Silent Night (Christmas Cantata)
A Christmas Cantata for Choir, Narrator, Soloists and Flute (optional); and organ and congregation. This program is designed to be very easy for choirs to learn, though you’ll need a good pianist. Two optional obbligatos for flute are included. These might also be performed easily on violin, or other C instrument.
The program lasts 25-30 minutes.
All solos may be assigned to sections of the choir if desired. All sectional passages may be assigned to soloists if desired.
The narration for this program consists entirely of excerpts from Matthew 1 and Luke 2, KJV, each followed by a single verse of “Silent Night” sung solo. Feel free to substitute from other scriptural versions or to use a simple retelling.
Very few dynamic markings are included for the interludes, or for the final number with the congregation, as the dynamics for these passages will be determined by your acoustics, amplification, choir/congregation size, etc.
For the “Silent Night” choir/congregation finale, the congregation sings the standard hymn version (1985 LDS Hymns #204). The choir and organ use the score included.
Sheet Music Downloads
List of Songs Included in the Program
The titles included in the cantata are listed below. Linked titles are available separately. If a title is not linked, it is only available by downloading the complete program. A few titles have audio demos available–they are marked with a “*”. The performers’ interpretations may differ from the printed score.
Silent Night (Interlude 1)
Peace, Peace, Peace*
Silent Night (Interlude 2)
As Shepherds Kept Their Lonely Vigil*
Silent Night (Interlude 3)
Jesus, Lord, at Thy Birth*
Silent Night (Choir and Congregation)
Note: Where both solo and choir scores exist, both are included. Use one or the other, as you choose.
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Sally, you are an angel and have blessed my life and so many others with your inspiring sweet music. I have used it for solos and choirs and it always touches my heart. Thanks for being so kind as to do this gratis to bless all of us. May God bless you for sharing your great spirit through this music.
A very nice song
I enjoyed much listening to it
I am looking for a program for Christmas for my little Church. We have a very small church and choir. We have a only 10 to 12 most in or Choir. We are big on God and that’s what counts. I am trying to add the Christmas story from the bible to songs do you have anything that can help
Great music
I truly adore and love this Cantata. I’ve taught it 3 times throughout my years and this year I am urging my ward to do it. Every time I change wards, I always want to make sure we do it. That’s how much I love this. Thanks so much for sharing it.
I am excited to use this for my choir this year. I was wondering if there is maybe a score available with only the voice parts showing (minus accompaniment)?
Thank you so very much for having this available at no cost! You are an angel! I have a small, older choir that loves to sing and has sung together for many years. Unfortunately their voices are not what they used to be nor is their ability to read music like they used to. For the past couple of years, I have been putting together my own versions of easier cantatas pulling from several sources. I appreciate having this and being able to download so easily and use freely with my choir of 13, as well as having participation from the congregation during the finale. Again, thank you.
Hello
Is there a cantata book/score and Practice CD available for purchase
This is just perfect for my small (yet very talented) choir!
Thanks so very much
The score is available for free at the ‘Sheet Music Downloads’ tab just above your comment on this page. Click on the small plus sign (+) to download the sheet music pdf document. You can print as many copies as you like subject to the copyright notice at the bottom of each page.
There is no practice CD available but there are free recordings available for several of the individual songs. Click on the small plus sign (+) in the ‘List of Songs Included in the Program’ tab above to find links to the individual song pages. Most individual song pages include links to download audio recording from several different audio sites.
Good luck!
We are performing this beautiful cantata this year for our Christmas program. Thank you for making such an amazing musical composition available to us. I personally purchase all of my church’s musical programs and having such a beautiful one available at no cost is very much appreciated.
I would like to have this cantata but I’m not familiar with some of the songs are there any other suggestions
Is there a flute part for the other songs besides Peace, Peace, Peace?
I would like to have a copy of your church Cantata program as our church is trying to plan our first one.
Hello, ma’am! You are truly an inspiration. I wonder if I may use this Silent Night (Christmas Cantata) for our program this coming December. I know our pupils, parents, the congregation in our church will be blessed.
Thank you very much! God bless you more!
Hello Sally,
Good day!
Where can I get the complete program. We would like to use this for our first ever Church Cantata. Thank you so much.
Hello! I would like to use “Silent Night (A Christmas Cantata)” for our Congregation’s Christmas celebration this Christmas 2023. It might be a little late to just start rehearsals but we would give it our best. We would appreciate instructions on how to access all your resources pertinent to the cantata (music sheet, accompaniment, etc.) THANK YOU!
Alice, no additional requests or permission is needed. The narration is printed (in a very small font) above each staff in the interlude scores. For example, the opening narration (“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise…”) is printed above measure 5 of Interlude 1 on the first page of the program score.
Hope this helps and good luck with your program!
Kaye, accompaniments and recordings are available for several of the songs in this program. Click on the plus sign (+) in the “List of Songs Included in the Program” box immediately above the “Leave me a comment!” section of this webpage. You’ll see a list of the webpages for the individual songs in the program. Click on the song title to access any available recording or accompaniment score.
Hope this helps!
