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John Antes

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John Antes

Birth
Pennsylvania, USA
Death
17 Dec 1811 (aged 71)
Bristol, England
Burial
Wooburn, Wycombe District, Buckinghamshire, England Add to Map
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Moravian instrument maker and composer.

Full range of stringed instruments made between 1758 and 1764. Inventions: a mechanism to turn music pages with the foot; endless screw for violin tuning; use of sponges or fungus instead of leather for piano hammers.*

1765 - left Pennsylvania for Herrnhut, Germany, and never returned to America.

Source: Beatrice B Garvan and Charles F Hummel, "The Pennsylvania Germans: A Celebration of Their Arts 1683-1850," (PMA: 1982), p. 156

*Moravian Historical Society

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Thought to have made the first violin in the Colonial United States, John Antes is considered by many scholars to be the first native-born American composer of chamber music. While a Moravian missionary in Egypt in 1779, John was tortured and nearly beaten to death.

Source: "Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (1764-1820) - A Brief History" by Richard Lee Gleason
Moravian instrument maker and composer.

Full range of stringed instruments made between 1758 and 1764. Inventions: a mechanism to turn music pages with the foot; endless screw for violin tuning; use of sponges or fungus instead of leather for piano hammers.*

1765 - left Pennsylvania for Herrnhut, Germany, and never returned to America.

Source: Beatrice B Garvan and Charles F Hummel, "The Pennsylvania Germans: A Celebration of Their Arts 1683-1850," (PMA: 1982), p. 156

*Moravian Historical Society

=========

Thought to have made the first violin in the Colonial United States, John Antes is considered by many scholars to be the first native-born American composer of chamber music. While a Moravian missionary in Egypt in 1779, John was tortured and nearly beaten to death.

Source: "Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (1764-1820) - A Brief History" by Richard Lee Gleason

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  • Created by: John Freed
  • Added: May 11, 2021
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/226801647/john-antes: accessed ), memorial page for John Antes (13 Mar 1740–17 Dec 1811), Find a Grave Memorial ID 226801647, citing Wooburn & Bourne End Cemetery, Wooburn, Wycombe District, Buckinghamshire, England; Maintained by John Freed (contributor 50100194).