Jeremiah Dencke was born October 2, 1725, in

Langenbielau Bielawa (german: Langenbielau; szl, Bielawa) is a town in southwestern Poland. Since 1999, it has been situated in Dzierżoniów County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of the Wałbrzych Voivodeship. As of December 2 ...

, Silesia and died May 28, 1795, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He joined the Moravian Congregation at Gnadenfrei and was called to Moravian center in

Herrnhut Herrnhut ( Sorbian: ''Ochranow''; cs, Ochranov) is an Upper Lusatian town in the Görlitz district in Saxony, Germany, known for the community of the Moravian Church established by Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf in 1722. Geography It is ...

in 1748, where he became an organist. He emigrated to the

American colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centur ...

in 1761 on the same ship with the father of Johann and Simon Peter. year. The oldest existing American Moravian art music is a set of seven solos and three duets Dencke composed for the Single Brethren's observance in 1765. It was performed in both

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

and Bethlehem, whose diaries use the term Vest Psalm when referring to it. Jeremiah Dencke was a Moravian and one of the first American composers.http://www.voxnovus.com/resources/American_Composer_Timeline.htm American composer Timeline

List of works

* ''Meine Seele erhebet dem Herrn'' * ''Gehet in dem Geruch Seines Brautigams-Namens'' * ''Gesegnet bist du, sein Volk '' * ''Meine Herz dichtet ein feines Lied ''

Discography

* ''Flowering Of Vocal Music In America 1767-1823'' * ''Lost Music Of Early America - The Moravians '' * ''Music from 18th-Century Pennsylvania'' (1976) * ''Christmas in Early America'' (1994) * ''Giuseppe Martucci'' (1995) * ''America Sings, Volume I: The Founding Years'' (1995)

References

1725 births 1795 deaths 18th-century American composers 18th-century male musicians 18th-century musicians American male composers American composers German emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies Moravian Church People from Austrian Silesia People from Bielawa {{US-composer-stub