The Fruit of the Spirit

Description

Johann Christian Geisler
SSAB choir
with flute, cello, accompaniment
MMFS1201

in the original key (A Major)

for a lower key SAB version, see MMFS1804 

(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 Christian Geisler (1729-1815) was born in Toppliwoda, Silesia and learned to play the organ and harp at an early age. At sixteen he was instrumental in starting a trombone choir for the Gnadenfrei congregation in Silesia. He knew Gregor and other leading Moravian musicians of the period, and may have been a teacher of Johannes Herbst. His first wife was a harpist, and it is perhaps no accident that thirteen of his anthems utilize that instrument. Geisler served as minister to several congregations in Europe and became a member of the Unity Elders Conference, the Moravian Church’s chief governing board. He began to compose in 1760, and by 1805 had written approximately 300 musical works. Although he never visited America, most of his pieces found their way into Moravian collections here. He died in Berthelsdorf, near Herrnhut, on April 14, 1815.