Although sacred vocal music and hymns have been the central focus of the musical life of the Moravians from their earliest years, at no time in their history have they eschewed the use of musical instruments. With no dividing line between “sacred” and “secular” aspects of life, the Moravians could adopt (and adapt) many positive features of their surrounding culture for their life of personal and communal piety and evangelism. Even their emphasis on the primacy of the text did not lead them to avoid the use of stringed and wind instruments in addition to the organ for their anthems; from the middle of the eighteenth century, Moravian composers wrote very few sacred vocal works without such accompaniment. Moreover, although the Moravian composers were careful to avoid obscuring the text through contrapuntal writing, their instrumental parts were not simplistic; they require accomplished players.

The festival services at which these anthems were to be sung, therefore, necessitated the presence of a competent instrumental and vocal ensemble. Not only did the individual musicians themselves need adequate training, but the ensemble as a whole could only benefit from playing together.

The Moravian composer, editor, and administrator Christian Ignatius LaTrobe wrote of music in Moravian life and worship:

These two needs—of accomplished musicians for worship and of appropriate recreational activities—combined to give rise to one of the most fascinating and significant aspects of the Moravian musical culture: their instrumental and vocal music in the community, apart from formal worship.