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Sleepers Wake / Covenant (c. 1735/1784)
Nola Reed Knouse:
"Two beloved Moravian chorales ... are an integral part of the Moravian Easter celebration, which includes bands playing chorales overnight, throughout the community, to awaken the congregation members for the Easter Sunrise Service. [26th North Carolina Regimental Band] member Ed Peterson records that on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1863, camped near Greenville, North Carolina, 'we got up about 5 this morning and played church tunes 185, 132, 230, and 151, such as we had.' [...]
"The tunes are identified by number and by letter ... Each tune has a tune name as well; in some cases the tune name is related to the German chorale name, but in others it is not. Tune 230 A (Sleepers Wake) is traditionally the first tune played by the bands at the beginning of their overnight 'rounds'; the tune is attributed to Hans Sachs (1494–1576), altered by Philipp Nicolai (1599). Tune 185 A (Covenant) is the tune to the first hymn sung during the Sunrise Service; the tune is thought to have originated in Herrnhut [Germany] (the 18th-century home of the Renewed Moravian Church) around 1735. Both tunes are played as set by Moravian composer and hymnist Christian Gregor (1723–1801) in his 1784 Choralbuch."
Sleepers Wake / Covenant, performed by the American Brass Quintet Brass Band, written by Christian Gregor, New World Records #80608-2 © 2002 (p) 2002 Recorded Anthology of American Music, Inc. Used by permission.
Composer and organist Christian Gregor (1723-1801) compiled one of the principal hymnbooks of the Renewed Moravian Church in 1778. It contained 1750 hymns, over 300 of which were composed or arranged by Gregor, and was used for a century by congregations in Germany and elsewhere. Many of Gregor's hymns are found in Moravian hymnals today. He also composed the well-known anthem Hosianna (1765) and a book of four-voice chorale settings.
Born in Dirsdorf, Silesia (now Przerzeczyn Zdrój, Poland), Gregor was orphaned at the age of nine when his mother died, and subsequently raised by the Pietist Count Christian Karl Ludwig von Pfeil. He learned to play organ in his youth, and in 1742 joined the Moravian Church in Herrnhut, Germany, serving as an organist, teacher, spiritual leader, and administrator. His travels on behalf of the church included a two-year visit to Moravian settlements in the United States between 1771-1772. Gregor was ordained minister in 1756 and consecrated bishop in 1789.
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