Numerous erroneous tales claim that "Silent Night" was forgotten after it was sung at Midnight Mass in 1818. These stories are easily refuted by manuscript arrangements of the hymn which are in the possession of museums in Salzburg and Hallein. The earliest (ca. 1820) is an arrangement by Joseph Mohr. In addition there are five existing arrangements in the hand of Franz Gruber up through 1855. MIDI arrangements of some of these are further down this page.

Although the original 1818 manuscript is missing, the possibility exists that it could resurface in the way that the Mohr manuscript was discovered in 1995.

Various music historians have claimed that Gruber's melody is not original and have attempted to show similarities between the melody of the carol and other tunes in folk and classical music. In 1997 someone claimed that it is based on an Italian folk song. A few years ago, it was claimed to have been taken from the folk tune "Geh i hinaus zu an schen Haus." While the first eight notes are similar, Gruber's musical expression soars in another direction from there. This type of research merely proves that some musicians express their feelings in a similar vein at various times in their career. The same is true of Haydn, Handel, Brahms and others in the realm of classical music.

Although he is mostly known outside Austria as the composer of "Stille Nacht," Franz Gruber produced many other musical works. His hymns and masses are still sung by Austrian choirs and many are available in booklet form from the Silent Night cultural sites in Oberndorf and Hallein. Gruber's "German Mass in D" was sung at Midnight Mass 1998 at the University Church in Salzburg.