Alexander Gretchaninov, 1864-1956, was a Russian composer, born in Moscow and studied under Safonov and Rimsky-Korsakov. He lived in Paris from 1925 to 1939 and then came to America and settled in Detroit. Although he has composed symphonies, operas, and children's songs, he is best known for his sacred compositions. Gretchaninov was the first Russian composer to write music with instrumental accompaniment for the Russian Orthodox church services, a thing forbidden in that ritual.
Demestvenna Liturguya (Domestic Liturgy) is regarded as his greatest work, and
Missa Oecumenica (1935) his most significant Roman Catholic liturgical composition. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra gave the premiere performance of his Fifth Symphony in 1948.
