00adam, pages n1-n2): the vocal line of the verse and refrain in C major, its dotted rhythms written in 12/8, grace notes and the turn left out; bass notes by GOONS Studio from the print's accompaniment. Transcribed by GOONS Studio from the original work, which is in the public domain.
Easy Version · C major
Easy Version, Opening · D major
Easy Version · E minor
Easy Version · C majorThe full piano studio opens this score with your MIDI keyboard and sustain pedal, records what you play and exports it as a MIDI file. It comes with the GOONS Studio subscription - start with the 7-day free trial, no card required.
In C major the melody on this page starts E E G, G G A A F A, C G G E D, C C E F G F D, C (Mi Mi Sol, Sol Sol La La Fa La, Do Sol Sol Mi Ré, Do Do Mi Fa Sol Fa Ré, Do). The refrain, Fall on your knees, starts C B A B. Every bar is in the Notes section.
The French composer Adolphe Adam wrote the music in 1847, to a poem by Placide Cappeau. The English words are by John Sullivan Dwight.
Cantique de Noël, often called Minuit, chrétiens after its first words.
The 1871 print used for this page writes the melody in 4/4 with dotted notes, over an accompaniment that moves in triplets, so each long-short pair falls into a group of three. Written in 12/8, the same pairs read as a quarter note and an eighth, which is how the lilt sounds.