Gregor, Christian Friedrich

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Gregor, Christian Friedrich

Gregor, Christian Friedrich, Silesian organist, music director, composer, and hymnologist; b. Dirsdorf, Silesia, Jan. 1, 1723; d. Zeist, the Netherlands, Nov. 6, 1801. Joining the Moravian Brethren in Herrnhut, Saxony, in 1742, he was ordained in 1756 and soon assumed leading positions in its management: was financial agent of Zinzendorf, member of the Unity Elders Conference (1764-1801), and bishop (1789-1801). He made numerous business trips to Germany, the Netherlands, England, Russia, and North America (Pa., 1770-72); while in Pa., he gave instruction in composition to Johann Friedrich Peter. During his stay at Herrnhut as organist, he compiled the first hymnal publ. by the Moravians (Choral-Buch, enthaltend alle zu dem Gesangbuche der Evangelischen Brüder-Gemeinen vom Jahre 1778 gehorige Melodien; Leipzig, 1784), and arranged the musical liturgies. He wrote 308 hymns (Gesangbuch zum Gebrauch der evangelischen Bruder-Gemeinen; Barby, 1778 et seq.), about 100 chorale tunes, and approximately 200 anthems and arias. The last are preserved in MS in the Moravian Church Archives at Bethlehem, Pa., and Winston-Salem, N.C. Several of his anthems were republ. frequently in 19th-century American tune books.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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Gregor, Christian Friedrich

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