The Music of Pennsylvania dates from the pre-colonial-era through the 21st century, and Pennsylvania has been the birthplace for some of the most prominent musicians of their respective eras and the introduction of entire new genres of music to the nation and world.
The tradition of Pennsylvania's history with music pre-dates the American Revolution. Philadelphia became especially renowned for musical development and was the home of the esteemed Alexander Reinagle, John Christopher Moller, Rayner Taylor, and Susannah Haswell Rowson. Reinagle became the most influential figure in Philadelphia's musical life, organizing a number of concerts, organizations and musical events. Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a notable composer of the period. One of his compositions, "My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free", is well-remembered as the first art song from the United States (though this is disputed); it is, however, lacking in originality and innovation to set it apart from European compositions.[citation needed]
Singer-songwriter Christina Perri is from Philadelphia. Her older brother, Nick Perri, is a lead guitarist formerly of Shinedown and Philly-based hard rock act Silvertide, and currently plays in SINAI.
The Clarks, a rock/pop band who achieved major success in the 1990s with the songs "Born too late", "Penny on the floor", "Cigarette", "Better Off", formed at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana.
Rusted Root, a jam band who has also had a prolific music career with the songs "Send Me on My Way", "Ecstasy", "Heaven", and "Free my soul", are from Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh's Iron City Houserockers, kicked off the decade with immense critical acclaim for their first three albums (Love's So Tough, Have a Good Time But Get Out Alive and Blood On The Bricks). Associated with the heartland rock subgenre and with artists like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, John Mellencamp, and Tom Petty, the Houserockers were regarded by many as both grittier and more kinetic. Although commercial success eluded the group, leader Joe Grushecky and the later incarnation of the band remain popular regional artists. In the Houserockers' wake came a number of other Pittsburgh area bands, including Norman Nardini and the Tigers, whose minor hit "If You Don't Love Me (Someone Will)" put the band briefly on the pop map. More recent entries in the heartland rock scene (sometimes counted as Grushecky protégés) include Bill Toms and Hard Rain and Tom Breiding who have strong local followings.
Donnie Iris, a former member of The Jaggerz from Ellwood City, had national success in 1980 with "Ah! Leah!", "Love Is Like a Rock", and a string of subsequent minor hits from 1980 to 1984.
The Stabilizers from Erie were a duo with sessions players for touring. They released a full album with many memorable songs. The song "One Simple Thing" went to number 21. The song "Tyranny" with hard hitting lyrics on how governments control their people had a lot of radio play but failed to chart. The song had two different versions that both got airplay. "Sounds Of The Underground" was never released as a single but was played by many local fans.
The Cynics were a garage rock band formed in Pittsburgh in 1983. They started their own label, Get Hip Records.
The Hooters, from Philadelphia, broke into nationwide attention when they became the opening band at Live Aid, where they performed "All You Zombies," which soon after became their first hit single. The album Nervous Night followed with several more major hits like "And We Danced" and "Day By Day" in 1985 and 1986.
In 1979, The Sharks were formed in Lancaster. In 1985, they won an MTV Basement Tapes competition.
Formed in 1964, Harrisburg-based The Magnificent Men, became the only white act to ever headline New York City's legendary Apollo Theatre and the other major stops on the rhythm and blues Chitlin' Circuit. In 1967, they backed up James Brown as he filled in for an absent headliner. Despite the last minute nature of the arrangement, Brown was floored by the band's dexterity. The following year, in 1968, they became the only outside group to play on a stage with the Motortown Revue at a show in Cleveland.
Pennsylvania, at the crossroads of Appalachia, the Eastern Seaboard and the Midwest has a rich history of Folk Music sharing influences with many other regions of the nation.[3] Notable artists include Robert Schmertz a prolific songwriter covered by many artists during he 1960s folk revival and after. George Britton a singer with a long career, who took particular interest in reviving the music of his mother's Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors.[4] Buster Red a depression era singer who often wrote about locales in Pennsylvania.[5][6]Jim Croce arguably one of the most famous folk artist of the 1970s was born born and raised in Pennsylvania and worked at WXVU while in college.
