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Program Notes
from the concert July 22, 2001
by R James Whipple
Pennsylvania
has a rich cultural heritage. Our program today
highlights some of the musical treasures from our past and
present, and offers a quick comparison with European music
of the period around 1800. The earliest pieces on this
program are drawn from the cultures of two communal German
religious groups. To answer the question of why they
settled in Pennsylvania one must look at the history of our
state's founding. William Penn, a Quaker, opened his new
settlement at Philadelphia in 1682 to all immigrants who
believed in God, which made it an attractive destination for
European religious minorities planning to emigrate to
America. On the economic side of things, Penn was
interested in selling farms from his royal land grant to
settlers who would engage in commerce with his colonists.
He particularly solicited the migration of
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians and various German Protestant
groups, for he recognized that these people possessed skills
and crafts useful to his colony's growth. One
of the German groups to eventually come were the Moravians,
officially known as the "Unitas Fratrem." Founded
during the fifteenth-century Reformation by reformer John
Hus, they endured much persecution for the next two
centuries. The early 1700s brought a period of rapid
growth, with missions established all over the world.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was established in 1741 and was the
first successful Moravian settlement in the New World.
It was a communal society, although private property
was not abolished. Music
has always been an important part of Moravian life.
Unlike some religious groups such as the Shakers who
forbade instrumental music, the Moravians made it an
integral part of their culture. By 1743 they already
had a small orchestra, and 1744 saw the establishment of
their Collegium Musicum. This musical society gave the
first American performance of Haydn's Creation and performed
other oratorios such as Handel's Messiah and C.P.E. Bach's
The Israelites in the Desert, as well as symphonic and
chamber works by Haydn, Mozart, J.C. Bach, and Johann
Stamitz. Of
special interest is the fact that the Moravians developed
their own group of composers, many of considerable skill.
Among their notable achievements are the first chamber
music written in the United States (Johann Friedrich Peter's
six string quintets of 1789) and the first chamber music by
an American-born composer (John Antes' three trios for two
violins and cello, written about 1783-90 while the composer
was a missionary in Egypt). David Moritz Michael was
another significant member of the group whose work included
oratorios and many anthems. While he did not write the first
wind chamber music in America (that distinction appears to
belong to Samuel Holyoke of Massachusetts), his thirteen
parthias (partitas) and two "water-music" suites form a
notable body of work. Another
group of German Protestants to settle our state were the
Harmony Society. They founded Harmony, Pennsylvania,
and then moved to New Harmony, Indiana. Their third
and final home was Economy (now Ambridge). The center of
their town is preserved as Old Economy Village by the
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. While
the Harmonists were a much smaller group than the Moravians
and did not have professional musicians in their ranks, they
were great music lovers and had a small orchestra of amateur
players. Even their prophet, George Rapp, played the
flute! One can read the diaries of delighted travelers
who were treated to a concert after dinner at Economy, which
was a day's travel on the long journey from Pittsburgh to
the West in the 1820s. The Harmonists' music collection,
most of which survives today in the archives at Old Economy,
includes European music brought with them from Germany,
arrangements of European music made by members of the
Society or musician friends in Pittsburgh, and original
compositions written for their ensembles. Reprinted
with permission July 2001
R