#classicalmusician

Pol Plançon sings 'Cantique de Noel,' recorded by Victor in New York on 23 January 1906.

Pol Henri Plançon (12 June 1851 – 11 August 1914) was a French operatic bass (basse chantante). He was one of the most acclaimed singers active during the 1880s, 1890s and early 20th century—a period often referred to as the 'Golden Age of Opera.'

In addition to being among the earliest international opera stars to have made recordings, he was a versatile singer who performed roles ranging from Sarastro in Mozart's The Magic Flute to the core bass roles by Meyerbeer, Gounod, Verdi and Wagner, among others.

He was renowned for his legato singing as well as for his diction, tone, intonation, and mastery of ornaments and fioriture.

“O Holy Night” (“Cantique de Noël”) is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem “Minuit, chrétiens” by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), a wine merchant and poet. Cappeau was asked to write a Christmas poem by a parish priest. It has become a standard modern carol for solo performance with an operatic finish.

In the carol, the singer recalls the birth of Jesus. It was translated into English by Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, editor of Dwight's Journal of Music in 1855, and lyrics also exist in other languages.

On 24 December 1906, Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian inventor, broadcast the first AM radio program, which included him playing “O Holy Night” on the violin. The carol therefore appears to have been the first piece of music to be broadcast on radio. It later appeared in an edition of carols by Josiah Armes, published by Oxford in 1936, subsequently increasing its popularity.