Pennsylvania Dutch Ballads

The ballad is a narrative song that deals with murder, suicide, natural calamities, and unrequited love. Although ballads were sung throughout Europe, most American ballads parallel the British Isles' ballads. Pennsylvania Dutch ballads were often of a religious nature and dealt with Biblical subjects and personal religious experiences, the wages of sin, and Biblical stories such as Solomon and the Queen of Sheeba. Both secular and religious ballads usually dealt with some tragedy and were better suited to solo rather than choral singing. In days gone by, Pennsylvania Dutch grandmothers would sing these ballads to youngsters to warn them of evil.

Kutztown, Pennsylvania · United States