Mary, you may freely download, print, copy and use this program in your church (large or small) or for any other non-commercial purpose. (This is true for all of Sally’s sheet music on this website.) This permission is stated in the copyright notice at the bottom of the first page of each song in this program.
To download the program, click on the plus sign (+) in the “Sheet Music Downloads” box immediately above the “Leave me a comment!” section of this page. Then click on the “Silent Night – Cantata (PDF)” link to view the 33-page program on your computer. You may then freely save, print, copy and use the program.
This reply also applies to several of the usage questions in other comments below.
another person asked the same thing. I would like to use this for my church, it is small, so how do I get the complete program
Do you have a accompaniment and minus one for these masterpiece?
Thank you very much!
Hello. I have accessed the download and the website. I would like to see about using this cantata this year, if possible. Do I need to request anything else? Is there more narration or anything missing from the sheet music downloads?
Thank you so much for this website.
Hello! We would like to ask permission to use these for our Cantata this coming December! Thank you!
i love this catata how do i get it
I eould like this cantata for my church. How do i get it
Thanks dear
Thank You and God bless.
I have been a fan of yours for some time now. Can’t believe I am just now getting the chance to have a choir perform your Christmas cantata in its entirety. I am so excited. Thank you for all the beautiful music you produce! All I need tell my bishop is that it is a Sally Deford piece, and it is immediately approved. 🙂
This looks great for my VERY small choir
How can I acquire the script and music
THANKS SO MUCH!!
BFrench
OH OUR CHOIR WOULD LOVE THIS !
Good day maam,
I would like to have your choir piece for our Christmas cantata this coming christmas celebration this December.
I really appreciate your kindness maam
You have hit the mark again. Silent Night cantata has been a tradition for our ward choir for many years, as well as Jesus, Once of Humble Birth at Easter time.
Hearts are touched and testimonies are strengthened. A few years ago, after our Easter presentation, I received a text from a woman whose husband has served several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. His PTSD was off the charts. He sang with us and later told his wife that he felt the spirit for the first time in 10 years.
Such is the power of your inspired music. It cuts through the fog of doubt and confusion, testifying of Christ.
Thank you so much
Hello,
This is Alpha B. Tabay. Can I have a copy of this cantata piece? I will use this in December during the worship service. My email is alphajesith@gmail.com
Sheet music and list of songs included in the program
Thank you so much!
Yours,
Alpha B. Tabay
Of course! Just click the PDF link in the “Sheet Music Downloads” tab above.
Thank you very much!
Thank you so much for sharing this. We will try this cantata in our mission church this coming December,2021. God bless you.
We presented this Cantata for our Christmas program 2018 in the Hawaii Kai ward in the Honolulu Stake. We also shared this at our local retirement center. Sally, thanks so much for making your music available to us. You light the world.
Thank you for your generosity! God bless you!
Is there any way I can get Accompany Music Tracks for this (Silent Night)…? It will be very helpful if I can.
The sheet music for the finale says: Choir, Congregation, Piano, Flute and Organ. (We will be having a violin instead of flute.) The directions above say that the Choir and Organ use the score provided here. Am I missing something? Are we to have either the piano or organ play from the hymnal?
Where do I find the narration for the Silent Night Christmas Cantata?
The narration is printed with the score that the piano plays for the interlude.
Thank you for this, Ms. Sally DeFord. God bless you!
Thanks Mrs. Sally for sharing your cantata. We’ll sing it here in Bangkok on December 6, 2015.
This is my first time as ward choir director and we are doing this cantata for Christmas. I added Immanuel because I love that one so much too. We just performed My Grateful Spirit Sings for November and it went very well. We all love your music. It is easy to learn and yet brings the spirit so quickly. Thank you for sharing your amazing talents!
Bonjour! J’ai utilisé ce programme dans une pièce théatrale. Que de bons souvenirs et de belles chanson. Nous avons tous ressentie l’esprit de noel
Hi Sally!!
thanks for the christmas cantata!! this sheet music will help our young women and young men for the christmas program here in Madagascar, thanks for sharing!!!
My choir is singing this and they love it. Thank you so much! Do you have an idea of the total running time of this program from beginning to end?
What is the approximate running time of this cantata? 25 minutes?
Thank you for ALL your beautiful and inspired music!
OOPS! Sorry – just saw the running time of 25-30 minutes
Hello Miss Sally,
Thank you so much for these…been looking for free Christmas music scores for our Christmas Cantata.
This is such a BIG HELP!
God bless you more!
– Sheryl
Thank you for all the work you do in publishing these scores. It makes my life easier when I can go home and print the sheets we are practicing from. This Cantata is great for our Christmas performance.
This is an ideal cantata for a small branch choir and the arrangements are simple but beautiful and easily mastered. We began our rehearsal yesterday (Nov 3) and it was a treat to have a somewhat unfamiliar hymn included (As Shepherds Kept Their Lonely Vigil)–it became a favorite in the first rehearsal.
Thank-you for making this cantata available for our use!
I absolutely love this arrangement! I have been in three different wards and used this for each one as our Christmas program.