《平安夜》:翻唱次數最多的英國聖誕歌曲
Christmas carol "Silent Night" has topped the list of Britain's "most recorded Christmas song of all time," according to music licensing company PPL.
The 190-year-old Austrian carol beat more recent festive compositions such as "White Christmas" and "Winter Wonderland" to the top spot in a list of more than 170 recordings, PPL said in a statement on Monday.
"Silent Night is a beautiful carol which encapsulates the feeling of Christmas entirely”, said Mike Dalby, Lead Reporting Analyst at PPL. “Everyone from punk band The Dickies right through to Sinead O'Connor has recorded it, which exemplifies just how much it resonates with all different types of artists."
PPL compiled the list using a database of about 1,800 Christmas themed recordings to rate the Christmas songs.
Sinead O'Connor's 1991 recording was the most popular version of the carol in Britain, according to PPL. More recent covers have been released from artists such as Christina Aguilera, Susan Boyle, and Annie Lennox, who recorded the song as part of her Christmas compilation album released in the UK last month.
A staple part of carol services across the globe, Silent Night has been translated into 44 different languages from the original German.
The list has also revealed the song to be a versatile track, boasting recordings from range of music genres. The classic Christmas song has spawned a wide variety of covers, including pop, punk and even heavy metal versions.
The original version of the carol "Stille Nacht" was written in 1816 in Austria by the priest Father Joseph Mohr. It was first performed on Christmas Eve in 1818.
音樂專利授權機構PPL公司調查發現，聖誕頌歌《平安夜》位列英國“有史以來灌錄次數最多的聖誕歌曲榜”榜首。
PPL公司在週一發佈的一份報告中表示，這首奧地利聖誕頌歌已經有190年曆史，它擊敗了《白色聖誕節》和《冬季仙境》等較新的聖誕歌曲，榮登榜首。榜單上共有170多首歌曲。
PPL的首席報告分析員麥克•多爾比說：“《平安夜》是一首優美的聖誕頌歌，它將人們的聖誕心情表達得淋漓盡致。幾乎每位藝人——從朋克樂隊The Dickies到搖滾歌手西尼德•奧康娜——都翻唱過這首頌歌，這說明它能和各種風格迥異的藝術家產生共鳴。”
PPL公司從一個收錄了約1800首聖誕主題歌曲的數據庫中選出了170多首製成榜單，並給歌曲打分。
PPL公司發現，西尼德•奧康娜在1991年翻唱的版本在英國最受歡迎。之後，克里斯蒂娜•阿奎萊拉、蘇珊•波伊爾和安妮•藍妮克絲等歌手都翻唱過這首歌。安妮•藍妮克絲翻唱的版本收錄在她上月在英國發行的聖誕精選專輯中。
作爲全球聖誕頌歌服務的重要組成部分，《平安夜》從最初的德語版本被譯成了44種不同的語言。
榜單上還顯示，這首歌的樂曲風格多樣化，擁有各種音樂流派的版本。這首經典的聖誕歌曲曾被翻唱成各類音樂，包括流行樂，朋克，甚至重金屬音樂。
這首頌歌的最初版本由約瑟夫•莫爾神父於1816年創作於奧地利，它的首次演出是在1818年的平安夜。
Vocabulary:
encapsulate: to express the most important parts of something in a few words, a small space or a single object（簡述；概括；壓縮）
staple: forming a basic, large or important part of something（主要的；基本的；重要的）
versatile: able to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities（用途、功能多樣化的）
spawn: to cause something to develop or be produced（引發，產生）
