Introduction

Biography

John was the hus­band of Su­san Shaff­er (married cir­ca 1860), and fa­ther of George Kurz­en­knabe and Har­ry Kurz­en­knabe.

Orphaned in child­hood, Kurz­en­kna­be spent part of his ear­ly years in Kas­sel, Ger­ma­ny, at­tend­ing pub­lic and in­dus­tri­al schools.

In 1854, he sailed from Bre­men for Am­er­ica. He even­tu­al­ly at­tend­ed a se­mi­na­ry in Penn­syl­van­ia, lat­er stu­died mu­sic under Will­iam Brad­bu­ry, and was as­so­ci­at­ed for a short time with George Root.

Kurzenknabe tra­veled ex­ten­siv­ely through­out the Am­er­ican north­east, and lived at var­ious times in Ha­gers­town and Bal­ti­more, Ma­ry­land; York, Phi­la­del­phia, Sun­bury, Mer­cers­burg, Mc­Con­nells­burg, and Me­chan­ics­burg, Penn­syl­van­ia; Cam­den and Moores­town, New Jer­sey; New York Ci­ty; and in Bo­ston and Ded­ham, Mas­sa­chu­setts.

He fin­al­ly set­tled in Har­ris­burg, Penn­syl­va­nia, where he wrote songs, taught mu­sic, ran a pi­ano and mu­sic store, and at­tend­ed St. John’s Re­formed Church. In 1894, he be­came pre­sident of the Penn­syl­van­ia State Mu­sic Teach­ers’ As­so­cia­tion.

Works

• Songs and Glees
• Wreath of Gems
• Rudiments of Mu­sic
• Song and Hymns
• The Re­ward (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Ol­iv­er Dit­son, 1874)
• Song Trea­su­ry (York, Penn­syl­va­nia: Cri­der & Bro­ther, 1879)
• Silvery Ech­oes of Praise and Pray­er (York, Penn­syl­van­ia: Cri­der & Bro­ther, 1880)
• Peerless Praise (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1882)
• Gates Ajar (Har­ris­burg, Penn­syl­van­ia: J. H. Kurz­en­kna­be & Sons, 1885)
• Music at Sight (York, Penn­syl­van­ia: Crider & Bro­ther, 1888)
• Sowing and Reap­ing (Har­ris­burg, Penn­syl­van­ia: J. H. Kurz­en­kna­be & Sons, 1889)
• Fair as the Morn­ing, with Will­iam Bent­ley (Har­ris­burg, Penn­syl­van­ia: Ev­an­ge­li­cal Pub­lish­ing, 1891)
• Gospel Trio of Sac­red Song (Har­ris­burg, Penn­syl­van­ia: J. H. Kurz­en­kna­be & Sons, 1891)
• Kindly Light (Har­ris­burg, Penn­syl­van­ia: J. H. Kurz­en­kna­be & Sons, 1896)