Moravian Music Education in America, ca. 1750 to ca. 1830

The Moravians, descendants of the pre-Reformation Unitas Fratrum, were among many religious and ethnic immigrants to this country during the eighteenth century. Their frontier settlements in Pennsylvania and North Carolina soon became well-springs of educational and musical activity. A strong commitment to education resulted in the establishing of first-rate schools. An almost consuming love of music-sacred and secular, vocal and instrumental–led to achievements without peer in colonial times. It is not at all surprising, then, that they brought music and education together in optimum union. Music was regarded for its aesthetic as well as practical value, and music experiences were provided at all levels of instruction and enjoyed solid curricular status–something quite unique in American education at the time.