Blessed Are All Your People

Description Blessed Are All Your People by Johann Friedrich Peter Text: Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf MMFS0903 Double Chorus SSAB / SSAB or Soli and Chorus 2 flutes, 2 horns, strings – parts available (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. 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. Blessed Are All Your People was edited from manuscript copies in the Salem Congregation Collection. The work is originally scored for 2 flutes, 2 horns, strings and organ. Full score and parts are available from the Moravian Music Foundation.