George Augustus Löhr (20 April 1821 - 20 August 1897) was an organist and composer based in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Life

Born in Norwich, he was educated at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

where he was a chorister and then

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

and

Munich University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. He was then assistant organist at

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Norwich and the mother church of the dioc ...

under the organist Zechariah Buck. He was appointed to St Margaret's Church, Leicester in 1845, a position he held for the next four decades until his death. He pioneered choral services there and was one of the earliest to promote musical harvest festivals. The church "soon became famous for its choir". Lohr also established and conducted the Leicester Harmonic Society in 1856. It survived until 1883. From 1881 he was a music professor. Lohr composed the hymn "St Francis", setting the words "Fountain of good, to own Thy love" by

Philip Doddridge Philip Doddridge D.D. (26 June 1702 – 26 October 1751) was an English Nonconformist (specifically, Congregationalist) minister, educator, and hymnwriter. Early life Philip Doddridge was born in London, the last of the twenty children ...

. His four part arrangement of

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

's "But This Lord is Mindful of His Own" (from the oratorio

St Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

) remains in print. He died on 20 August 1897 and is buried in the Welford Road Cemetery in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. His youngest son, Richard Harvey Löhr, was born in Leicester in 1856 and studied at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

under

William Henry Holmes William Henry Holmes (December 1, 1846 – April 20, 1933), known as W. H. Holmes, was an American explorer, anthropologist, archaeologist, artist, scientific illustrator, cartographer, mountain climber, geologist and museum curator and dire ...

, Ebenezer Prout and Sir Arthur Sullivan. He twice won the Charles Lucas medal (in 1877 and 1878). He was the organist at St James's Church, Marylebone. Harvey Löhr composed five symphonies, two piano concertos, orchestral suites, marches and preludes, the operas ''A Border Raid'' (1883) and ''Kenilworth'' (1906), choral works (such as the oratorio ''The Queen of Sheba'', 1900), chamber music (including the Piano Quartet, op 15, c 1980), piano pieces and many songs. His manuscripts are held at the Royal Academy. He died in Hastings on 16 January 1927.Unsung Composers
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lohr, George Augustus 1821 births 1897 deaths English organists British male organists English composers 19th-century British composers 19th-century English musicians 19th-century British male musicians 19th-century British organists