Music of Immigrant Communities in The United States - Germany

Germany

See: Music of Germany

German immigrants brought with them a variety of music, waltzes, polkas and oom-pah bands among them. A German musical society of the mid-19th century formed the Seventh Regiment Band, the only exclusively regimental band of the Civil War-era and one of the most popular brass bands of the time. German bandleader Friendrich Wilhelm Wieprecht was also influential, collecting full scores for his compilation of instrumentations of popular works, für die jetzige Stimmenbesetzung. Instruments included the bassoon, contrabassoon, bass tuba, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, piccolo, oboe, French horn, saxhorn, drums and cymbal. Wieprecht was recognized at the time as a key figure in the reorganization of the Prussian military bands.

The music of the Amish, a Midwestern religious community descended from German and Swiss settlers who eschew modern technology in favor of simplicity, is entirely religious, and is sung in a style that has not been widely performed in Europe for centuries.

The songs of the Pennsylvania German culture, a mixture of British, South German and other elements, are primarily German, with many based on British tunes. Pennsylvania spirituals are a well-known kind of folk hymn, most of which date to the early 19th century.