According to music scholar Gilbert Chase, "Artistically, none of the religious minorities that settled in America approached the musical achievement of the Unitas Fratrem, more commonly known as the Moravian Church." ³

A City of Twelve: Early Moravian Settlement of Wachovia
These German speaking Moravians were a close-knit, religious group who began their settlement of the Wachovia Tract, covering most of present-day Forsyth County, with extraordinary deliberateness. Members of the early Moravian settlement team were chosen according to ability. These included individuals who performed one or more tasks—a minister; a business manager; a physician and surgeon; a shoemaker and nurse; a millwright and carpenter; a cooper and farmer; a gardener and launderer; a tailor and woodcutter; a chief fanner; and a baker. A community with a tailor, minister, and physician proved to be a powerful magnet for settlers in a rugged frontier.

Historian and newspaperman Frank Tursi in "Winston-Salem, A History" elegantly describes the early Moravian Settlement in the North Carolina Backcountry with these words:

"Settlers didn't conquer the North Carolina frontier; they came to terms with it...[but] not the Moravians. They came to what is now Forsyth County in 1753 not as settlers, but as colonists.... [The Moravians] came to transform the wilderness, not to be changed by it." ⁴

A Little Pilgrim Band: Early Music in the Wachovia Settlement
From the Moravians' first days in Wachovia, we have references to their music. On the evening of their arrival in Wachovia, November 17th, 1753, the Brethren sang this verse composed by Brother Gottlob Konigsdorfer for the occasion:

"We hold arrival lovefeast here,
In Carolina land,
A company of Brethren true,
A little pilgrim band,
Called by the Lord to be of those
Who through the whole wide world do go,
To bear Him witness everywhere,
And naught but Jesus know." ⁵

A few months later, on February 23rd of 1754, there is the first reference to instrumental music in Wachovia. The Brethren had carved a trumpet from a hollow tree and used it to announce that evening's lovefeast. Their diary entry of that date states "no trumpet in Bethlehem [Pennsylvania] has a better tone." ⁶

These two early references give insight into the distinct musical traditions of the Moravians. For instance, the first hymn sung contains an original verse, indicating the musical literacy common to all Moravians. According to Dr. Nola Reed Knouse, Director of the Moravian Music Foundation in Winston-Salem, basic musical literacy was an essential part of education for Moravians. In addition to learning how to read standard musical notation, Moravians by extension were taught to write and compose music. Brother Konigsdorfer's original verse therefore was not unique, but a normal part of the Moravian liturgical experience.

The trumpet announcing the lovefeast points to another distinct characteristic of Moravian music. A variety of instruments played a critical role in liturgical music for the Moravians. As early 1756, we have accounts of small chamber orchestras accompanying a Christmas Eve service. An up to twenty piece chamber orchestra with strings, winds, and brass accompanied Moravian worship services later in the 18th century. In 1762, the Moravians went through the expense and difficulty of transporting an organ from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to Wachovia.

In addition to chamber orchestras, the Moravians created a vibrant brass band tradition well in advance of the "band craze" that struck all over America in the late 19th century. According to Dr. Nola Reed Knouse and C. Daniel Crews, as early as the mid 18th century:

"Brass music played a special role in the Moravian settlements. A continuation of the German Stadtpfeifer tradition, the moravian brass ensembles announced special services, welcomed visitors, announced deaths, accompanied hymn singing at outdoor services and funerals, and marked events of note throughout the community. The ensemble would often mark someone's birthday by "blowing them up" early in the morning. This Aufblasen also happened on festival days to wake up the people and to remind them of the special nature of the day." ⁷

Many early American clergy, though in favor of religious music, were firmly opposed to secular music. The Moravians were unique in their attitude toward secular music. As early as 1786, amateur musicians in Collegium Musicum Salem, the community's amateur music society, gathered regularly to play the works of European masters. In their little wilderness community, they chose from "one of the largest and most diversified libraries of secular music...in that period of American musical history." ⁸