The Ephrata Cloister (Community of the Solitary) was founded in what is now Lancaster County on the Cocalico River in 1720. This was a group of Seventh Day Baptists led by Peter Miller and Conrad Beissel, who believed in using music as an integral part of worship.[7] Beissel codified the Ephrata Cloister's unique tradition in his Beissel's Dissertation on Harmony; here, he divided notes into two types. These were masters, or notes belonging to the common chord, and servants, or all other notes. Accented syllables in Beissel's works always fell on master notes, leaving servant notes for unaccented syllables. The Ephrata Cloister's hymnbook was large, consisting of more than 1,000 hymns, many of which were accompanied by instruments including the violin. Many of these hymns were published in the 1740s and 1750s.
In 1803 and 1804, a group of Christian pietists led by George Rapp arrived from Württemberg, Germany, settled in Harmony, Pennsylvania, and formed the Harmony Society in 1805. The group lived communally, were pacifistic, advocated celibacy, and music was a big part of their lives. The Harmonites (or Harmonists) wrote their own music and even had an orchestra. The Society lasted until 1906, but their final settlement, Old Economy Village in present-day Ambridge, Pennsylvania contains archives with sheet music that is still performed at special community events.
Justus Falckner was the first Lutheran pastor ordained in the United States. He was ordained during 1703 as a minister of the Church of Sweden in the Gloria Dei Church. He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on November 24. Falckner wrote hymns such as Rise, Ye Children of Salvation (German: Auf! ihr Christen, Christi Glieder) which he composed while a student at the University of Halle in 1697. Falckner's published works include Grondlycke Onderricht which first appeared in New York during 1708. Falckner evidently believed that music was a very important element of missionary work, writing to Germany to ask for an organ, which he said would attract more Native American converts.
Founded in 1457, the Moravian Church originally spread across Moravia, Poland, and Bohemia before persecution forced the remaining faithful to Saxony, where they lived under the protection of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. Zinzendorf wrote hymns, and led the Moravians to America, where they began missionary work in Georgia but with little success. They moved on to Pennsylvania, and founded the town of Bethlehem on the banks of the Lehigh River. A group then left for Salem, North Carolina in present-day Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Both in Salem and Bethlehem, Moravians continued to use music in their ceremonies. Instruments included organs and trombones, and voices were usually in choirs. Players generally played on rooftops for most any occasion, ensuring that they could be heard for great distances. A legend has arisen claiming that a group of Native American warriors approached a Moravian settlement during the French and Indian War, but left after hearing a trombone choir because they believed it to be the voice of their Great Spirit. Moravians were devoted to missionary work, especially among African slaves and Native Americans; in 1763, they published a collection of hymns in the Delaware language.
Moravians also had a tradition of secular art music that included the famed composer Johann Friedrich Peter, who was a German born in Holland who emigrated to Bethlehem in 1770. He brought with him copies of compositions by Joseph Haydn, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, Johann Stamitz and C. F. Abel. After living in Bethlehem for a time, Peter moved to Salem, where he founded the Collegium Musicum (in 1786) and collected hundreds of symphonies, anthems and oratorios. It was during this period that Peter also composed a number of well-respected instrumental pieces for two violins, two violas and a cello; he also composed sacred anthems like "It Is a Precious Thing" and arias like "The Lord Is in His Holy Temple".
The Moravian Church continued to produce a number of renowned composers into the 19th century, including John Antes, Johann Christian Bechler, David Moritz Michael, Jeremiah Dencke, Johannes Herbst, and others. Herbst was also a noted collector, whose archives, left to the Salem church after his death, were made public in 1977; these included more than 11,000 pages of content. Salem has gradually become the center for Moravian musical innovation, partially due to the presence of the Moravian Music Foundation.
In 1694, Johannes Kelpius brought a group of German Pietists to the banks of the Wissahickon Creek. These became known as the Hermits or Mystics of the Wissahickon; an 1871 map of Wissahickon Creek notes a Kelpius spring and Hermits Glen. Kelpius was a musician, and he and his followers brought with them instruments that became an integral part of church life. Kelpius was also a composer, and is sometimes called the first Pennsylvanian composer, based on his unproven authorship of several hymns in The Lamenting Voice of the Hidden Love. It is likely that he wrote the text, though the tunes are mostly based on German songs; the English translations in the collection are attributed to Christopher Witt, an Englishman who immigrated and joined the mystics, also building them a pipe organ, said to be the first privately owned organ in North America.
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