ABSTRACT
With any religious sect, musical practices are to some extent an outgrowth of the sect's religious beliefs. For the Moravian Brethren, however, broader cultural influences have often outweighed religious factors in the development of their musical traditions, notwithstanding that music has always held a prominent place in their church. This chapter will focus on their use of brass instruments, which are to a large degree iconic of Moravian music.
The Moravians trace their origins to the Saxon village of Herrnhut, where references to brass instruments appear not long after the founding of the renewed church in 1722. Brass instruments only occasionally participated in worship services, but announcing deaths with such instruments, particularly trombones, became a highly significant Moravian tradition, with the first instance being recorded in 1731. They particularly accompanied the singing of three chorales, one of which was specific to a deceased person's ‘choir’ or social group within the community. Brass instruments also occasionally announced births and important arrivals. In Herrnhut and in other Moravian communities in Germany, this emphasis on the ceremonial importance of such instruments was probably inspired by the strong similar traditions of the Stadtpfeifer in German towns.
In the 1730s, the Unitas fratrum initiated a worldwide missionary effort. They founded settlements in 1740 in Pennsylvania but soon expanded into other regions of eastern North America, taking their brass instruments with them. By the early years of the 19th century, there were trombone ensembles in at least 12 Moravian communities in America. The Moravian brass tradition flourished in America even as it declined in Germany, though American Moravians continued to obtain most of their instruments from Germany, often through agents in Herrnhut. By the middle of the 19th century, trombone ensembles were supplanted by wind bands in many Moravian communities in America. This chapter will examine the changing meanings associated with brass instruments as they travelled between central Europe and North America, and the instruments’ roles in preserving Moravian religious and musical cultures in the different contexts in which they were used.
