Sing, O Ye Heavens

Description

Sing, O Ye Heavens

Johann Friedrich Peter

Christmas hymn, anon.

SATB choir
Sop. & Tenor solos
piano/organ

orchestral parts available

accomp. in lower key available

$1.95

Christmas and General Use

Singet ihr Himmel

MMFS1001

Sponsor: John Sinclair, in memory of Agnes Stewart Jackson & Emma Marilyn Sinclair

Johann Friedrich Peter (1746-1813) was born in Heerendijk, Holland, to German Moravian parents. He was educated in Holland and Germany, and, with his brother Simon, came to America in 1770. Peter appears to have begun composing very shortly after his arrival in the new world. He served the Pennsylvania Moravians in Nazareth, Bethlehem, and Lititz, and was sent to Salem, NC, in 1780. There, among other duties, he assumed the position of music director for the community. Under Peter’s energetic and capable leadership a musical tradition was established in Salem which benefited the community long after his departure in 1790. He afterwards served Moravians in Graceham, MD; Hope, NJ; and Bethlehem, PA. J. F. Peter’s many works have earned him the reputation of being the most gifted of Moravian composers in America. His six string quintets, written in Salem and dated 1789, are the earliest known chamber music written in this country. He died in Bethlehem on July 13, 1813, almost literally at the organ bench, shortly after playing for a children’s service.