November, which Louisa May Alcott once called "the most disagreeable month," is a little more than halfway done. It was actually snowing earlier, and I don't really care for that at all. But I'm a little bit warmed by the knowledge that I will soon be receiving something special in the mail - a proof copy of my newest book, my very first history book! You might say it's a MarkerQuest side quest, as it doesn't focus on the subject of a marker; it's a bit of Lehigh Valley apocrypha which has been all but forgotten, and I'm looking forward to reviewing it and approving it for distribution. I will probably be able to confirm the launch and provide a link by the next time I update the blog, so stay tuned!
Meanwhile, for today's post we'll take yet another trip into the Moravian heart of Bethlehem. I did not originally intend for this to be a two-marker quest, but as I was putting the pieces together I realized that it made sense. Although the two markers are for different subjects, they have something very significant in common, and writing about one without the other just didn't feel right.
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| The marker is found at the intersection of Market Street and Heckewelder Place |
Heckewelder wrote extensively about the Natives; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania still has many of his manuscripts in their collection. In 1780 he married Sarah Ohneberg, the daughter of fellow missionary George Ohneberg, with whom he had three daughters - Johanna, Anna, and Susanna. They remained in Ohio for several years, but eventually, Sarah's poor health led her husband to retire from missionary field work. They lived in Ohio for several more years, with Heckewelder serving the public as postmaster, justice of the peace, and associate justice of the court of common pleas. Finally, in 1810, he resigned his positions; he, Sarah, and their eldest daughter Johanna (who had become deaf and never married) relocated to Bethlehem, moving into a charming little house built that same year. Sarah died there on June 20, 1815, and Heckewelder followed her on January 31, 1823. Both are buried in the Moravian Cemetery. The street on which they lived is today known as Heckewelder Place.
That's the first marker. Now, as to the second...
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| The marker stands in front of Main Hall at 85 West Church Street |
His youngest son was commonly known as J. Fred. Wolle, long before we had JLo. JFred was born on April 4, 1863 in the Main Hall of what was then the Ladies' Moravian Seminary, today part of Moravian College, where his father was the principal. He graduated from the Moravian Parochial School in 1879 and, like his father, began teaching in Bethlehem. His passion, however, was music; the Moravians had always been a musical community, and JFred was no exception. He became the organist at Trinity Church in Philadelphia in 1881, and remained at that post until 1884, when he left for a year of study in Munich under the great composer and organist Josef Rheinberger. He was married to the former Jean Stryker; they had no children.
Upon returning to the United States, JFred took a post as organist for the Packer Memorial Church at Lehigh University, a position he held from 1887 to 1905. During this time, he began focusing on his own love for the works of Johann Sebastian Bach; he organized the first choral societies ever put together in both Bethlehem and Easton, and with the Bethlehem bunch he began bringing the works of Bach to the Lehigh Valley. They gave the first complete performance of Bach's St. John Passion in 1888, followed by the St. Matthew Passion in 1892. In 1898 he formed the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, bringing musicians together to study Bach's Mass in B Minor. On March 27, 1900, the choir performed what is known as the first American performance of Bach's complete Mass.
JFred continued to lead the Bach Choir until 1905, when he relocated to California to accept a position teaching music theory at the University of California. After six years, he retired to Bethlehem in 1911 and resumed his conductor's post; by that time, the Choir had established their annual Bach Festival, a tradition which continues to this day. JFred was described in the Harrisburg Telegraph in 1914 as being "the foremost present-day student of Bach". He died on January 12, 1933, and he and his wife are both interred at Bethlehem's Nisky Hill Cemetery.
These two men, for obvious reasons, never met. But they have something in common - the Bach Choir of Bethlehem. JFred started it, and that charming house on Heckewelder Place which was once the home of the missionary is today its administrative office. As of this writing, the Bach Choir is under the direction of Greg Funfgeld, their sixth conductor, who has been at the helm for more than 35 years and is responsible for much of the expansion beyond the annual festival. Their year-round season includes performances and educational programs, as well as recordings and international tours. They've created films for PBS and Classical Kids, and sung before audiences of more than 22,000 people. In addition to Bach himself, they bring attention to the works of composers who influenced Bach, and also composers who were influenced by him in turn. The programs of the Bel Canto Youth Chorus ensure that the appreciation for classical compositions will continue for generations to come.
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| The Bach Choir headquarters |
I hope all of my readers have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Sources and Further Reading:
John Frederick Wolle and John Heckewelder at FindAGrave.com
John Frederick Wolle and Heckewelder House at the Historical Marker Database
John Frederick Wolle and Heckewelder House at the Historical Marker Database
Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
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