Abstract
The Pennsylvania Lutherans, who spoke Pennsylvania Dutch along with their German Reformed neighbors, were the largest ethnic group in early America outside of the English-speaking population. Like all ethnic minorities, they went through a process of change to the dominant English-speaking society in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This process (full ethnic retention, adaptation, acculturation, and amalgamation) is reflected in the Pennsylvania Dutch tune and chorale books that supported various stages of this evolution, depending on location and the editor. Each publication between the 1790s and 1850 contributed to this change linguistically, theologically, and musicologically. Books that supported and promoted full ethnic retention retained the German language entirely had a simple preface outlining the book’s purpose, employed a pure European repertoire, utilized unrealized figured bass or a harmonization on three staves, were printed from engraved or punched plates, and sought to retain German theology from the Reformation era. Later examples were not produced for ethnic reasons, but for theological reasons that resulted in the retention of traits in European chorale books. Tune books moved away from the use of the German language and European repertoire and employed singing-school introductions. Assimilating publications embraced revivalist theology and a type of consumerism that made the books and users look more like their English-language equivalents than their European predecessors. All the while, Pennsylvania Dutch culture was disappearing. This chapter studies retention and assimilation, analyzing the tune and chorale books in the context of folk life. A comparative component allows the reader to view the Lutherans of Pennsylvania Dutch country against the plain people (Sektenleute) of the same region (Amish and Mennonites) to bring this large ethnic group into focus so that Southeast Pennsylvania may be understood as a rich center of religious activity and belief. Further research using the assimilation model is encouraged.
Grimminger, D. J. (2009). Pennsylvania Dutch tune and chorale books in the early Republic: Music as a medium of cultural assimilation. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, is the basis for this chapter.
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Notes
- 1.
The translation is Schalk’s (from the introduction of Muhlenberg’s Erbauliche Lieder Sammlung, 1786).
- 2.
A copy of “Dead March and Monody” in the Library of Congress was composed and printed by J. Carr of Baltimore, 1799, for the occasion of Washington’s funeral in the Lutheran Church of Philadelphia. See Hinke (1972: 283). Hinke reprints the first page of the music piece.
- 3.
One such conflict ended in a court battle. See Carson (1817).
- 4.
For a more detailed discussion of English tune books among Amalgamated Lutherans, see Pannebaker (1998).
- 5.
For more information concerning the Lutheran education system, especially the “Academy,” see Pardoe (2001: 190).
- 6.
The full title of this Amish hymn book is: Ausbund, Etlicher schöner Christlicher Geseng wie die in der Gefengnuss zu Passaw im Schloss von den Schweitzern und auch von rechtgläubigen Christen hin und her gedicht worden. The old low-German spelling has not been corrected here.
- 7.
Luther originally used a secular tune for “Vom Himmel hoch” (From Heaven Above), but by 1539 replaced it with a newly-composed tune. “There is in any case no justification for the argument that Luther attempted to promote congregational singing by catering to the tastes of the masses.” Herl (2004: 22).
- 8.
For deeper exploration of the assimilation model in modern research and other suggestions for the modern scholar, see Grimminger (2012). The following sources would be a good starting point for the theologian exploring contemporary changes in liturgical practice: Dawn (1995), York (2003), Frankforter (2001), Day (1990), and Grimminger (2002). These authors explore music pertaining to this evolution at various levels.
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Grimminger, D.J. (2015). The Musical Shape of Cultural Assimilation in the Religious Practice of Pennsylvania-Dutch Lutherans. In: Brunn, S. (eds) The Changing World Religion Map. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9376-6_143
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