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Aleksēi Federovich L'vov

1798 - 1870 Person Name: A. T. Lwoff Composer of "[God of our fathers, we give thanks to thee]" in Songs of Life Alexis Federovich L’vov Estonia 1798-1870. Born at Reval, Estonia, son of the St. Petersburg imperial court chapel director, he learned violin as a child and gave regular concerts in his home at age 9. Studying under a number of teachers until age 19, he then studied independently and developed his own personal style of playing. He entered the Russian army in 1818, became a civil engineer there eventually a General in 1828, when he was appointed Aide-de-camp to Tsar Nicholas I. He married Praskovya Aggeyevna, and they had a son and two daughters. He eventually took over his father’s post after he died in 1837 and stayed at that position for 24 years. He formed a string quartet in St. Petersburg and held weekly concerts at his private residence, which were attended by members of high society, including Franz Liszt, Robert and Clara Schumann, and Berlioz. In charge of the Russian chapel choir, it was described by Berlioz as of exceptional quality, expressing regret that Europeans were unable to hear the extraordinary sounds of the chapel choir (80 singers). L’vov took his quartet on several European tours where he could play to public audiences. He met Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, and Spontini, who became personal friends. L’vov codified the Russian liturgical musical style ‘Obikhod’, the standard repertory of most Russian Orthodox churches in the world. L’vov was a member of the Russian musical establishment. Two of his friends who attained musical fame were Glinka and Berlioz, both impressed with L’vov’s superb violin playing and composing abilities. He composed violin music, operas and various religious pieces. His opera “Undine” (1846) became famous. In 1850 he founded the Russian Concert Society. His musical style was eclectic, combining traditions of Russian culture with Italian and German influences. He retired in 1867 due to deafness. He died near Kovno, Lithuania. John Perry

H. B. Chown

Author of "God of Our Fathers" in Songs of Life

Helen Otte

b. 1931 Versifier of "We Give Our Thanks to You, O God" in Psalter Hymnal (Gray) Helen Ann (Brink) Otte Walter (b. Grand Rapids, MI, 1931) versified this psalm in 1982 for the Psalter Hymnal. She received her education at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and has worked as a teacher, proofreader, and librarian. She was a member of the Poets' Workshop that worked with the revision committee to prepare psalm versifications for the 1987 Psalter Hymnal. After her first husband died and she remarried, she remained active as a freelance writer, especially of children's stories and dramas, some of which have been published in Reformed Worship under the name Helen Walter. Bert Polman

Theodore P. Ferris

1908 - 1972 Composer of "WEYMOUTH" in Psalter Hymnal (Gray) The Rev. Dr. Theodore Parker Ferris, the son of Walter Andrew and Eva (Parker) Ferris, was born in Port Chester, New York, on December 23, 1908. He received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1929 and B.D. from General Theological Seminary, NY, in 1933. Ordained deacon on June 11, 1933, he was ordained a priest on May 27, 1934. From 1933 until 1937 Ferris was assistant to the rector of Grace Church, New York, and at the same time served as fellow and tutor at General Seminary. From 1937 until 1942, he was rector of Emmanuel Church, Baltimore, and from 1942 until his death, he was the fourteenth rector of Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts. Many of his publications were books of sermons. He published a book on preaching Go Tell the People (1951) in which he stated that "A sermon is by nature a disclosure, an unveiling, a revelation . . . to preach is to draw the curtain aside from the figure of Christ and to lose oneself in the folds of it." He was also author of This Created World, 1944; This is the Day, 1951; The Story of Jesus, 1953; "Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles" in The Interpreter’s Bible, 1954; When I Became a Man, 1957; The New Life, 1961; Book of Prayer for Everyman, 1962; What Jesus Did, 1963; and The Image of God, 1965. From 1943 until 1964 Dr. Ferris was an adjunct instructor in homiletics at the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was active in the ecumenical movement and an alternate delegate to the first assembly of the World Council of Churches at Amsterdam in 1948. As well, he was Delegate to the Episcopal Church's triennial General Convention in 1946, 1949, 1952, 1955, 1961, and 1967. Furthermore, he as a trustee of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His honorary degrees included S.T.D. from General Seminary, 1961; D.D., Rollins College, 1944, Middlebury College., 1955, Boston University, 1958, Harvard College, 1969; and Mus.D., Westminster Choir Coll., Princeton, N.J., 1967. A bachelor, Dr. Ferris died in Boston on Nov. 26, 1972. --www.philosophy-religion.org/diaconate/