Music in American Moravian Communities: Transplanted Traditions in Indigenous Practices

The Moravians, who first came to America in 1735, were but one of several religious groups settling in this young country during the eighteenth century, yet their contribution to the musical life of America was especially significant.These early settlers brought with them one of the strongest and most sophisitcated musical traditions to be transplanted to this country.Through a survey of music's role in the church and community life of the Moravians in America, the importance of this music as a tie to earlier European Moravian traditions is examined.Such a study reveals that, in coming to America, the Moravians transplanted and encouraged their interest in the creation and performance of the music they had cultivated in Europe.While contact with other settlers in America eventually wrought changes, the Moravians maintained strong ties to the sophisticated musical culture of their homeland throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.