Let the Word of Christ

Description

Let the Word of Christ
Lasset das Wort Christi

by Peter, Johann Friedrich

Edited by Rachel Ruisard

text: Colossians 3:16

SSAB choir w piano or organ

General Use

MMFS1404

Sponsored by Nazareth Moravian Church

(Note: accompaniment part, in a lower key, is always available upon request, making the soprano range more accessible without the bass becoming too low. Pitch, at the time of this composition, was not standardized to A=440.)

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. 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, shortly after playing for a children’s service.